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The best steel target paint known to man!

glock24

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Sep 14, 2006
    2,085
    82
    West Michigan
    If you're like me, you've spent way too much time and money on cans of white spray paint in futile attempts to cover the bullet splatter on your painted steel targets.

    Enter Rustoleum's Marking Spray paint. It is designed for marking the ground (concrete, grass, gravel, etc). As a result, it is not only much thicker than normal spray paint, it also has a very large spray nozzle for fast application

    One pass across your steel targets with this stuff, and the surface is as pure as the driven snow.

     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    I agree, Rustoleum is the shit! It's all I use on my targets now for the reasons you just mentioned, it's thicker, goes on easy, and actually covers the bullet splatter. Sure it's a little more spendy than the generic spray paints at the bottom of the shelf but I think it's more economical in the long run. With the Rustoleum paint fewer passes to refresh the target means you can refresh the target more times per can compared to the cheap stuff.

    Mike Gibson of MGM Targets even recommends using Rustoleum on his steel targets.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    this may be off topic but rustoleum is the shit for every job you need. in the end, you wind up using 3-4 cans of the cheap stuff and 3-4 different coats at different times to do the job of 1 can 1 application of rustoleum
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    I have recently discovered this as well. Works excellent. A few weeks back i pulled my krylon flat white out to freshen up a target. the spray nozzle was damaged and the paint came out like a chunky stream. My vehicle was next to the target in a very inconvenient location. One of these days I will need to get the buffing wheel out and go to town.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Mike Gibson of MGM targets agrees with you in his "Thoughts" on his website. "DON'T BUY CHEAP PAINT" and "Buy RUSTOLEUM". I took his advice and found that he's exactly right. I will definitely try the Rustoleum marking spray paint next!
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Rustoleum marking paint is awesome. Goes on thick and fast, lasts a long time, and dries quickly when its time to repaint.

    Good choice sir!
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Any advice on how to keep the sprayer tip from clogging between uses on the Rustoleum? It's so thick that it clogs and I end up throwing out half used cans all the time.
    The cheap stuff is thinner so it doesn't seem to clog, but like y'all said it is so watery it takes forever to paint over a bullet mark.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    The marking paint, you hold right side up, and spray to clear it, it is meant to be sprayed upside down because of the nature of its use, marking the ground, holding it upside down.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    depending on how much you "ping", you can also have the base coat and every now and then use black for BBQs.

    then go over with the marking paint. creates a shoot and see effect.

    i tried that technique with a bright green, yellow, etc. but they aren't as durable the BBQ stuff.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Been using the orange marking paint for a while now. Works good, easy to spot in the bushes. Have also started putting a black target dot on afterwards if I am trying to shoot for groups, have found it helps tighten up a bit better than sectioning the target.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stevos758</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have recently discovered this as well. Works excellent. A few weeks back i pulled my krylon flat white out to freshen up a target. the spray nozzle was damaged and the paint came out like a chunky stream. My vehicle was next to the target in a very inconvenient location. One of these days I will need to get the buffing wheel out and go to town.</div></div>

    Try a little acetone on a rag...worked on my truck!
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    rustoleum comes in right-side-up and upside-down varieties, so you may be talking about different products.

    in either event, i've been using this paint for some years. i prefer it for long range, because it is more like a chalk and not actually a paint. it flakes off easily and gives a much larger "impact" that is much easier to see at long range. the downside is, it doesn't take long to knock all the paint off the target, so you have to paint it more often. so i prefer the cheap 88cent white/black paint for short- to mid- range.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Just a heads up, Home Depot has 0.97$ spray paint. Sure, it's not near the quality of Rustoleum, but it works and is really cheap. White and black only, though.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: drewcifer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just a heads up, Home Depot has 0.97$ spray paint. Sure, it's not near the quality of Rustoleum, but it works and is really cheap. White and black only, though. </div></div>

    I think the point of this post was to say that the Rustoleum marking paint is more economical in the long run. I think I paid about $6 for the last can I bought, but you use less than half as much to get the same coverage, and it doesn't get clogged up and become useless like the cheap stuff after a couple times of use.

    I agree with the OP, Rustoleum white marking paint is all I will use on steel anymore.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    I have found a chrome color works great. It is pretty shiny and gives a good contrast against a dark base. Sort of like shoot-and-see.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    I just bought a can myself. It said inverted marking paint
    Sure like the same stuff. Color white#2592
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    KILZ spray works awesome as well. Super thick and comes out at a higher pressure, and a wider coverage area per stroke. Make sure to shake it really well first though!
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JeffP40</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I have found a chrome color works great. It is pretty shiny and gives a good contrast against a dark base. Sort of like shoot-and-see. </div></div>

    Yeah man, I saw the chrome...... I may go back and get a can of that as well
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    I also use kills primer. Then spray with rustoleum gets a nice thick coverage and shows impacts well.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    I've had great luck using lacquer primer made for wood surfaces. It doesn't stick real well to steel, therefore it flakes off in large pieces. Great for extremely long range targets but doesn't work really well for close targets, a white target turns black with minimal impacts.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Did you like the construction orange?
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Seconds on the chrome and for some bling mix in a rattle can gold here and there. Black base with any of the fluorescence work great.
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    Let me tell ya, the best paint is the paint you get for free. Most every municipal landfill has a household hazardous waste collection site, where people bring EVERYTHING hazardous to get rid of. Enter ColdBoreMiracle, the lucky bastard who hauls the shit off to be incinerated, AFTER I take my pick of all the spray paints (white, orange, red,ect.) as well as unopened gun powder, ammunition, motor oil, ATF, Lucas everything, 2stroke oil, grease, WD40, Kroil, Roundup, fertilizer of every kind, R-12 & 134. Its a pretty sweet deal, instead of all this stuff being wasted, I put it to good use. I'd encourage you all to seek out your local drop off and ask if you can take these offensive unmentionables off their hands, you will likely be well recieved, as they have to pay guys like me to haul it of and dispose of it "per the law."
     
    Re: The best steel target paint known to man!

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: aolson81</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Did you like the construction orange? </div></div>

    Yes. I have only used the construction orange. I have not had a chance to use any other colors yet.