Gun Paint

[Danth]

This painting stuff is all new to me. I've done some research and see the paint comes in air dry and oven dry. Sounds as though the oven dry is more durable but the air dry gets pretty good marks as well. Here's my quandry: I've got a very rough Mannlicher Schoeneur with deep pitting. This thing is too rough with far too many pits to fill with weld, finish and re-blue. I was wondering if this might be a good candidate for painting. If so, what is used as a filler for the pits? Thanks, Dan

[jmsj]

Dan,
If you don't mind a heavy matte finish, bead blast the gun with heavy blast media paying special attention to getting all the rust out of the pits and then coat it. It won't hide the pits but will make them less noticeable. I have used Cerakote and Brownell's Teflon/moly coat with good results.
Are the pits too deep to draw file out?
Good Luck, jmsj

[fouronesix]

I'll second the idea about blasting it with medium or coarse media, then either painting or using one of the baked-on coatings. A friend has a blaster for heavy equipment prep for re-painting that I use occasionally for guns. Just plug, shield and mask really well the areas you don't want to blast, put on the gloves and goggles and get after it. A barreled action takes about 10 minutes or less. For paint, flat black Rustoleum would work about as well as any. The nice thing about painting is it's easy to remove if desired and easy to touch up or even change colors in the future. The do it yourself baked-on finishes are a little more durable than paint but still susceptible to scratching. Most are fairly easy to touch up but not quite as easy as paint.

I don't know of any material that would satisfactorily fill the pits. I'd be tempted to leave as is. I think the blasting and cheap and easy route makes sense for this type project.

[nekshot]

for filling pits and other deep marks JP Weld works perfect and won't give as dry a spot as body filler does.

[Bullwolf]

for filling pits and other deep marks JP Weld works perfect and won't give as dry a spot as body filler does.

I believe nekshot meant J.B. Weld




- Bullwolf

[fouronesix]

The only way JB Weld might work would be to fill, file and sand- then paint. The simplest DYI baked on coatings need at least a one hour, 300-350 degree bake. That's about the temp JB will start to break down.

Any epoxy or similar filler would get blown out by any kind of bead or sand blasting. Wouldn't work by blasting first then filling with JB because the filing and sanding would destroy the consistent matte surface left by the blasting.

[mac60]

Take a look at aluma hide II from Brownell's. No oven needed. It's tough as nails once it's cured. Downside is that like anything you get from Brownell's - they don't just give it away. One can will do at least 2 long guns. Duplicolor makes a high temp. ceramic paint you can buy at some auto parts stores - it works best if you can bake it. VHT makes a good one too - I've used it without baking it - also available at some auto parts stores.

[nicholst55]

Lauer (maker of Dura-Coat) makes a product called Dura-Fill (or something similar) intended for just this purpose. That's about all that I know about it, but it's on their website.

[1johnlb]

What about powder coat?

[Colohunter]

Take a look at aluma hide II from Brownell's. No oven needed. It's tough as nails once it's cured. Downside is that like anything you get from Brownell's - they don't just give it away. One can will do at least 2 long guns. Duplicolor makes a high temp. ceramic paint you can buy at some auto parts stores - it works best if you can bake it. VHT makes a good one too - I've used it without baking it - also available at some auto parts stores.

I used Alumahyde on my 6.8 SPC and have been pleased with the finish so far. I didn't really need to fill any pits as the rifle wasn't very old when I coated it. I put some pictures of the process up here: Coyote Alumahyde

As nicholst55 mentioned, I have also heard of the DuraFil from the company that does Dura-Coat. I don't have any experience with the product, but here is the company website: DuraFil

Take pictures as you re-coat the rifle, I would be interested to see which option works out best for you.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Here's a different idea. When you bead or grit blast a gun the best idea is to paint directly afterwards. However if you need to fill pits then you'll have to sand them fair afterwards which kind of kills your blasted finish.

