Jessesky
Member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2016
- Messages
- 981
A year ago I picked up the ‘new’ bell and Carlson medalist stock. I liked the new forend profile and the overall profile. It reminded me of an adjustable McMillan gamescout. One thing I didn’t like was the rubberized B&C webbed paint!
Ugly! So, I waited for the weather to get warmer to change that. After doing ample research as to what paint would serve me best, I settled on Aluma hyde II. I’ve never used this paint before but it was cost effective, people say it is durable, and doesn’t need an airbrush like cerakote. I also figured while I’m at it I would add some grip texture with marine tex epoxy. I haven’t used this before either, but heard good things.
Let’s begin!
I started by sanding off all that rubberized paint. I started with 120 grit keeping away from any angled areas as not to round them, worked to 240, and eventually 320 in the areas where I really didn’t want to unintentionally round the shape. Sanding blocks help hold angles where you want to keep them. Be sure to wear a mask, fiberglass is not good to inhale. Once the stock was all sanded I taped off the profile of the textured areas. I pretty much looked at the manners t5 and McMillan a4 for inspiration. Make sure to firmly stick the painters tape on, I like to run the back of my fingernail along the edge.
Now is the scary part! Lather that epoxy on as though it’s a very thin layer of peanut butter. Be careful not to let it goop and drop. If you go too heavy it will start to do this. You can leave the epoxy for 30 minutes but then start checking ever 15 minutes thereafter to see when it begins to get tacky. This is Because we are going to take the back of a spoon to ‘pull’ up the surface and create a texture. We will do this by gently touching the epoxy with the back of the spoon so it sticks and pulling it off, over and over. Be sure that your epoxy has thickened enough though or it will only smooth out again, but wait too long and it won’t pull up. You have about an 1hr 45min window.
Now after two hours it should be firm enough to pull of the tape. The edge will be pretty defined. Wet your finger in some water and run it around the perimeter to smooth the edge to meet the surface of the stock. Let it dry and come back the next day. You will notice now you have a spikey stock with some sharp epoxy points sticking up. Take a hand file and shave them down as desired.
Now the Aluma Hyde II. Start by figuring out how you will hang your stock. I took a nut and bolt through the action pillar and fastened it to a metal L bracket. The angle doesn’t allow the stock to hit the string even if it spins 360 degrees.
I purchased OD Green. I’ve heard horrible things about the nozzles on these clogging at the most inopportune time, so I had extra nozzles on standby and made sure to shake the can vigorously for at least three minutes. I made sure to use light and short sprays no closer that 12”. I also had a scrap board near me to test the spray every few sprays to make sure it wouldn’t sputter. I experienced no nozzle issues and didn’t have to replace it at all.
I hung mine from the garage door and transferred it somewhere more stable for the next few hours hanging from a ladder
I also painted the adjustable comb. The beer has to be a freshly drank bottle or the bottle mount won’t work
You can use the L bracket as a way to keep the stock stored without the paint touching anything and without taking up a lot of space by hanging. Place a weight of some sort on it to keep it from sliding, but make sure the weight doesn’t touch the stock. This is much more secure and you’ll want to save the space because you won’t be touching this for 14 days! Leave it and forget about it. Don’t be tempted and let it cure fully.
I am happy with the results for the first time working with these products. I plan to rebarrel this tikka to 280AI. We will see how well the paint holds up. I’ll post pics in a year or so if I remember!
Ugly! So, I waited for the weather to get warmer to change that. After doing ample research as to what paint would serve me best, I settled on Aluma hyde II. I’ve never used this paint before but it was cost effective, people say it is durable, and doesn’t need an airbrush like cerakote. I also figured while I’m at it I would add some grip texture with marine tex epoxy. I haven’t used this before either, but heard good things.
Let’s begin!
I started by sanding off all that rubberized paint. I started with 120 grit keeping away from any angled areas as not to round them, worked to 240, and eventually 320 in the areas where I really didn’t want to unintentionally round the shape. Sanding blocks help hold angles where you want to keep them. Be sure to wear a mask, fiberglass is not good to inhale. Once the stock was all sanded I taped off the profile of the textured areas. I pretty much looked at the manners t5 and McMillan a4 for inspiration. Make sure to firmly stick the painters tape on, I like to run the back of my fingernail along the edge.
Now is the scary part! Lather that epoxy on as though it’s a very thin layer of peanut butter. Be careful not to let it goop and drop. If you go too heavy it will start to do this. You can leave the epoxy for 30 minutes but then start checking ever 15 minutes thereafter to see when it begins to get tacky. This is Because we are going to take the back of a spoon to ‘pull’ up the surface and create a texture. We will do this by gently touching the epoxy with the back of the spoon so it sticks and pulling it off, over and over. Be sure that your epoxy has thickened enough though or it will only smooth out again, but wait too long and it won’t pull up. You have about an 1hr 45min window.
Now after two hours it should be firm enough to pull of the tape. The edge will be pretty defined. Wet your finger in some water and run it around the perimeter to smooth the edge to meet the surface of the stock. Let it dry and come back the next day. You will notice now you have a spikey stock with some sharp epoxy points sticking up. Take a hand file and shave them down as desired.
Now the Aluma Hyde II. Start by figuring out how you will hang your stock. I took a nut and bolt through the action pillar and fastened it to a metal L bracket. The angle doesn’t allow the stock to hit the string even if it spins 360 degrees.
I purchased OD Green. I’ve heard horrible things about the nozzles on these clogging at the most inopportune time, so I had extra nozzles on standby and made sure to shake the can vigorously for at least three minutes. I made sure to use light and short sprays no closer that 12”. I also had a scrap board near me to test the spray every few sprays to make sure it wouldn’t sputter. I experienced no nozzle issues and didn’t have to replace it at all.
I hung mine from the garage door and transferred it somewhere more stable for the next few hours hanging from a ladder
I also painted the adjustable comb. The beer has to be a freshly drank bottle or the bottle mount won’t work
You can use the L bracket as a way to keep the stock stored without the paint touching anything and without taking up a lot of space by hanging. Place a weight of some sort on it to keep it from sliding, but make sure the weight doesn’t touch the stock. This is much more secure and you’ll want to save the space because you won’t be touching this for 14 days! Leave it and forget about it. Don’t be tempted and let it cure fully.
I am happy with the results for the first time working with these products. I plan to rebarrel this tikka to 280AI. We will see how well the paint holds up. I’ll post pics in a year or so if I remember!
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