Refinishing Bell & Carlson stock

[Jessesky]

Hey guys,

I’m working on this tikka build in 280 ackley, it still needs a new barrel. I picked up this bell and Carlson stock at a good price, but I don’t like the rubberized paint texture. I’d like to refinish it with textured epoxy on the pistol grip and forend like a McMillan a4. Other than that I’d like it to be smooth paint over the fiberglass. Any foreseeable issues? Any tips?

 

[shoobe01]

Haven't done too much rubberized paint removal myself. I'd go less to more aggressive and try it somewhere easy to repair with sanding until you get a good result (under the forearm say):

1. Paint remover — I like citristrip, the gel stuff. Brush it on or get the spray. Let it sit, then wipe. If starting to work, reapply and scrape instead. Work in small areas, as it may attack the stock material itself eventually.
2. Graffiti remover — Many make it, 3M has a nice one. Often, best as the last step for odd finishes, when you have scraped away the bulk, this helps get residue off. Same: apply, soak for a few minutes, then wipe, scrape if needed.
3. Gasket remover — For rubbery stuff, good. But AGGRESSIVE. Try it moments after applying, and the very moment you get result wipe away the liquid or it will begin attacking the stock plastic.

My favorite scraper is the CJ Industries F-1 Fantastic Ice Scraper. As aggressive as metal with (IME) nearly zero damage to substrates. Yes, sold as an automotive ice scraper! But I learned of it industrially, as it's used for this sort of stuff by others.

Avoid too much scraping, or sanding. The light texture from the stock will normally be nice to preserve for looks if nothing else. Too much sanding or scraping and you'll have an inconsistent look, need to carefully apply the same finish everywhere.

Offically best to kill all chemistry with soap and water, but hard to apply to small areas, so I have a spray bottle of denatured alcohol and many paper towels or rags. Works fine.

Some stocks have repairs from molds, etc. You may mess those up with the removal. Get a good epoxy (g-flex is best but is expensive and SLOW to cure) re-fill them, and carefully sand them down to match as best you can.

Be 100% sure you have all the original finish off, then degrease the hell out of it, mask ALL contact area so you do not mess up bedding, and spray the new finishes on.

I'd do the texture first, let it dry, remove the masking for that, then do the paint over the top of the entire gun and let it cure. Not dry, cure. If you can hang it so you literally do not TOUCH it for 2 weeks, that's a good start. 3 weeks is better.

Good surface prep and cured before use: my experience is that as long as it's remotely good paint (though my favorite is RAPCO) then it is as strong as anything you can buy. It'll be awesome I am sure.

 

[JONWILL]

I would sand it with 150 or 220 wet dry sandpaper

Get it smooth with all the rubber coating off

The only power sand I would use would be a variable speed orbital sander. You can keep it slow enough to remove the finish but greatly reduce the chance of sanding the stock too much

Finish off with 400 or 600 grit prior to spraying

 

[ontarget]

Definitely be super careful with any paint strippers. I don't know what your stock material is but I just had an issue where I got some stripper on a plastic handguard on an SKS and it started to soften and eat the surface of the plastic.

 

[BigBlue 94]

This stuff works brand Plasti-Master will remove that coating and is safe for plastic, even clear plastic. It is a graffiti remover.

Clean it with tsp/water or soap and water to remove any residue or grease. This is a very important step!

Then sand with a pad, not just paper. This negates the impressions left by your fingers. Start around 200 and work up to 320 or 400. Clean it again.

For grip texture, I take duplicolor truck bed liner in an aerosol and lightly spritz it. The farther away you are, the finer the texture. Too close, and it'll glob and run. A few light dustings will build up the texture. Then spray with whatever topcoat you want.