(Camo) Painting a Coyote Gun...?Help?

[44magHunter]

Going to be painting a Rem. 788 bolt gun for coyote killing.

Stock is walnut and I have never painted wood before. I will be using 'coyote tan' as my base layer and then I'm going to do some spots/speckles/lines of black and brown. The stock already has a few layers of polyurethane on it but I don't know what my next step should be before I do the actually start spray painting....?

Please give me some advice so I don't have to do it twice...

[BenT]

Scuff it up with scotch brite first. Not sure what kind of paint you are using. But most gun cleaners will strip off your standard hardware store spray paints. So before going to the trouble make sure the paint you use will with stand gun solvents , otherwise the paint will wipe off when cleaning your gun.

[Lassiter]

I painted mine light green first and then added some fairly large spots of dark green. Then I cut some small branches with leaves on them and lethem wilt a bit so the leaves were soft and would lay flat. Then I laid them on the rifle and sprayed it with a tan camo paint. The reusult appeared to be light and dark green leaves on a tan background. Then I sprayed some flat black to simulate shadows. After everything was good and dry I sprayed the whole thing with a clear, flat polyurathane to protect it. Looks pretty good........at least to me!

[horsesoldier03]

Go to walmart in the floral section and pick up some plastic folage. Paint the stock with your darker colors first. Then lay the folage onto the stock and then spray your tan color onto the stock. The folage will block the cover spray and will create the pattern. You can go on UTUBE and find a couple videos that have produced nice results.

[44magHunter]

Thanks guys. I'm not trying to make a pattern. I only want a tan base coat and a few splotches and lines to break up the outline and blend in with the corn, grass, and weeds where I am always after the 'yotes. I would do the good ole' leaf trick, but there is no point as that is not the type of camo I want....

Anyway, I just wanted to see what prep I should do to the wood before painting it. I will be using basic hardware store spray paint but I'm actually pretty handy with the stuff so I should be able to make it look ok......

So I gather that I need to ruff up all surfaces a little to get the paint to stick. Is the polyurethane the best base or should I coat the wood with something else first?

Wish me luck
-44mag.

[Streetstar]

I would do the good ole' leaf trick, but there is no point as that is not the type of camo I want....


Wish me luck
-44mag.

Aw -- cmon , may as well throw a style point or two in there -- i did an AR in a "desert color" , but used the leafs too . -- Fun 2 hour project one day . I just used matte spray paint colors --- since it was an AR, when i got sick of it, i just stashed the plastic and used paint stripper on the metal (its just basic bbq black now)

[shooter]

I would sand off all of the polyurethane that is on there now. Paint doesn't stick well to slick surfaces. Shoot a primer coat and follow any of the above mentioned directions. A final urethane coating will give the paint extra protection from scuffs and scratches. I've done several guns this way and they all come out pretty well. You can get a nice looking camo finish, especially if you go slow and can see what you want the gun to look like in your head.

[Mossyoak1957]

I did up my Savage 22 mag. squirrel /turkey gun, it was all black when I bought it a few years ago. I bought a paint kit that the guys use to spray paint there duck boats all the kit had in it was 4 cans of flat spray paint...black...brown....green...and sand color and a plastic branch to use for a stencil.

The main thing I found out was de-grease everything that paint will be on and tape off any safety buttons....triggers....scope lens....tape off anything that moves on the gun.

[Rusty]

Check in your local big box store and you'll find either Krylon or another brand of flat finish out door colors.

[jkbrea]

I did my Tikka but it had a composite stock and it was very easy to do. I'm not sure how to prep a wood stock but it you don't want to paint a pattern on it you can use Krylons Web paint. It sprays a web pattern and takes just one or two passes after you paint the base coat. It's fairly cheap, about 4 bucks for a small can. I used black web over Krylon camo OD green and it came out great. I finished it with a matte clear coat to protect it. Good luck.

