DIY paint/cerakoate fiberglass stock? Bought used T4A today. (Pic)

[Danattherock]

I bought a used stock today, my first fiberglass stock. Wondering what suggestions you guys may have with regards to painting or cerakoating it. Not sure if this is a common DiY or if most folks have a professional cerakoate or similar product applied. Please share any pics of your stocks either way. Main goal is durability, as this will be used for my PRS rifle next year. Thanks for any thoughts, or pics of your stocks.

Dan

 

[phlegm]

I'm always more interested in DIY than spending real money.

I've used Brownells AlumaHyde II with reasonable success. It started chipping after a few years of moderate use.

I just coated a few guns with Duracoat Aerosol. So far so good, but I haven't been rough on anything, yet.

You also could use regular spray paint, and use several top coats of clear. When it looks worse than you'd like, just strip it back off.

 

[NewsShooter]

Krylon with a few coats of clear works great Couple sponges and a bit of paint, theres a thread in the DIY forum https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...de-d-i-y/225886-decided-to-rattlecan-my-rifle There's a photo of my HS Precision in there. Easy to do and easy to touch up

 

[Jackalope]

You can get some great results with krylon fusion or the alumahyde. I did a manners style sponge job on one of my mcmillans with krylon and rustoleum and it held up great until I sold the rifle. The thing that seemed to make the biggest difference durability wise was using a good adhesion promoter prior to painting the stock. I thoroughly degreased my stock with dawn and some warm water using the rough side of a sponge to dull the shine. I did two coats of the bulldog adhesion promoter prior to my base coat and it never scratched or flaked.

Cerakote is obviously a superior product, but it can be a substantial investment for even a basic DIY setup. Compressor, blast cabinet, media, oven and the coating will easily be north of $600. Definitely not worth it if you only plan on doing a single stock.

 

[jmill05]

Duracoat with a pretty cheap airbrush has worked wonderfully for me. I have a badger air brush and just a cheap Home Depot 3 gal compressor. Pretty cheap setup and it’ll last forever. Plus you can layer on for a few days to let coats start the curing process in between. The aerosol duracoat has to pretty much be used in that session. If you’re fine letting it sit for a couple weeks, duracoat will be a rugged coating. It’s like wine - it gets better with age...

You can also speed up the curing with an oven on its lowest temp for a few hours (durabake is a good choice if you have an oven).

My my other suggestion would be to hydrodip. Not overly expensive for a starter kit and relatively easy to do. Just have to make sure there is a pattern you like available.

With any method you choose to do: prep the stock, prep it again, and prep it once more. You’ll be thankful you spent the extra time to do a solid prep. I’ll dig up some pics of a few I have done...

 

[Danattherock]

Appreciate the suggestions guys. Thanks for any further thoughts.

 

[brianf]

I've stopped spending on expensive coatings. now i just grab some spray paint and go at it.
no matter what coating you put on or how much you spend if you give it a good scrape or even run it out of your bag a ton the coating wears off.
i have a tac ops that the birdsong is work off the front where the muzz slides in the bag, and that thing i dont use except for the range.
my brothers tac ops has has the marine tex chip off in the grip area, but he runs it hard. nothings forever in this hobby

some painters tape on the parts you want dry, stuff some toilet paper inside the scope caps before you close them and your fine.

in the cold, i started taping the stock, barrel and or scope with sports tape. you get some comfort because it not cold hard material as well.
and if you dont like it or your spooked about painting the rifle to start with, you just peel and start over.

from experience, no matter how much you like the color and pattern your tastes will change.
if you paint for hunting like i usually do, seasons change and so should the colors.

 

[Jedi]

Sponge it, great results that an kid could duplicate
Used to be several threads on it
Method so easy touching up or redoing eliminates worrying about paint life
in case you can not find info
Coarse sea sponge
Apply paint to sponge, dab on rifle
truly a kid can do it

 

[jmill05]

I’ve sponged a few times with Duracoat with great results. Like said above, it hides most imperfections over time and is easy to touch up. Manners has sponge patterns that you can easily replicate and they look pretty legit. I usually lay a coat of duracoat for my base with the airbrush and then sponge over for camo effect.

After you paint a couple times you’ll figure out what works and doesn’t work for you

 

[Rerun7]

I’ve had great success with Krylon. It’s proven to be pretty durable if I prep the surface properly and the results have looked great. I did a sponge on a manners T4 that looked like it came from the factory that way, I’ve done GAP patterns, natural foliage and on some of my more hard use guns I just do a really basic scheme of lighter/darker areas because I know it’s going to get worn down faster. But even then I kind of like the worn look.

 

[roggom]

I like Krylon for painting stocks, it wears off as you use it and I think it adds character. Make it look like a tool not a safe queen. Pro tip, do not touch your stock for at least 3 days after you paint it (maybe a week outside of CO AZ NM), the oils on your skin will not allow the Krylon to cure properly and it gets sticky.

 

[EchoCharlie_84]

Had a friend teach me some techniques with krylon, fish netting, sniper veil and DIY camo stencil. I think it came out looking great...

 

[Sogan]

Had a friend teach me some techniques with krylon, fish netting, sniper veil and DIY camo stencil. I think it came out looking great...

What colors did you use? Looks great.

 

[Jackalope]

Got my MCS-T in this weekend and sponged it.

 

[Dougie308]

The AR is Dura Coat and been okay. Not great, but okay The Remmy is Krylon and has held up surprisingly well. I am not gentle with any of my "field" rifles. The Dura Coat gets nicks if banged around and the Krylon has some wear area where handled the most. I have heard Ceracoat holds up well, but I have no personal experience

 

[Undrgrndprdcts]

Got my MCS-T in this weekend and sponged it.

That's a bad stick.

 

[RedRooster]

I’ve paid top dollar to have several McM stocks cerakoted by quality refinishers. I’ve also spent $9.99 on a disposable sprayer from Home Depot and a $30.00 4 oz bottle of cerakote air cure and done it myself. Here’s a Manners EH1-A i did myself. Key is good prep - light sanding and degreasing.