A $50.00 Remington 870 in good shooting shape is an absolute STEAL!!! GRAB it.
Recently, a friend of mine wanted a HD/fun gun and bought an 870 from a friend of his.
The gun had been used as a farm truck gun and had about 0% finish left on stock and metal. Mechanically, it was "carried much, fired very little", so it was in good shooting shape.
He asked my opinion about new wood, and either cold blue or a professional refinish.
Since he's on a tight budget, I suggested he refinish the wood, and PAINT the metal.
I "helped" (actually I did the work while he watched).
I 100% stripped the action and barrel of all easily removed parts, leaving only the ejector. I took the metal out in the back yard away from all sparks and flames, and first, scrubbed the gun down with paint thinner and a stiff tooth brush, then again with lacquer thinner until all grease and dirt was off.
I rinsed well with clean lacquer thinner and allowed it to completely dry.
New I made my special mix of Rustoleum brand flat black enamel and a few parts of gloss enamel.
The exterior metal was sprayed with as heavy a coat of paint as possible without getting sags or runs.
After allowing the paint to set-up for 30 minutes, we put the parts into the kitchen oven at 300 degrees for 1 hour.
When the hour was up, the parts were removed and allowed to cool completely, then sprayed down with a thin spray of WD/40 to prevent rust in the interior until the paint was completely cured.
After 24 hours to cure, the metal was wiped down and re-sprayed with CLP Breakfree.
He refinished the wood with semi-gloss polyurethane.
The gun looks like a brand new gun, the paint stands up to use better than most finishes, and can be refinished or touched up at will.
Several points:
1. Standard flat black paint looks good when fresh, but handling rubs the finish to a splotchy, mottled look. For this reason, I cut the flat paint with a bit of gloss paint. This gives a a dull finish that doesn't develop the splotches.
Also, there's no reason why the gun can't be any color you want. A gray or OD Green paint finish looks good on a HD gun. and if you want to get fancy, camo.
2. Bake the finish when the wife isn't home. The fumes really smell up the house, and for some weird reason, women just get upset at the whole idea of baking something other than food.
