painting the barrel,action and bolt?

J

je4bowhuntin

Active member
i am redoing my sporterized a3-03 springfield 30-06. I am thinking of coating the barrel and action with alumahide II. has anyone used this? The gun needs to be reblued but i dont wnat to pay the bucks to have a smith do it b/c the facory barrel has that ruff military finish. i am leaning taowards semi-gloss black. So far i have totally re-done the walnut montecarlo stock with raised cheek piece(turned out beautiful), removed all copper fouling from barrel with sweets 7.62, floated the barrel, replaced the factory trigger with a timney 2-4lb. now i am waiting on my new scope to get here and thinkin about bedding the action(i need some tips on this to). I would really like to re-do the barrel and action but am torn at what/how to do it.

the alumahide looks pretty good but am wanting some opinions from experience.
 
Take a look at DuraCoat. Here's a link to the manufacturer:

http://www.lauerweaponry.com/

I've used this for years and I'm very satisfied with the results. You can choose from a variety of colors too. The big thing is to make sure that the item to be coated is not just clean, but very, very clean. You can bake DuraCoat, but it's not necessary. MI VHNTR
 
Duracoat works real well, there are other paint on finishes as well. You might also look at Brownells for some of the spray can parkerizeing or just go Krylon.
 
Krylon is just rattle can spray paint. With the proper primer, it does fairly well ....... for paint. But, it scrapes and wears off about as easily as most other non-epoxy paints.
 
Ever thought of rebluing the barreled action yourself? Blue remover can be easily purchased to take off what is on there. Another product called Must For Rust takes off bluing, too, as bluing is just a form of a controled rust. If you think the barrel finish is too rough do what I did on a sporterized rifle that was gifted to me some years back. I duc taped the areas I didn't want touched and used a osculating sander with very fine grit, very fine grit, to clean the surface rust off the old gun barrel's exterior. It is actually smoother than the the quarter sanding method commercially used. Maybe too smooth but it works and I have the tools. You can buy cold blue from Brownells. Even with the cold blue formula I still heat up the metal to allow it to take as well as possible. I have a 4 foot section of gutter with the ends in place that I use as my "tank". With the parts completely degreased, brake cleaner works well for that, place the barreled action into the tank with a wire running through the bore to hold it with. Then fill the tank with boiling hot water and keep the metal in it until it is hot enough to dry the water off with the retained heat when it is pulled out. Following the instructions on the bluing bottle wipe on the bluing liberally. Repeat as necessary. Once blued to your liking rub it down with an oily cloth and you have your rifle ready to reassemble.
 
I have used Aluma hide with good success. I have done one action and several mags for a friend who is pleased with the results. I have also used a moly based product from Brownells (can't remember the name) on a ss gun with good results as well.

Lee
 
Quote:
Krylon is just rattle can spray paint. With the proper primer, it does fairly well ....... for paint. But, it scrapes and wears off about as easily as most other non-epoxy paints.



I agree but it is super easy to touch it up!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
below is a link you can see how mine turned out.

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubb...&PHPSESSID=
 
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The big thing is to make sure that the item to be coated is not just clean, but very, very clean




I've got a gun I'm wanting to camo this summer, just wondering what kind of cleaning method/chemical works best?
 
He doesn't want to coat the whole rifle just the barreled action. He likes the wood refinished as it is.
Je4, I've a painted pony in the gun cabnet, too, and after time the paint does wear. You are right in thinking about something with more durability than Krylon. I've read some of the bake on products can peal but don't have personal experience to verify that.
Be careful what you apply to the bolt as anything thick may impede it working smoothly.
 
If it's practical, I will disassemble whatever I'm working on prior to starting to prep it for the new finish. This makes it easier to clean the item and also easier to refinish it. I generally use Brake-Kleen to remove all grease, oil etc. from an item that I'm about to refinish. It leaves no residue, which is very important. I'll clean the item with Brake-Kleen as many as 4-5 times before I'm ready to finish the prep work. This will prevent any oil, grease, etc. from bleeding into the final finish. Right before I'm ready to start air brushing the item, I wipe the item to be refinished down one last time with a lint free rag wetted with Brake-Kleen. I always wear latex gloves at this time. This prevents any oil from your skin from getting on the item and causing problems with the finish. Once the item is dry, I start to spray it. MI VHNTR
 
I have done a shotgun and a rifle using the aluma-hyde. It works good for me.

Now mind you, I don't use my firearms as a tool, so I treat them with care and the paint when applied in a couple coats will stay without much trouble.

I do the whole gun (except inside the action of course) and paint right over the stock finish and bluing.

It's not going to be as tough as the commercial coatings, but it's a lot cheaper!
 
thanks everyone. i think i am leaning towards the aluma-hyde II in matte black since the new scope i am waiting on is matte finish. i want the gun to still look old but not as old as it looks with the worn out finish that is on the metal right now. This was my first deer rifle. my cousing sold it to me for $150, he gave me a heck of a deal b/c i was young and wanted to start deer hunting. He is gonna freak when he see how good it looks when i get done with it. I have had the gun 10 years and will always have it. it was consistently shooting 1" groups at 100yds with factory so i cant wait to see what it does after all this. I have all the stuff to start reloading for it after i get it put together and sighted in with some factory ammo.
 


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