Advice on painting my AR-15

[KnoSco]

Just bought a Ruger SR-556. It came with Troy industry flip up sights and Troy Industries 10" quad rail, which is all aluminum. I am changing the collapsable butt stock out for a fixed, and mounting a light magnification scope (I like the Nightforce 1-4x24) . Planning to use it as a coyote rifle, I live in Nevada so I want to paint it desert camouflage.

Can anyone give me some tips on painting my new critter-getter? I have never painted a rifle, and I am a little paranoid about damaging something, or jamming something up with paint. I have had some experience painting, I get that the oil/dirt/gunpowder needs to be cleaned off completely to get a quality result, and so the paint will stick I understand that with aluminum and polymer I need to start with a self etching primer.

Mostly I am concerned with how you kept from overspray into the action, what you taped up, how you suspended the rifle in your painting area, should I strip it and paint the parts, or paint it complete?

Also this is my first post, so if there is a better place to put it please let me know and I can move it.

 

[Captain Moroni]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

DE-GREASE!!! the prep is the most important step. You may need to put it in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 min to get all the oil out that comes from the factory. If you feel comfortable tear it down to individual pieces and sand blast with aluminum oxide not glass. I like 70 grit. as far as color I would go tans and browns.

 

[kstraughen]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Captian you are saying to use 70 grit paper to remove the oxide finish on the parts and rifle?

 

[jakhamr81]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kstraughen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Captian you are saying to use 70 grit paper to remove the oxide finish on the parts and rifle?</div></div>

No, he's talking aluminum oxide media for sand blasting.

 

[Foomanshoot]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

He's saying to use it for "Media Blasting" there are many things from crushed walnut shells, baking soda,glass beads, steel shot,sand and even recently coal. They all have a certain abrasiveness characteristic. I'm sure there are tons more but from my experience coal actually removes no metal from the blasting and brings the surface to a state where little if any prep is required unlike other forms of media.

Just my .02 on the surface prep

 

[slothlacrosse]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

TAKE THE BATTERIES OUT OF EVERYTHING

degrease, rough it, tape off the knobs of the scope, the muzzle, and anything else you might want to be able to read.

be sure to shake the piss out of the can of paint. when you can hear the ball at the bottom of the can moving and rolling around with very little resistance, shake it a bit more and paint.

if you want to go for a high-speed camo look, go to an office supply store and buy big clear plastic laminating sheets.

they're big, keep a nice edge, and can be worked into the little spaces on the outside of your rifle.

start with the color you want the least of in your pattern and work your way to the color you want to be the dominate color.

for example: if you want to go with an old school army woodland pattern, you'd start with a black base, tan, brown, and finally green.

leave the rifle alone in between coatings. go do something else and come back to it. if you stand there and look at it, you'll think it's dry enough for more stencils and you'll fuck it up.

i don't like the stencil approach. i've done it in the past and it doesn't look right. what i'll do is go outside with a big box of spray paint and keep putting on random patches of color until i think it matches my surroundings.

 

[gixxerrcr]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

If you have the tools go with duracoat. I just did a shot gun that came out looking really well. I also went to hobby lobby and got some stencils that made it come out looking very sweet they would be good for the desert.

 

[AZgunNUT]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

+1 on the degreasing and masking.

I used alumahyde II as the base coat on my POF, it is a paint with epoxy so it adhears very well. It is diamond hard, doesn't need to be baked on, and is "resistant" to cleaning solvents, however, it takes forever to cure and is quite thick so I don't recommend going crazy with it. Alumahyde has to be sand blasted off so if you decide to go with the stuff be sure about the colors you choose, otherwise you can go with some regular ultra-flat "camo" in a rattle can available at any wal-mart near you.

