Rattle can your rifle.

A

AgentPickle

New member
How many here actually spray paint their rifles? Do you just do the stock or do the metal as well? Preference of paint? Rustoleum or Krylon? Any special preparations or techniques? I have done one last year in this video. https://youtu.be/ZpOxsZqm74I
Thinking of doing another but want advice on technique.
 
I put together a playlist on youtube a while back with the best techniques i could find. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR31ON9P7uqBNBJ2WRoh1eG4x2YUeph-y I am still waiting for brownells alumahyde to come back in stock so i can try it. Had problems with rattle can paint in the past being sticky or soft when it got warm/hot.

In relation to your video. Your pattern is not what i would want. It may look different in person. But to me the pattern did not have enough contrast. So at the end, to me, it basically looks like a tan rifle with a little shading. The pattern just was not distinct enough to stand out, or break up the outline of the gun.

With all that said, your prep work was on point. I would note that something like windex or brake cleaner can be used on stocks or metal parts. Can be easier than washing and drying things.

As far as painting the metal, its up to your preference. I plan to paint the metal on mine, just taping the controls and optics off.

One other options is gunskins https://www.gunskins.com/ They make some cool vinyl decals that are mostly pre cut. Just peel, heat, and stretch. I have found a hair dryer or heat gun are preferable over a torch.

Good luck on your project.
 
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Thanks for the pointers. Yeah I was mostly happy with the results but realized it was too green for my area. I am going with no green this next time for a traditional desert camo pattern.
 
44 AMP said:
I don't. No way in hell am I spray painting any of my firearms, but, that's just me. ;)
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I have painted several of mine over the years. Generally i stick to furniture and stay away from the action so worst case i can just replace the furniture.

Got one beat up glock slide cerakoted last year. Came out nice.

The gunskin decals are nice since you can peel them off later if you decide you dont like them anymore.
 
30+ years ago I "rattle caned" a 74 Dodge truck. Collected a bunch of different leaves over the summer, made stencils and painted the truck "leaf pattern camo" using three different colors of GI surplus spray paint (cans had Federal Stock Numbers on them) sprayed right over the remaining (faded bronze brown) factory paint.

I'm not against camo, or DIY paint jobs, I just won't do it on my guns. Its a personal thing, I don't care what other people think about how my stuff looks.

If I feel the need to camo a rifle or shotgun, then I'll make it its own little "ghillie suit".

A couple of things I think you should never camo, your wallet and your keys! You really don't want those items to "disappear" if you drop them or they fall out of your pocket! :eek:
 
I've done a few. Instead of using real leaves for stencils go to Walmart and pick up a few examples of plastic plant stems. The plastic works much better for stencils.

Don't get paint inside the barrel or action. I taped over the lens and adjustment rings on scopes. Have fun.

The paint holds up better than you may think.

Obviously, there are some guns I wouldn't paint. But the ones I did paint were already so ugly the paint helped.
 
Or to quickly tell the difference between that .458 SOCOM and the 5.56 so you don't end up at the range with the wrong ammo and/or magazines.
 
I've done one rifle, a Remington 660 in .308 win. I bought it in 1973 and it's gone through three stocks and still has the third one which I painted.. rattle canned, if you prefer. :D Stock is an early H&S Precision made for a short action Remington ADL and I sure wish they still made that one. Guess I got the stock around 1981 or maybe 82 and didn't do a paint job until about 1985 or 86. The rifle has been on numerous deer hunts and has the scratches a scars to back it up. That paint job which was the Krylon of the time period has held up amazingly well. Guess I'll think on redoing it.
Paul B.
 
Instead of using real leaves for stencils go to Walmart and pick up a few examples of plastic plant stems. The plastic works much better for stencils.
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We didn't use the leaves as stencils, we used the leaves as the pattern to make the stencils out of thin plastic. Put the leaf on the plastic, draw around the edges of the leaf, remove leaf, cut out "leaf" portion of plastic and you have a stencil.

Putting real leaves or plastic leaves on the surface to be painted and spraying over them would be masking, not stenciling.

And, yes, for masking, a plastic leaf lasts lots longer.
 
44 AMP said:
We didn't use the leaves as stencils, we used the leaves as the pattern to make the stencils out of thin plastic. Put the leaf on the plastic, draw around the edges of the leaf, remove leaf, cut out "leaf" portion of plastic and you have a stencil.

Putting real leaves or plastic leaves on the surface to be painted and spraying over them would be masking, not stenciling.

And, yes, for masking, a plastic leaf lasts lots longer.
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one cool trick I learned. take some painters tape and overlap it on some wax paper to make a sheet of the tape. you can draw patterns or trace leaves or other foliage and gut it out with a razor blade to apply to the parts.

using a plastic leaf is also a great option, and will allow some over spray to get by kind of blending it a bit.
 
paint

After years of placing camo tape on and off a blue steel turkey shotgun I finally spray painted the barrel/ synthetic forearm -pump/ and synthetic butt stock. I did not paint the receiver and mag tube, but did paint the saddleback scope mount. I could not bring myself to paint the Leupold. Only paint color used was an appropriate satin green, sold as camo by Wally World. It did not take long for the paint to scuff and wear, which just added to the camo look.

I generally appreciate the look of any of my guns as well as their performance, and I don't think I could paint any thing else . On the old Rem 870 described above, a bit of time at the bench, and I can have the original walnut furniture, blue steel vent rib barrel on board, and remove the mount and scope (if I can find the trigger group pins) and have the old gun restored to general use.

But I won't, it's purpose in life is to kill gobblers!
 
The reason I favor the "ghillie suit" approch over paint, is because its NOT permanent, so its easily adaptable, easily applied and easily removed.

The point of camouflage is not to make an item invisible, it is to alter its appearance so it is not easily recognized.

Different things work differently to confuse different observers.

Some natural camouflage hides animals against the background environment. Some hides individual animals among others.

The Zebra is a good example of this. Its black and white stripe pattern does nothing to hide it against the brownish African plains, actually the opposite, but what it does do is "hide" individual animals in the herd, making it difficult for a predator to focus on one animal and make it the target.

DO you want your camo to hide you from animals?? or humans??? Makes a difference in what you need to do to be effective.

One advantage to using a sleeve or wrap type camo is if you decide to sell or trade it, the finish is the original one, and your potential market (and market value) is not affected by a "crappy paint job" or the "Wrong camo pattern" in the potential buyer's opinion.
 
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