Gunsmithing My McMillan .50 Duracoat Job (GAP CAMO FINISHED!!)

[DedicatedShooter]

I just finished the base coat for my buddie's Mcmillan. It turned out great. I am doing a 4 color camo called "Multi-Spec" from Bulldogarms.com. I used Coyote Tan for the base coat, next will be OD Green, followed by Woodland Brown, Desert Mint or Woodland Tan. We haven't yet decided yet what the exact order of colors will be after the OD green.
Tomorrow I'm going to apply the first set of stencils then spray the OD green. Then I'll lay more stencils and another color every day after tomorrow until all the colors and stencils are laid and sprayed. Lastly, I'll probably add some small accent camo with black or another tan color using bulldogarms' female stencils.
Needless to say, it's going to look amazing. Not to mention shoot amazing as well...my buddy has already printed sub 6.5" 5 shot groups at 1000yds with it.

<span style="font-weight: bold">For those of you wondering what the prep work was like for such a large rifle, I'll tell you right away that it was quite involved haha. Here's a step by step for what I've done so far:</span>

1. The Manners stock was scuffed with a green scotch bright pad, the bedding was taped off, then it was degreased, hung, and sprayed.

2. The Nightforce scope and unimount was removed, scotch brighted, and taped off accordingly

3. The rest of the rifle and bipod was completely dissasembled, we removed the jewel trigger group and muzzle brake, plugged the barrel with tape and the chamber with a spent .50 case, taped off the recoil lug, then everything was thorougly degreased

4. We blasted everything but the stock, scope and scope mount with 90 grit glass beads

5. Next, we hung all the parts

6. We took a shipping pallet, drilled a hole in the center and put a .4" steel dowel through the hole. Then we slid the barreled action down on it. It worked out great.

7. Then I sprayed everything and let it dry.

<span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Finally, here it is...assembled and awaiting the first stencils...minus trigger and trigger gu</span>ard</span>

---------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday 8/3:

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">We touched up the OD Green today and peeled off the stencils to reveal an AWESOME camo job. We're going to add in another color or two, only in a couple places, with some different female stencils. Here are the pictures of the 2 color GAP on the McMillan: </span></span>

(The cheek piece was barely placed into the stock just to take some pictures)

 

[koobs84]

Re: My Durcoat Job on Custom McMillan .50 (Many Pics!)

Nice work so far.. good luck with it!

 

[burkeknives]

Re: My Durcoat Job on Custom McMillan .50 (Many Pics!)

Nice job.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Durcoat Job on Custom McMillan .50 (Many Pics!)

I finished applying the first set of vinyl camo stencils today, it took me 4 hours to get them all on the rifle. I think it looks pretty good but I'm sure I'll make some changes to the pattern tomorrow as I got pretty tired towards the end of it all. I have to stencil the Nightforce tomorrow too, then spray a TON of OD Green over everything.

Why it took me so long was mostly because it's a HUGE rifle and there's a lot of real estate that needed to be covered. Also, I had to cut some custom stencils and really pay attention to the ones that overlapped different parts on the rifle.

Though it sounds crazy, the white stencils over all of that tan actually look kinda cool....
Anyways, here are the pics:

There is one or two stencils that I reused from another job, incase you were wondering why I had a green stencil mixed in with all the white ones.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)



Soo...does anyone other than the two people above have any feedback, questions, comments, suggestions?? I'd like to know what you all think so far.

Thanks ahead of time if you wanna comment..

 

[SHOOTNBLANKS]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

I know it just stencil but I kind of like that tan and white combination. Great job. Be sure to post pics of the finished product.

 

[Jester8]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

I would use a bigger spray gun, you can get them pretty cheap at any hardware store, and it would save you time. Looks good so far, can't wait to see the finished product. I enjoy spraying guns.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Shootnblanks</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know it just stencil but I kind of like that tan and white combination. Great job. Be sure to post pics of the finished product.</div></div>

Hell yea! Everyone who saw it today at my buddy's shop said the same thing. I'd like to see that done with an off-white..I bet it'd be pretty sweet

 

[Brain]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

It's too late now, but with so much rifle to cover, you could have sprayed the base color in only the areas to be masked. Takes more forethought, but much less work.

Other than that suggestion, it's looking good so far.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jester8</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would use a bigger spray gun, you can get them pretty cheap at any hardware store, and it would save you time. Looks good so far, can't wait to see the finished product. I enjoy spraying guns.</div></div>

A bigger gun would be awesome. I did this whole thing with my Paasche double-action air brush and a tiny little compressor....it took a while, and my compressor sounded like it was going to explode towards the end, but it's worked out for me so far haha. I would definitely upgrade to a "real" spray gun if I wasn't going back to active duty in the Marines in 3 months...it'd be cool to continue the Duracoating service on the side if I were staying in town.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Brain</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It's too late now, but with so much rifle to cover, you could have sprayed the base color in only the areas to be masked. Takes more forethought, but much less work.

Other than that suggestion, it's looking good so far.</div></div>

That's a heck of an idea.

 

[dighawaii]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Job looks good! Can't wait to see the finished rifle.

I give you credit for doing a big job with an airbrush. I picked up a couple of "touch up" spray guns from Harbour Freight for about $15 each and they have worked really well spraying large areas so far.

Did you paint the rifle indoors? If so, wasn't the fumes pretty strong?

Again, congrats! Looking good.

Tom O.

 

[locked&loaded]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Looking good so far. One suggestion, just before you spray the other colors, double check the edges of all your stencils. That will help insure crisp lines on your patterns. Can't wait to see the final pics.

Good luck.