 

[afd77]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

I don't like paint on any moving parts, i.e: bolt, trigger group, safety, mag release, bolt release, or buffer tube if it has a collapsible stock. I leave those parts as they are. I start by stripping the lower, remove the bolt group and charging handle, and of course remove any accessories, optics, etc. that I don't want painted. Then I degreaser with acetone and brake cleaner. I reattached the stripped lower to the upper, close the dust cover, and then tape off muzzle and muzzle threads (if not painting the muzzle device.)
Then I attach an old A2 receiver extension I have that is dedicated for painting. This keeps paint out of the threads and back of the receiver, and also gives you a great way to hang the rifle while painting/drying by using a screw in the end of it with some wire, twine, etc. After paint is dry I use a Q-tip with some acetone to clean the paint out of the inside of the holes for the safety.

 

[jakhamr81]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AZgunNUT</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
...Alumahyde has to be sand blasted off...

</div></div>

Not always true I was able to remove Alumahyde from my scope and base with some acetone.

Also, hold the spray can/ gun about two feet away for a really flat finish. Depending on the anodizing on the rifle, you actually may have a hard time getting anything to really stick to it without sandblasting first.

 

[grouse]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

I've taken off alumhyde pretty easily. Not that tough. If you go with krylon be sure to put the cans in the sink with some warm water, before you shake em.

 

[AZgunNUT]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jakhamr81</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AZgunNUT</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
...Alumahyde has to be sand blasted off...

</div></div>

Not always true I was able to remove Alumahyde from my scope and base with some acetone.

Also, hold the spray can/ gun about two feet away for a really flat finish. Depending on the anodizing on the rifle, you actually may have a hard time getting anything to really stick to it without sandblasting first. </div></div>

curious fellas, was this Alumahyde or Alumahyde II?

 

[jakhamr81]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Sorry, Allumahyde 2 for me.

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Some excellent advice about preparation here - it is key to a good result.

personal;ly I'd use Krylon for your first effort because if you mess it up (and with respect, first time out you may well do that), it is easy to strip off without blasting it. Same when you get bored with your paint or need to consider change of seasons/terrain.

If possible, practice first on something you're not worried about wrecking.....

 

[BiggerStick47]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

FYI in case you screw up: http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1934257

 

[KnoSco]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

What about the little junk, i.e. the spring on the dust cover, pins, that kind of junk. If they are painted over will they bind up?

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

I had all these questions, and tried a lot of of the answers. In the end, I found out two universal truths.

One can do some remarkably neato camo jobs with paint.

No paint job will stand up over time, and they look just awful once they get that '500Km of bad trek' look.

Beauty and camo effectiveness only vaguely inhabit the same objects. The main issue is to break up the object's outlines in a manner which does not scream to one and all 'Here I am, please shoot me'.

I have arrived upon a simple solution.

Remington sells Vinyl Realtree peelable vinyl tape for hunters. I slap on a few stripes where they won't interfere with functionality, and I leave it at that. Doesn't need to be purty, doesn't need to overlap without visible seams. It just needs to look a fair bit less like a real-life rifle to the naked MKI eyeball

Much more than that is just going to look like hell somewhere down the road, whatever you do. My methods are cheap, easy, and very simple to renew.

Greg

 

[caelumatra]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BiggerStick47</div><div class="ubbcode-body">FYI in case you screw up: http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1934257 </div></div>

This is great! I recently painted my MA-Ten 308 green and really had a mental hurdle to overcome to do it. Its good to know its not real difficult to change it.

 

[sgtbutt]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Just to throw in some more to think about. Up above a little bit BasraBoy said to use Krylon for your first time and I whole heartedly agree with it. For my bit of advise paint an Airgun or 22 you have lying around first. That way you will have your cherry popped and learn from your experience.
My first paint job was a Remington 870 with Krylon. I degreased the heck out of it, blew it off with air hose, used rubber gloves, prepped for a few hours masking this and that to make sure everything was perfect and then spraying it took almost no time at all. The paint job came out great looked good but in the end I personally didn't like the tackyness feel of the Krlyon and that was my last weapon done with Krylon.
Since then I repainted the 870 in a similar pattern with Duracoat, several stocks, my SBR and wife's old AR15, an 11-87 and just finished up my Rem 700 SPS-T. I personally love using Duracoat on my weapons. It puts an extra layer of protection on the firearm, ads some color to break it up, gives me something to do and practice on and I enjoy it. I still use Krylon on nylon slings and pouches if I want to give it some extra color, but not on guns.
Non-Chlorinated Brake Cleaner is what I use to degrease followed by Denautered Alcohol and blown with air hose. It has worked great for me. Scotch Brite (green cleaning pads) works great for scuffing up areas.
Work slow and methodical and don't over think things. You'll have to hit it again if you camo it up but I like mine and don't care if they look pretty or not.
Do an airgun first though, you can clean off Kyrlon with ease consider other options but even then its a PITA.

