Rescuing a beat up old shotgun

[tanksoldier]

Say I were to buy an old Bubbafied pump shotgun; some rust, finish coming off, etc. Internals seem fine.

Rather than sending it off to be refinished, what if I removed the rust myself and used something like Rustoleum High Heat spraypaint to "refinish" the metal in matte black:

1. Would I go to Hell?
2. Would the Rustoleum work and hold up?

Remember that the gun has already been chopped up, Bubbafied and generally abused. I'm trying to return some dignity to the gun without spending more than the $100 I would pay for it.

 

[cloudcroft]

Since cosmetics are not an issue, sure, painting it would work just fine...and I also agree using a flat vs. glossy paint, too.

Remember, the PREPARATION of the surface is MOST of the work -- and the most important step -- when it comes to painting anything, so get all the rust off you can...it may even come out better than we might suspect.

Go for it.

-- John D.

 

[yhtomit]

Just be sure to take some (lots!) of before-and-after pictures, and give a report on the progress / results

What kind of gun is it (or did it start out as, anyhow)? It's always interesting to see how guns, like buildings, can go through complete rebirths / re-imaginings ...

I'd prefer that all my guns be either flat black or stainless steel -- not a big fan of blued barrels or earth-tone polymers or even (heresy) fancy scrolled wooden frou-frou. So this sounds like a gun after my own heart, or at least aesthetics

timothy

 

[tanksoldier]

It's a 12g Mossberg "New Haven", which I believe is the same as the 600 ATS. The barrel has been chopped to 18", rifle sightpost moved and finish ruined around sightpost. Light rust on metalwork. Finish is about 60%.

Mismatched wood; VERY nice birdseye maple stock, standard wood foreend (walnut?).

Looks like an old turkey gun that Bubba got his hands on.

Thinking of cleaning up the rust, selling the birdseye maple stock, buying a Hogue overmolded stock and forend, removing rust & painting the metalwork black, adding a TacStar 4rd Sidesaddle and using it as a truck gun.


<<What kind of gun is it (or did it start out as, anyhow)? It's always interesting to see how guns, like buildings, can go through complete rebirths / re-imaginings ... >>

 

[4fingermick]

I've used matte engine paint a few times when I was younger, worked ok.

You can get hold of rust blueing chemicals if you look around. They look great when you finish, but take awhile and require a bit of elbow grease. Pitted aresa can be covered by using emery paper over the surface and hammering it in with a ball peen hammer. You get the feel of right smartly, easier to get the piece sandblasted though.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Rescuing this would definitely pay up your dues in PETP, People for the Ethical Treatment of Pumpguns.

Brownell's offers some stuff to do what you want to, including some bake on finishes.

HTH....

 

[Fred Fuller]

You wouldn't be the first to do things of that nature, and you won't be the last. Have at it... do your best,

lpl/nc

 

[WinchesterAA]

I gave my AK and 870 a nice finish with rustoleum grill paint. Held up pretty well so far. AK looks perfect after a few thousand rounds. Internal finish chipped a bit but that's no biggie really. Moving parts on the outside have shiney scratches (safety selector, and the gas tube lock on the rear sight block)

The 870 was in such horrible condition to begin with that it took a whole lot of rustoleum to make a smooth finish so there's a little black residue left on your fingers if you have much skin-to-metal contact. Also not that big of a deal, just keep it off the carpet. Other than that the 870 looks 100% better than it did.

so, I see no problems at all refinishing anything with rustoleum.

 

[6_gunner]

Instead of regular paint, there's stuff you can get specifically for guns. I don't remember what it's called, but you spray it on like spray paint and then bake it in a regular oven to cure it.
It seems like I saw it in a Sportsmans Guide catalog. It wasn't that expensive (maybe $20) and I'll bet it would hold up better than paint.

 

[wooderson]

Sounds like a job for DuraCoat - http://www.lauerweaponry.com/

I don't think that one even requires baking - but you do need access to a sprayer of some kind (or use their cheapo sprayer - no idea of quality there).

