Rifle camo paint project

[kmack]

I have a 6.5 Creedmoor that had just way too much black on it: black plastic stock, black matt-finish barrel, and a black Nikon scope. I keep seeing all of these painting projects and figured I'd give it a shot.

I used all Rust-Oleum products that I purchased at a local Walmart. Since everything was already black, I focused on adding just some green and mostly tan colors. I was looking for a version of a Desert Sand sort of look that would blend in with the typical dead grass look of hunting season in the Hill Country.

I was also not scared to paint everything; scope included!

I started by pulling the barrel out of the stock in order to tape up the Timney trigger and to keep paint out of the action. I masked off some critical areas of the scope, then put it back in the stock. Time for paint!

A couple light coats of green in a few places, then a few strategic passes with the tan color. The Marble spray went on easy making sure to keep my distance in order to create a good "web look".

I ended up putting quite a few light coats of the matt clear to make sure there was good coverage. The clear did darken up the tan quite a bit, but also helped bring more of the green tint out. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

[Hoytbowhunter]

Looks great, nice work.

[TX83]

That looks really good. Great job.


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[DaveC]

I'm a fan, looks excellent

[The4Cs]

Looks good!


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[kmack]

Thanks!
Since I wasn’t planning on painting the trigger, the guard and the lower block plate didn’t get painted either. But you really don’t see that bottom side much (other than the trigger/guard). I also kept paint off the bolt since I didn’t to want run the risk of paint scratching off and getting into the action.

[TXBRASS]

Excellent work!

[jordan]

Pretty sweet looking!!!

[Silvey]

Wow, great job. I need to try on a few of mine.

[gonehuntin]

Looks like a factory camp job, excellent work.

[kmack]

Thanks for the compliments!
I’ve painted motorcycles and cars before, but the idea of painting a gun always seemed a little “wrong” to do. But then again, all my other guns are older & prettier than this one.

I really stepped out of my comfort zone. But once done, I was like “What else can I paint?!?”

Something to note for those stepping up to try this with the Marblelizing paint, it does end up very “stringy” and you have to either press down on the strings extending out from the gun or clean it off some how. I used a soft paint brush to get most of it out of the way before putting on the clear. There was quite a bit in between areas like the mounting rail and the scope.

[Capp35]

I did the exact same thing except for the green. Was trying for the Remington look.

[Blackmouth]

Looks awesome, I blued my gun and it doesn't look even close to the factory so I've thought about painting it. Where did you find the marble spray? I haven't seen it anywhere.

[ATI]

Well done.
I did a couple of shotguns a few years back and they turned out good. Do you have a picture of the tape job? I want to know how detailed you got with taping.

[kmack]

Where did you find the marble spray? I haven't seen it anywhere.

I got it from one of the larger Walmarts in the San Antonio area. Some won't have it. But you might try a Hobby Lobby or Michael's, or some Ace Hardware stores are supposed to carry it. Krylon and Rust-Oleum both have a version. It can be ordered online also. Home Depot/Lowes probably won't carry it as it's more of a decorating thing than it is regular paint.

Do you have a picture of the tape job? I want to know how detailed you got with taping.

Unfortunately, I did not think to gets pics of the tape job. Good idea, I should have.

As for the detail that went into it, I ended up cutting down strips of tape to fit particular areas when a larger piece was going to be too big.

Take the zoom dial of the scope for example. In the one close up pic of the rear of the scope (taken from the left side of the gun), if you look close, only the numbers and the raised block of the dial are not painted. I used blue painters tape and cut a strip 3/16" wide and about 4" long. then carefully wrapped that around the numbers. The raised block was a piece of tape that was placed, and then cut back to where I wanted it to end.

I even cut a small piece to cover over the "NIKON" on the scope. Just because I wanted to leave the name there. The serial number on the bottom of the scope was also covered over with tape.

Most of the rest of the taped-up areas were just covered over until no metal was showing anymore. The trigger itself was completely wrapped up about 3 times. Even wrapped the safety!