Painting my rifle (desert camo)

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primalmu

primalmu

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Mooresville, NC
I recently moved to Tucson and after seeing what the desert sun does to anything dark/black (i.e. makes it burn the :cuss: out of you) I decided that I had better paint my Remington 700 AAC-SD (.308 Win) even before getting a range membership. I consider this as tactical meets practical. ;)

Today I picked up some Krylon camo paint and some adhesion promoter and went to work! I lightly scuffed up my B&C stock (MAN that was hard to make myself do!) with 220 grit sand paper and put down a base of adhesion promoter. I then painted the whole rifle with (I think) the sand colored Krylon camo paint. Here's the pictures so far.

DSC_0186_zps723fcfea.jpg

DSC_0184_zps30d84ede.jpg

Tomorrow I will be collecting some local foliage to use as a stencil to and some contrast with Krylon olive camo paint. Following that I'll use a matte clear coat to add some durability.

Stay tuned, if my results tomorrow are decent I'll be posting more pics!
 
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I'd personally have used a more permanent/durable product for painting and I'd have painted the stock/action/scope separately. The problem with getting thick, cheap paint inside your action is that its going to make it very sticky, unless you plan on stripping/cleaning it out.
 
not bad!

ive never been a big fan of leaves and stuff to do break up but thats your call. i do really like the way netting looks
 
Jackal, not everyone can afford a fancy paint job. If I could have afforded a Duracoat/Cerakote finish I would have gone that route. Also, the picture doesn't show it but the action is NOT painted. It is taped off so there is no paint in the action/chamber.

Paintballdude902, netting was my first choice, but I had some disappointing results from the delicate clothes bag netting I tried today on a scrap. My girlfriend suggested we look for some fishnet panty hose to try, so I'll be giving that a whirl first before resorting to foliage stencil.
 
Also, the picture doesn't show it but the action is NOT painted. It is taped off so there is no paint in the action/chamber
Click to expand...

Ah, good thinking. Painting doesnt have to be expensive, Brownells carries several brands of aerosol bake on finishes that provide professional results when applied correctly. Krylon will work ok, just be wary of solvents.
 
Personnaly, I would have started with a dark color if you are doing a desert camo in a Leaf pattern.
That way, the leaves or twigs come out darker since they are masking the paint behing them.
What you will end up with is, a darker colored stock, with light leaves or grass paterns.
But your base coat is fine if you intend to just do green or brown accent patterns to break up the rifle form.

Rule of thumb.
If you want dark leaves, twigs or patterns, then your base coat should be dark.
On a military Vehicle, they paint the dark first, then the pattern stencils are applied , then the lighter body or Field color is sprayed on .

Most people think that the base or field color is applied first.
But it isn't.
You can still do the patterns the way you are doing it, but then it is just added on to the base color and is not going to give you that 3D effect.
The pattern colors go in first, then the field or main color.

You should really have the action out of the stock, even if it is masked off.
And, Welcome to Arizona.
If you don't like the heat, Just wait, it will get hotter.
 
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I can't comment until I see the completed paint job but I do know I would not have painted the scope and rings in place. I'm just funny that way...
 
I've been to Tuscon several times. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product since the foliage in AZ is different than the typical woodland leaves. That living desert is very interesting.
 
My friend recently did a camo paint job on his AR-15 and his Benelli Nova shotgun. Basically a woodland camo scheme. He used Krylon paints and got a tennis racquet to spray through for a sort of digital patterning effect. Tried various pieces of netting and fishnet stockings but they all seemed to get clogged up with the paint and not make a decent camo pattern. He also used some long, slender grass and palm fronds for a shading effect and for breaking up the gun's outline. Finished it all off with Krylon 1311 clear matte finish. It has held up fairly well so far and he is being very careful not get any solvents on the painted surfaces when he cleans them.
 
back40, the markings on the scope dials are actually etching, so I'm planning on filling them in with black crayon (or something similar).
 
primalmu- i did the pelican case i use for deployments as one of my first projects. i learn that ones the netting has gotten some paint on it and dried it becomes much easier to work with
 
Brownells sells Lacquer sticks for filling in ingravings and stampings.
They have several colors and it shows up real good and lasts.
You just rub it in, and wipe off the top .
The color stays in the low part of the stampings.
It adds a nice touch like marking the serial numbers or Makers/ manufactures name.
And it can be removed with Lacquer thinner so it will not hurt a guns Value if it is some collectors peice.

I mostly do it on things like Safety, On/Off markings
 
Finished the paint job today. It may not be the best paint job, and may not be the best desert camo, but I think its pretty darn good for a first try. It will also accomplish the primary goal of preventing the desert sun from heating the rifle up to the point it will burn me if I touch it.

I used fishnet panty hose from Walmart, as well as Krylon Olive camo paint and Rustoleum brown camo paint. I finished it off with about 3 coats of Krylon matte clear coat.

DSC_0357_zps1434d080.jpg

DSC_0354_zpsdef3d1ce.jpg
 
That's awesome. I've been wanting to try this but I'll never be able to explain the fishnet panty hose to my wife :)
 
Thanks for the compliments everyone. I've already got a list of problems that I plan on fixing when this paint job needs refinished, but for now I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
 
primalmu

Turned out great! Nice job for the first time out in uncharted waters, so to speak. Like my friend who did the two camo paint jobs, you sort of learn as you go.
 
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