by mapandcompass » Wed Dec 15, 2010 3:26 pm
Use Dura Coat IF you do end up painting it.
I did a breakup camo on a beat up old .22 before I took it to Alaska. After reading a bunch of forums I decided to try it with Rustoleum Camo, after roughing up the surface with a bit of steel wool and hitting the stock with Rusto's Plastic Primer (which is great stuff, by the way). All told it had ~12 light coats.
The Rustoleum looked great but after a month of being toted around, rubbed against trees, set down, daily cleanings, etc., that finish started to show wear. I'd say it's about 90% now, which isn't that terrible for thirty days of hard daily use and carry. I'm still glad I did it to a $70 secondhand .22 but I would feel dumb had I done it to a $1k+ AR-15
A couple things I wish I had known:
- Remember to spend plenty of time on the masking tape and wait 120% the dry times to ensure good bonding between coats (you won't want to, but do it anyway).
- wipe down surfaces with Acetone, wait 20 minutes before painting (to remove finger oils and whatnot)
- wear latex or nitrile gloves
- don't huff the spray paint (i.e. get a respirator, it will be nice to have for other projects)