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Spray Painting Rifles

Just got done sponge painting my T1X and Howa/XLR Element...

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How does that clear hold up to abuse? Realistic use not using it as a hammer of course.
Chip and scratch resistant?

I've done a few like this. My 22lr seen thousands and thousands of rounds training off barricades ect. Held up great. I took quite a bit more time scuffing it and cleaning before I painted mine though. My others have held up great too, haven't seen as much abuse as my 22lr. My 223ai coyote rifle got banged around quite a bit in the truck
 
These all look brilliant. Seriously great effects.

My question is has anyone experienced paint running off due to contact with sweat and other moisture? I would consider doing this for my PSR rifle (using my original Tikka stack as a practice).

Do you use an under coat of some kind first?

Excellent video! Thanks for the contribution.
 
These all look brilliant. Seriously great effects.

My question is has anyone experienced paint running off due to contact with sweat and other moisture? I would consider doing this for my PSR rifle (using my original Tikka stack as a practice).

Do you use an under coat of some kind first?

Excellent video! Thanks for the contribution.

Never had a issue with it running off because of sweat. I rub the stock down with alcohol, painted and clear coat
 
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Just got done with practicing on an ald Savage Axis stock. Quick, easy, and it turned out pretty good.
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Looks great but I would recommend taping off the recoil pad so paint doesn't get on there. IMO it gives it a more professional, finished look and the paint will wear fast on the rubber. Just my two cents-you can take it or leave it....
 
Looks great but I would recommend taping off the recoil pad so paint doesn't get on there. IMO it gives it a more professional, finished look and the paint will wear fast on the rubber. Just my two cents-you can take it or leave it....

Good call and a point I learned. This was a practice piece to get down the pattern for the colors and I will absolutely tape some areas on future stocks: butt pad, safety areas, barrel and receiver areas to keep out the matte clear final coats, as well as remove sling studs.

Did you paint 3 or 4 different layers to make it look like that? Love the colors/shades.

I leveraged the original black color of the stock. Started with tan, then brown, then olive.
 

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I quit painting rifles many years ago because I felt that the paint did not stand up sufficiently to the punishment. Paints have improved, but nowadays, I still think that Black is the New Black; and my rifles already come that way.

However, I saw a mention about difficulty removing paint.

For rattle can paints. I use Super Clean Degreaser, in the purple gallon jug from Wal-Mart's Automotive Department. I then wander over to the gardening department and buy an inexpensive long and narrow plastic planter (be sure you get the one without the holes in the bottom, and get it long enough to hold your longest part).

Put the parts in the planter, and add enough Super Clean to cover them, a second gallon may be a wise investment. Come back a day later with nitrile gloves. Drain the parts over the planter. The paint will slide right off with finger pressure. Do this away from the planter, possibly onto some paper towel. It will also tend to etch aluminum parts.

Line a large funnel with a single layer of paper towel, stick the end into the jug, and slowly filter the degreaser back into the jug(s), it's reusable. It's also fairly benign to man, beast and the rest of the ecology; relatively speaking.

Greg
 
I got to messing around with a good thing on that practice stock today after work. Shot it with another coat of clear, but it must have been too humid (NE WI upper 80's today with high dew points) and that last coat got some significant haze to it. So I went at it with some fine steel wool after it dried. That got rid of the haze, AND smoothed out some of the texture that came with the sponge application. I'm a little torn: the bit of texture that was there was kind of nice that it was definitely custom and gave it the tiniest amount of grip... but the smoothed over effect from the wool gave it a very professional look, like it was almost printed on. Plus some of the sponge daubs got kind of thick as the paint dried and it was not uniform across the stock and the wool made it all uniform. Yup, it is picking nits, but I think we share some of the same DNA from being precision shooters that carries over to other endeavors... So which would you prefer: the slight texture, or the smoothed over 'printed' look? Tried to get pics but it did not image well to show the story.
 
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I'd probably go with the printed look, saw too many "textured" rattle can do's where the texture portion flaked off later on in the service.
 
I quit painting rifles many years ago because I felt that the paint did not stand up sufficiently to the punishment. Paints have improved, but nowadays, I still think that Black is the New Black; and my rifles already come that way.
I like the look when the paint is wore down from use. Heck I like when an unpainted rifle is wore down from use.
 
Thanks for the video. I've always liked the look of painted rifles but intimidated to rattle can any of mine.
 
Thanks for the video. I've always liked the look of painted rifles but intimidated to rattle can any of mine.
If you have a left over stock or something practice on that! If you don’t like it, you can always repaint it
 
If you don't have a left over stock you can always lay a stock on some heavy cardboard, draw the outline, cut it out, hang it, put down a white base coat and then go to town practicing. It's only two dimensional but at least you get the feel for how far away you have to hold the cans, how tight you have to hold netting if you use it, what shape your sponges need to be, or how much pressure to apply, how to position stencils if you use them, what the colors actually look like, ...you get the picture.
 
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Thanks to the OP and all who followed. There are some great tips and ideas here and I will be doing a few of my stocks this week.
 
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Looks good to me. Just.... I don't think your choice of colors would be good for hiding anything in my neck of the woods.... :D
Doesn’t do me any good here in Colorado either. I’m gonna try some different colors when I get my krg bravo lol
 
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I did my tikka up as such. Some spruce trees around where i hunt, but majority of vegetation is sage and dry prairie grass.
Did you do the buttpad too? I usually tape it off and leave it black because the soft rubber usually flakes off fairly quickly even if one applies clear coat.
 
Nope, had taken it off so i didnt have to bother with tape. Tucked the plastic bottom metal in there so the pattern carried through
 
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I am inspired!. All of them look awesome.Ill give it a whirl on my tikka .Wish me luck! Ill post up my first attempt.Thank You Delta Gunner.
 
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These all look brilliant. Seriously great effects.

My question is has anyone experienced paint running off due to contact with sweat and other moisture? I would consider doing this for my PSR rifle (using my original Tikka stack as a practice).

Do you use an under coat of some kind first?

Excellent video! Thanks for the contribution.
I’ve used krylon on several rifles, pistols, motorcycle plastics, etc. Nail the prep work, finish with a clear coat, and you’re golden. Sweat should be a non issue. Using a ‘can in can’ catalysed clear coat is a great way to go.
 
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got all excited this thinking this was a potato gun /launcher post , or pumpkin chunkin air cannon deal , cool look for the firearms any way
 
Looks great, thanks for the video. Going to try this on my Savage 17HMR.
 
I painted my AXMC a while back. I did use a sponge technique, but I didn't want to replicate the Manners look. Here's a video that my son made of the project. It's not really a how-to, more of a chronological documentation of the process, and an illustration of the level of disassembly necessary to get a professional quality finish.


 
How do you like your Ruger? Looks great! I'm about 90% there on my decision to get the LRT.
I love this thing. Took 120 rounds or so to smooth the bolt out, it’s not like my bergara but not bad. Outside of that, this thing is a shooter. Can’t beat it for the money with what you’re getting.
 
Here is my practice stock. The base coat was grey and I did not paint it black. I think it would come out better with a base coat of black. I didn't tape off the black rubber areas. If this was actually going on a BA, I would have.
 

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