[AJMD429]

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=45220
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=32389
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=33782
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=34214
http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=12763

[Ysabel Kid]

I've now done three of these. It gets addictive - mainly because it is so easy and fun to do. As noted, prep is critical. All three guns were purchased specifically by me to refinish, and most of them had little to no finish left. I disassembled and degreased each thoughly. I went ahead and sanded the stocks and roughed up the metal enough to hold the new finish. For lighter-colored final finishes, I recommend a white primer coat. I did this for my daughter's pink-stocked .22, and it allowed the finish coat to be brilliant in color. I also did this for the one I did in a winter-camo theme - white background with gray and black twig-pattern camoflage. For the one I did in the "tiger-stripe" pattern in green and black, I first did a primer coat of flat gray.

For the last one, I painted the next full coat in flat black, and then the final coat, after applying the tiger stripes with painters tape, in OD green. It turned out very nice.

I justed used Krylon paint, and have not had any issues with the paint on either the wood or metal. Nice thing is that if you don't like it, you can always remove it and try something different.

I've been looking for another project gun to do a coyote tan base with a stone-flecked finish. Figure this should be another fun project!

Good luck!!!

[nemhed]

I've posted this here before, but this is my coyote rifle done with the krylon fusion. I love the stuff and as previously stated, this get addictive and I've now done several guns. Don't over think it, it's not that difficult, and hard to really do it wrong. The main mistake I think most people make is going too dark, but it depends on your surroundings.

[L_Kilkenny]

I've painted a few stocks (won't paint the steel) and after awhile determined the only reason to paint a gun was to cover ugliness. Maybe not entirely true, obviously white helps in winter and just about anything is better than black synthetic anytime. But IMO don't be fooled into thinkin painting wood/blued and even wood/stainless adds muchs in the way of success.

Being said, the rattle can camo paints available do a decent job but I prefer to cover them with rattle can MinWax spar urethane. Just another layer of protection and it holds up well to the solvents I've used. It "may" darken colors a bit and it "may" yellow some over time but I've never had any issues.

[COSteve]

If you're not sure you want to paint it, you can also get one of those camo Gun Wraps that have the advantage of protecting your gun and insulating your hands from the cold steel.

[Hobie]

I think you've gotten some good advice but I have to tell you, there are 788 collectors (preservationists) who will be crying the blues about this... However, this is what this gun was built to do!

[JReed]

Wow Doc I had forgotten about all those posts I had done. I may have to do another.

[44magHunter]

I think you've gotten some good advice but I have to tell you, there are 788 collectors (preservationists) who will be crying the blues about this... However, this is what this gun was built to do!

Yessir. Interestingly enough my dad bought this gun a long time ago from a police sale or something. The gun had been used in a guard tower at a prison.... I think it's a little more suited for coyotes though....

[44magHunter]

Making some progress.... Got the base layer on and waiting until tomorrow for more....

[44magHunter]

I think she needs more tan but we're getting somewhere....

[Griff]

Looks just about perfect to me!

[JReed]

No need to change a thing. That would even work great out west.

[44magHunter]

I think I should have done what I was originally going to do and painted it tan first and then some splotches or black. Something like nemhed's rig....

Oh well, I can always paint over it if the coyotes laugh at me.....

[Charles]

I have killed scores of coyotes with various blue steel and walnut stocked rifles and the coyotes never seem to notice.

[44magHunter]

I have killed scores of coyotes with various blue steel and walnut stocked rifles and the coyotes never seem to notice.

Yeh, but the gun's gotta look cool.....

[Ysabel Kid]

Sweet looking!

[44magHunter]

So the coyote gun never really got a chance to go afield this winter, but it did get to help take care of a rather large feral cat...

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. I apologize in advance if anyone is offended.

[Mescalero]

Hey,
I like cats, cool useful critters.
But when they go bad, you have to do what is right.

[AJMD429]

I apologize in advance if anyone is offended.

Your sister was offended...

At least it wasn't her cat...!

P.S. Post a picture of that 20-yard group you shot today...

But BEFORE you do that, you need to take the other two trash cans down to the road.