If you really want a matted finish then blast first, the fill the pits and then use a Jitterbug or orbital sander to generate a random finish on the parts. We do this on machined aluminum parts all the time and it generates a finish that is very similar to a blasted finish.

Another way to go would be blast, fill, and then sand in line with the barrel using only strait strokes which would generate a linier type of finish that would be pleasing to the eye after painting.

Cerakote H would be my first choice and it has to be cured at 250F for 2 hours. This temp wouldn't kill the JB Weld.

Just some more ideas to ponder.

Randy

[nekshot]

I epoxy painted a reciever 6 weeks ago. I went to clean out the chamber with a can of gun cleaner from walmart. I sprayed out the chamber an presto the epoxy that got spray on started blistering and peeling. Live and learn they say!

[W.R.Buchanan]

I had a similar experience with Duracoat on a Turk Mauser Receiver. Went to spray it clean with Brake Cleaner and washed all the paint off instead. I laughed and then threw all my Duracoat in the trash can. If it can't take Acetone or Brake Cleaner it's useless IMHO.

Randy

[beezapilot]

At the local building supply store they have a stainless steel spray, I was a little curious about that- anyone used it?

[seaboltm]

What about powder coat?

I have contemplated the idea. But powder coat thickness tends to be more than paint; much more. It would be easy to get into a situation where the firearm could not be reassembled.

[adanymous]

I used to do this for a living. I have de pitted at least a billion guns maybe a zillion. Buy the lauer dura fil. Blast your gun with 120 grit aluminum oxide and then clean it twice with acetone to completely degrease and remove blasting dust. Run a thin wire through your barrel and hang it somewhere you can spray it. Mix your dura fil per instructions and spray the affected area as well as the surrounding areas. Give a few min between coats for the filler to flash off the volatiles. Reapply until it looks filled and rough. lightly block sand the area and feather the edges out super smooth. Remove flats with a strip of sandpaper and the shoe shine method. Less sanding is more once your edges are feathers. I used 120 grit to match the matte from the blast cabinet. If you sand too much you'll see the flat spots from the filler, but matte black duracoat will kinda hide it. Once done finish with duracoat, again make sure its completely clean and degreased after sanding. If your duracoat is too shiny cut your hardener by 1/10 or add 1/10 to shine it up. Then you can bake it if you have a hot box or just leave it hanging in your garage a few days. It cures at 110* if I remember right, and only takes a half hour til you can reassemble the gun. The longer it cures the harder it will get. 120grit aluminum oxide will BARELY and with a lot of effort remove year old duracoat.

If acetone takes your duracoat off you did it wrong. That stuff is hard as woodpecker lips.

[adanymous]

Heck if you can't do it PM me and I could probably even do it for you. Id love to play with a manlicher shoenaur. Ive wanted one for years. However if it were 308 you may not get it back

BTW I am in the gun business, and can provide credentials. I am not however attempting to solicit business.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Attachment 117030Attachment 117031Attachment 117032Here's a Star Mod. B that I painted about 2 weeks ago. I used Brownell's Aluma Hyde II. The pistol was completely disassembled and the slide rail areas on the slide and receiver covered with masking tape. I sprayed the first coat on both the exterior and interior, then a second coat about 10 minutes later on just the exterior. No baking required. I let it cure for 4 days before I reassembled it. No difficulty in reassembly or function. Normally paint jobs make me shudder as I prefer traditionally blued steel, but in this case I needed to seal some deep pitting under and around the grips so that they wouldn't re-rust. The grip screws are stainless steel obtained on e-bay, and this pistol should now be better resistant to the humid heat of concealed carry. So here's another option for you to consider. The grips are Oregon Myrtle wood from 4S Brand grips.

[Danth]

Thanks everyone for all the information, suggestions, pics, etc. Love this site as everyone is so anxious to help. Decided to attempt another project that's not as nasty as the Mannlicher and see how it comes out. I'll post pics of the before and after. Best, Dan