 

[Outsydlooknin75]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Not to say anything against the job, but one thing I have noticed is that the smaller the space a person has to put stencils the smaller the stencil gets, but the more of them there is.

On the bipod legs I would have kept the stencils the same size but only put one or two instead of a bunch of little smaller ones.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dighawaii</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Job looks good! Can't wait to see the finished rifle.

I give you credit for doing a big job with an airbrush. I picked up a couple of "touch up" spray guns from Harbour Freight for about $15 each and they have worked really well spraying large areas so far.

Did you paint the rifle indoors? If so, wasn't the fumes pretty strong?

Again, congrats! Looking good.

Tom O.


</div></div>

Hey thanks a lot! This is only the second rifle I've ever duracoated and I'm pretty happy with the results so far. I did spray it in doors but I put a fan in the window to suck out the fumes and everything was sprayed in front of the window so the over spray was sucked outside. I also wore a respirator.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: locked&loaded</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looking good so far. One suggestion, just before you spray the other colors, double check the edges of all your stencils. That will help insure crisp lines on your patterns. Can't wait to see the final pics.

Good luck.</div></div>

Thanks for the tip, I was planning on going over the stencils one more time with my Bondo spatula before I spray it again.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Outsydlooknin75</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not to say anything against the job, but one thing I have noticed is that the smaller the space a person has to put stencils the smaller the stencil gets, but the more of them there is.

On the bipod legs I would have kept the stencils the same size but only put one or two instead of a bunch of little smaller ones. </div></div>

Thanks a ton for that comment. We're sitting here in the gun shop and after reading what you wrote, we all agreed that the bipod needs re-stenciled. Definitely going to look better with the bigger camo spots on the bipod!!

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

We decided to spray OD Green for the next color and then use female stencils to add accent colors in Brown, Black, and/or a lighter tan. Green goes on Monday.

New pictures will be up on Tuesday or Wednesday after peel the stencils off to reveal the green and tan camo. After that we're gonna add the accent colors.

 

[308sako]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

deleted in protest

 

[MacMan]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Very nice work!Look forward to the finish,

 

[John Roache]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

nice!!

 

[Dirknar]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Very cool, and in the house :0

 

[Tango2249]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Awesome work! Please post finished pics.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

All the stencils were laid and the OD Green coat went on today.

I'm peeling off the stencils tomorrow to reveal the tan camo over green!!
<span style="font-weight: bold"> STAND BY FOR PICTURES TOMMOROW NIGHT OF THE OD GREEN AND COYOTE TAN GAP CAMO COMPLETED </span>

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Here's 2 decent pictures of the McMillan about 3 months ago. In one, it's sitting next to it's owner's AI AW. The other shows it up on the bench at the range. The pic shows you what it looked like before any duracoating.

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Outsydlooknin75</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not to say anything against the job, but one thing I have noticed is that the smaller the space a person has to put stencils the smaller the stencil gets, but the more of them there is.

On the bipod legs I would have kept the stencils the same size but only put one or two instead of a bunch of little smaller ones. </div></div>

I went ahead and took all the stencils off of the bipod. I replaced them with only a couple large stencils. It looks much better. Thanks a ton for the tip!!!!

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Here's some of my other work:

Remington 700 VS .223 (Still in progress..bolt body, knob, handle, shroud was coated OD Green today. Scope, mount, and rings will be tan to match)

Ruger 10/22:

LLama 1911, 30 years old, completely rebuilt:

 

[BERTMAN77MK2]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

looks good--I want to learn how--was thinking of taking the Lauer
class

 

[luwelder798]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

50 cal looks sweet. I wish I had done some kind of camo pattern on my nighthawk instead of just plain tan now. They all look sharp. Good work.

 

[300WSM]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

nice work!

 

[ARCOREY]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Looks good so far. I just did my first duracoat job on a muzzleloader and it turned out pretty nice. I was amazed at how easy it is to apply. I'll have to checkout the Bulldog stencils as the Duracoat stencils seemed hard to place and wanted to curl on me. Can you feel the lines in the color change on yours between pattern areas? I can feel it on mine at the edges of each color. I didn't know if it was normal, or if I was spraying too thick or if it was because I didn't read the hardener instructions right and over mixed it with the paints. Keep up the good work.

Corey

 

[DedicatedShooter]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ARCOREY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks good so far. I just did my first duracoat job on a muzzleloader and it turned out pretty nice. I was amazed at how easy it is to apply. I'll have to checkout the Bulldog stencils as the Duracoat stencils seemed hard to place and wanted to curl on me. Can you feel the lines in the color change on yours between pattern areas? I can feel it on mine at the edges of each color. I didn't know if it was normal, or if I was spraying too thick or if it was because I didn't read the hardener instructions right and over mixed it with the paints. Keep up the good work.

Corey</div></div>

Yea I can feel the lines between the colors. I really don't think there is anything you can do about that, but it's not noticeable unless you rub your hand across it. The green needed to go on a bit thick in order to cover all of the tan underneath so it was inevitable. I really don't think there is anyway to avoid it though.

Oh yea, and the Bulldog stencils are awesome PLUS they only cost $10-$15 which is much less than Lauer's stencils. Plus they have some awesome patterns. Just be SURE to get the female stencils as well, they're very handy.

 

[ARCOREY]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Good, glad to know I wasn't the only one that had the difference between colors. I noticed my green took a good bit to cover as well. I'm going over to Bulldog and check out those stencils for my next project now.

Thanks
Corey

 

[hrt4me]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

Nice job, especially on the scope

 

[WTW]

Re: My Duracoat Job on a McMillan .50 (UPDATED!)

So far it looks good. I know that I am not far off from trying this myself. There are some great suggestions here.