 

[TexIndian]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

I suggest Krylon Fusion flat camo paints. And Here is a link to some basic ideas and techniques.

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AZgunNUT</div><div class="ubbcode-body">+1 on the degreasing and masking.

I used alumahyde II as the base coat on my POF, it is a paint with epoxy so it adhears very well. It is diamond hard, doesn't need to be baked on, and is "resistant" to cleaning solvents, however, it takes forever to cure and is quite thick so I don't recommend going crazy with it. Alumahyde has to be sand blasted off so if you decide to go with the stuff be sure about the colors you choose, otherwise you can go with some regular ultra-flat "camo" in a rattle can available at any wal-mart near you.

</div></div>

Alumahyde 2 is an awsome product, very durable, BUT you can strip it with citristrip gel like it's nothing if you screw up or wanna change it later, i know ive done it multiple times

 

[AZgunNUT]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: VAJayJayPunisher</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AZgunNUT</div><div class="ubbcode-body">+1 on the degreasing and masking.

I used alumahyde II as the base coat on my POF, it is a paint with epoxy so it adhears very well. It is diamond hard, doesn't need to be baked on, and is "resistant" to cleaning solvents, however, it takes forever to cure and is quite thick so I don't recommend going crazy with it. Alumahyde has to be sand blasted off so if you decide to go with the stuff be sure about the colors you choose, otherwise you can go with some regular ultra-flat "camo" in a rattle can available at any wal-mart near you.

</div></div>

Alumahyde 2 is an awsome product, very durable, BUT you can strip it with citristrip gel like it's nothing if you screw up or wanna change it later, i know ive done it multiple times </div></div>

Thanks for looking out fellers

I haven't had to strip the guns that I have used that on yet and it's good to know it'll come off without too much effort. Knowing that actually makes me like the product even more, I was not looking forward to removing it should I decide to go a different route in the future.

 

[Bulldog85]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Believe it or not there is a Maintenance Information Message out on this from the Army.

Team Soldier - Weapons Painting 101

 

[Wannashootit]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Interesting...
Didn't know that CLP removes paint...
Something to keep in mind when cleaning the weapon, I spose...

 

[slothlacrosse]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KnoSco</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What about the little junk, i.e. the spring on the dust cover, pins, that kind of junk. If they are painted over will they bind up?</div></div>

you can paint over all of that. as long as you don't put globs of paint over them, they'll work fine.

 

[BiggerStick47]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Please tell us about the <span style="text-decoration: line-through">dog turd</span> grip on that thing.

 

[redirt78]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Hahaha no doubt man. Exit only homey... You are definitely not supposed to stick your grip up there.

 

[slothlacrosse]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BiggerStick47</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Please tell us about the <span style="text-decoration: line-through">dog turd</span> grip on that thing.</div></div>

haha. i have big hands so i made my own grip out of loctite epoxy. it ensures that the tip of my finger always makes contact with the trigger.

i noticed that i was getting a lot of lateral movement in my shots during contact drills and barrier drills (pretty much anything that required a lot of moving and shooting).

when you get the adrenaline pumping, you tend to tense up. my instructor pointed out that i was wrapping my meat paws around the little rinky drink standard A2 grip.

he (the instructor) let me shoot his rifle and he had a large/comfortable grip on it. he told me it was made by falcon industries. unfortunately, they stopped producing them.

so i purchased damn near every AR grip on the market and none of them really fit me so i made one that's fitted to my hand.

it ensures proper finger placement on the trigger and you'd be surprised how much longer you can shoot when you're not clenching your fist around a broomhandle.

this is the same grip early in its development.