Gun-Kote is another product - comes in aerosol cans and you bake to finish.

 

[redneck2]

I saw some work that a gunsmith friend of mine did. It was on a 1911 that missed the protective oil bath from the factory, and had some surface rust. He buffed it down and did a hot blue job. It was gorgeous when he got done. I'm talking 1950's S&W or Colt blue equivalent.

 

[pdowg881]

Makes we want to buy a bunch of neglected guns and turn them into projects. Could be a fun way to expand on the shooting hobby.

 

[Capstick1]

Rescuing abused 870s

If you have an 870 that's been abused by a duck hunter and the wood stocks been dinged all to hell from riding in a boat, you can usually find a good synthetic replacement stock for less than $80.00 from Brownells.

 

[MassMark]

Speaking of Brownells, I think if you do the gun with Alumahyde flat black, it would look cool.... Or, if you know someone who does parkerizing, you could go that route, but I'd prep and paint...Make sure to post pics when you're done. Sonds like a neat "before and after" project...

 

[waterhouse]

I used Krylon spray paint from walmart to do mine. The gun has been strapped down in the trunk for, I don't know, over a year now, only taken out to shoot it and clean it every once in a while. I'm happy with the results.

If you do a search in this forum for krylon I had pictures in the post. Oh, I just found it:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=156099

 

[bkjeffrey]

aluma-hyde.

Alumahyde II is a great product that is available in many colors. Surface prep is a must with it. But with careful patience (spelling), the finish it produces will look great and last through anything, including bore solvents! Its fairly cheap also. Ive done a mossberg 9200 and two of my rifles with alumahyde, put em through hell, and they still look as good as the day i painted 'em. Ill post pics and if your interested Ill give you some pointers for preping and applying it.

 

[bkjeffrey]

Heres a Mossberg 9200 that rode around in the back of some dudes truck for a few months. It was a rusty POS when i got it. Finish is done in Alumahyde II OD Green.

 

[bkjeffrey]

Heres a 300 WM with od green and tan aluma-hyde. Notice the muzzle where the paint hasn't blown off or melted. Copper solvents dissolve copper, not properly applied alumahyde. .

 

[bkjeffrey]

And heres my fnspr 308 with 4 color aluma-hyde.

 

[MCgunner]

I hear you can take a shotgun to Gander Mountain and have it camo dip painted for reasonable. I have a Mossberg 500 with OEM Mossberg camo that's still lookin' decent after nearly 20 seasons. Yeah, it's a waterfowl gun so the camo doesn't really look out of place, in fact, it's quite fashionable in the duck marsh. But, then, I'm a sucker for camo.

Love those Hogue overmolded stocks, btw. Got one on a 10/22 that's just neat as heck.

 

[simmonsguns]

flat black rustoleum was good enough for my 72 nova. how about a spray on truck bed liner for the stock and forearm. the flat black for grills works very good, it's high heat resistance and toughness works really good.

 

[RancidSumo]

Could you Rhino Line a gun? Not saying its a good idea, I just want to know if its possible.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I used Krylon spray paint from walmart to do mine. The gun has been strapped down in the trunk for, I don't know, over a year now, only taken out to shoot it and clean it every once in a while. I'm happy with the results.

If you do a search in this forum for krylon I had pictures in the post. Oh, I just found it:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=156099

That came out really nice.

 

[MCgunner]

I used undercoating on the axle and springs on my trailer. That held up pretty well. It hardens pretty thick and might be an option, but I don't know how well it'd do for a shotgun. It's easy, though, just a spray can.

 

[simmonsguns]

lining

The manager of the local LineX did his turkey gun in a camo patteren, it's an 1187 with a red dot on a receiver mount.
He sprayed the gun in sections,masked off what he did not want coated and cleaned up the over spray with MEK and scraped off what stuck where it was not wanted, it looks good, rough but good.
On the stock he sanded down the cheek area, this stuff will peel skin off if you don't remove the sharp stuff. Black and Green like old military patteren stuff.
Whole gun, rib and all.