Shotgun Painting Question

T

Tom Roberts

Well-known member
I know there's links out there that address how to camo paint your shotgun. Unless I overlooked something, I'm not clear on painting over blued or parkerized receiver or barrel. Should that finish be removed to the bare metal or can I paint over it? I know degreasing is vital for good adhesion but it seems bluing would prevent ahesion as well. Anybody have any experience with this process?
 
When I painted my old shotgun I used a wire wheel on a bench grinder to remove the bluing. Some spots I couldn't get with the wire wheel so I used a wire brush attachment in a cordless drill. I removed all bluing and little rust and pitting spots I then cleaned really well to remove all grease a day oils. Then painted. It's worked well.
 
Prior to the Steel Shot days, I painted my 12ga 3" 1100 with spray Rust-Oleum, camo colors. Never had a problem. After steel shot I put a Poly Choke on it, because the few screw in chokes back then were very expensive. Anyway I painted the Poly Choke also. Way to much weight on the end of the barrel, and a few years later sent it back to shorten the barrel, and put the choke back on. Poly Choke
contacted me, and said they had Never seen one of their chokes with so much paint on it. They asked if they could please keep the choke and put a new one on? Yes, was my reply, and I painted that one. The paint on the gun, held up for years of very hard use. No rust. I wish I had not traded that "Shoot Gun", for a new (back then) 11-87.....big mistake.
 
Way before black shotguns were popular I had a 2 3/4" 870 that I had a gun butcher install a shorter ejector to convert it to a 3" gun with a different barrel. He totally messed up the receiver. Soo I filed it flat, bead blasted the whole thing and had it hot blued. The best finish ever!! Tough and dull. My shooting league teammates were relentless with the trash talk but I had the last laugh when everyone started selling black shotguns, hee hee. Since then I have gotten a lot more practical on gun camo. Now I degrease with some carb cleaner and "shake, rattle, spray" in some cases even before it was shot. The Express 870's seem to hold paint very well and when it wears off just repeat the process.
 
I painted a 870 years ago. Clean all the metal parts very well, clean with acetone or break cleaner till all lubes are gone. Sand the wood lightly and use acetone to get rid of dust.
Spray with a good primer [rustolium]. Hang on a wire and spray very light [really light] coats of primer [4-5]. Should look like over spray, till it's covered. Let dry a day between coats. Then start with the camo spray. Mine lasted years. Prep and primer is the most important steps.
Wood is done the same way. Not a rush job, good winter project... Have fun...
 
Tom~

Here is my Dad's Winchester Model 50 thart I painted for him ~ 40 years ago. It has seen a lot of saltwater. Like several others on this thread, just degrease - I probably used acetone - then prime and paint. I brushed on duckboat and decoy (oils) paints back then. Today, I would use Rustoleum camo sprays - just because they are convenient.

Gobbler2May2011-small_zpsb71b1387.jpg


Also, now I would not "camouflage" per se - I would paint the metal a solid dead grass color and oil the stock (Tru-Oil) once a year during the off-season. I doubt that any duck has ever flared because a gun was without a camo pattern - but I do believe a shiny gun and an all-black gun can be picked out under certain conditions.

Anyway you do it, it'll be a fun and worthwhile project.

All the best,

SJS
 
I did my synthetic 870 Supermag a few years back-sanded down through the factory black finish, primed, and painted with Rustoleum flat colors and enamel highlights. It has a few layers of flat clearcoat on top. It was starting to rust on the factory surfaces and painting it put a stop to that. I've been thinking about doing another gun with 2-part epoxy primer and FME, I think that combination would be bulletproof and last for years.

 
Chris.....What exactly is a "Parkerized" finish? Is it textured paint? Should that be removed as well?
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Not sure what it is exactly but it has a texture to it. I have a 870 that I bought a 18 1/2 inch barrel that is parkerized I would wire wheel the parkerized finish off too before paint
 
Tom,

As long as you get all the oil and grease and crud off of it you shouldn't have a problem with the paint sticking. It is just spraypaint though and will have to be touched up periodically.
 
Parkerizing is a phosphate electro-chemical coating. Its a another type of finish it does not have texture. Degrease, good primer, and then have at with the flat paints. Its like a duck boat, scratch it rub some off just grab the spray can and touch it up.
 
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