new 870 help me make it purdy

[tssievert]

i'm gonna hit up walmart this week for a new 870 express and i only have a month and a half to play around with it before i go out for my first turkey season. my questions go like this, do i need that fancy camo? can't i just get some bland color to coat all the metal and paint the wood? or would i be fine with it as is? if i decide to coat all the metal what can i get that will last. this is gonna be my do all gun and i think its really gonna need some kind of camo. oh, and by the way, i'm cheap and don't think i should pay anyone for somthing i can try myself, thanks

 

[Dave McCracken]

A roll of camo tape will suffice, and be less difficult to remove than spray paint.

The matte finish, of course, is often enough.

Your 870 will last for decades. You don't have to commit to a camo paint job right now.

 

[mattw]

turkeys do not know what a shotgun is, just put some burlap on it and call it a day

 

[Savage.250]

+1 Here here! I agree. As long as there's nothing bright or shiney no camo is ok.

 

[ChefGW]

All you need to turkey hunt is this:

1. shotgun laoded with #9
2. mouthcall
3. a little patience


That's it no fancy gear or anything.
Have fun and bag a big breard!

 

[tssievert]

i'm lazy and would like to finish the gun so i don't have to be worried when it starts to rain, i just need a coating since i don't want to spend the cash on stainless.

 

[RKirby]

!

 

[RKirby]

A roll of camo tape will suffice, and be less difficult to remove than spray paint.

The matte finish, of course, is often enough.

Your 870 will last for decades. You don't have to commit to a camo paint job right now.

__________________

I'll second that....no need to spend a lot of money. Blued and walnut killed a lot of turkeys before those newfangled camo shotguns came along to seperate hunters from their cash!

 

[asknight]

Camo tape on the Express' matte finish = guaranteed heavy rust.

Either get the Remington factory camo finish, or stick with the matte finish. After you buy it and pay for Tuff-Coat, Gun-Kote, or the like by professionals you're looking at the cost of a factory Remington job.

Just please don't bubba up a brand new shotgun with a home-made spray paint job. If you want to do that, just go to the pawn shop and get one already done up for $100 or less.

 

[perrytrails]

Try this: Krylon camo paint at walmart, 4 colors in Large cans for about 12 bucks. Tape over your sights, bead, and muzzle. Tie it up and put a total flat black paint job on it to start. When it drys, take some string ( I used some trot line string ) and start wrap'in it up from one end to the other and then back to the start. You can cut the string in different places as your wrapping and tie it back together, leaving a knot and a couple short fraded pieces for a little brake up of just lines. ( look below the bolt )
Then go to town, start with the light colors and finish with the flat black. Take the string off when it drys and there ya go. You'll even notice a 3-D look around the edges where the string was. It comes from spraying at different angles.
I don't think it looks to bubba??????????????

 

[Sulaco]

Before camoflauge, lots of turkey were killed with muskets and patience.

And perrytrails, I think that camo job looks good.

 

[mattw]

I agree... awesome camo job

 

[texagun]

You guys are making me cry.....taking a new shotgun and spraying it with spray paint. Turkeys are not the brightest animals in the world....they won't know or care if your gun is factory-fresh or painted purple or yellow with spray paint. The last camo gun I had was put in my gun safe...now I can't find it.


This is a Turkey Gun.....

 

[Lennyjoe]

If you want to, Ramline sells camo pattern stock/forearm kits. The matte finish on the barrel is fine. If its blued and shiny I'd put a gunsock over it or something to that avail. The reflection from the sun will alert the birds.

 

[perrytrails]

Sorry to upset ya texa, I bought the express just so I could paint it. Didn't care for sticky tape, and never liked the camo sock deal either. Its a tool, I look at the wingmasters beside it in the safe for beauty.

 

[AStone]

Turkey vision

Turkeys are not the brightest animals in the world....they won't know or care if your gun is factory-fresh or painted purple or yellow with spray paint.

OK, so this addresses a question I've had for quite some time.

Let's address it here, straight up, no BS, on the table.

I've seen all those turkey guns in the gun shop, all camoed with green and brown in fractal patterns.

"My" gun shop even puts them on a separate shelf from "regular" shotguns, as if they're special, or even holy.

When I look at them, I have to ask myself, "Are turkey really that perceptive that they'd see a regular black or black & brown 870 that's not camoed?"

I'm skeptical.

Turkey's are birds like quail, grouse, ducks & geese.

Yes, birds do have exceptional visual accuity (sez the biologist) due to the fact that, whereas we have 3 types of cones in our retina (red, blue, green), some birds have four types of cones.

That could result in better visual acuity.

But I'm still skeptical.

I'm wondering what experienced turkey shooters will say.

After all, turkey hunters from about 1775 to 1975 didn't have camo guns, yet they still ate turkey.

What say you?

Nem

 

[asknight]

Nem, today's hunters just aren't as patient as the hunters of those years you mention. We don't have the time to be. Work, kids, school, friends, partying, etc take a more important role in modern life. The turkey's visual acuity is almost as sharp as the predatory birds such as owls and hawks. They can see a mouse running in the grass from 500+ feet. Of course they can pick out a glare from a blued or stainless barrel from even farther away. That's why you had better not move a muscle, or even breathe too deeply while his eyes are fixed on you and trying to figure out just what you are. He already knows you aren't "supposed" to be there, since you're shining. Nothing shines or glistens in the woods. If you don't move, he doesn't take alarm, since you're obviously no threat if you're not moving.

That's why full camo, face, hands, gun, etc are selling so well. Because it allows the hunter to relax more and not worry about a small movement so much as he used to. I've literally had turkeys see me before I seen them @ 100yds+ and run/fly away, when I had a blued shotgun laid across my lap. I didn't know they were there until they all took flight... and scared the mess out of me. By that same token, I've also had them 15 yards away from me and coming closer trying to figure me out, with a matte camo shotgun laid in my lap. My body was camo'd head to toe both times. I blame the color of the shotgun.

Anyway, that's my experience and part of the reason I don't like turkey hunting as much as I should. What sez the others out there?

 

[perrytrails]

Bottom line, camo works. And not to mention it sells many guns. Being a avid turkey hunter, I've seen many an old gobbler pick out movement of a shotgun, even matte finished non gloss guns. Camo gives you an edge. You can still take your matte finished gun and kill many turkeys with it, but a turkey will pick up movement of that SOLID matte finished gun before he will a camo one, the key is a broken up pattern. Look at bows, not many on the market are sold now days, that doesn't have a camo finish. Its what most want, it sells. I just couldn't see spending the extra money for the camo finish on a 870 which is my gun of choice. $219 for the express, 12 dollars for paint, just a cheaper way to get what I wanted. My gun also doubles for a close range coyote gun. My opinion is also the same for yotes, camo head to toe is a must!