 

[redirt78]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Ok, kinda figured you had some Andre the Giants nanner hands but I couldn't help it.

I had the same problem but I doubt my hands are as huge. I have one of the fat Ergos on mine.

Here is the only pic I have loaded here that shows the fat grip

 

[slothlacrosse]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

similar grip on a different rifle.

 

[KnoSco]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

Slothlacrosse there is no problem with painting over the serial # or the SBR info engravings? Did you mask that stuff or is it just deep enough it can still be read?

 

[redirt78]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

You would never want to apply paint so thick that it filled any of that stuff. Put it on in thin even coats from farther away than your brain tries to tell you. Several thin coats will be much better and will not come close to hiding the numbers.

 

[slothlacrosse]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KnoSco</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Slothlacrosse there is no problem with painting over the serial # or the SBR info engravings? Did you mask that stuff or is it just deep enough it can still be read?</div></div>

you can still read all of the engraving.

 

[Early Cuyler]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sgtbutt</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just to throw in some more to think about. Up above a little bit BasraBoy said to use Krylon for your first time and I whole heartedly agree with it. For my bit of advise paint an Airgun or 22 you have lying around first. That way you will have your cherry popped and learn from your experience.</div></div>

Biiiig +1 on this. I always thought it would be a pretty simple process until I got into it. Luckily I was just painting a donor stainless 10/22 receiver black to match the barrel. Tried a couple of coats and had to soak it in gasoline to start over. I also used an enamel protectant as it was only 2 bucks more but provides a little more protection than just krylon (but nowhere near as much as cerakote or duracoat).

 

[blksno]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

I did a paint ball gun and a nerf gun YEARS ago with spray paint. Did my baby with Cerakote. The painting part is easy. The nerve wracking part is taking it completely apart to sand blast.
After that it's a walk in the park.

 

[OptedOut]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had all these questions, and tried a lot of of the answers. In the end, I found out two universal truths.

One can do some remarkably neato camo jobs with paint.

No paint job will stand up over time, and they look just awful once they get that '500Km of bad trek' look.

Beauty and camo effectiveness only vaguely inhabit the same objects. The main issue is to break up the object's outlines in a manner which does not scream to one and all 'Here I am, please shoot me'.

I have arrived upon a simple solution.

Remington sells Vinyl Realtree peelable vinyl tape for hunters. I slap on a few stripes where they won't interfere with functionality, and I leave it at that. Doesn't need to be purty, doesn't need to overlap without visible seams. It just needs to look a fair bit less like a real-life rifle to the naked MKI eyeball

Much more than that is just going to look like hell somewhere down the road, whatever you do. My methods are cheap, easy, and very simple to renew.

Greg </div></div>


Let me add to Greg's insights. First and foremost if you do paint your AR realize you are doing it for your own gratification only. A plain old black AR is not going to chase the coyotes away... your movement will.

I've seen (and painted a few) hundreds of M16A1s and M4s painted for different environments around the world. The extremely fancy, and yes great to look at mean nothing in a working environment. If you're out in the sand just give it some light strokes of tan with the can (if you're using that) it does not have to cover all and everything, nothing special is needed. Wooded or jungle area greens, browns, whatever fits. And yes if you are actually using the rifle it's gonna get scratched and rubbed and when it get to the point that there is more black showing just hit it again.

The tapes are great, they allow you to add in foliage, gauze, veils, etc. just tape them in/on if you have to really camo up for something real.

 

[KnoSco]

Re: Advice on painting my AR-15

For the most part yes I just want to paint it camouflage because I think it will look very good. It may or may not have any benefit on the hunt, but if done properly what could it hurt?

I have a 10/22 and an old AK that are begging for a new finish, the years have taken a toll on them. So I plan to start with those. I am going to try the 'Gun Coat' that Brownells carries for a base coat, then air brush some different colors in layers and patterns. I found some really neat liquid latex coating that can be used for small parts masking at a hobby shop, I think it will help a great deal. Obviously it is no substitute for proper masking tape in the right places and a great deal of care and patience.