how do i paint and free-float my gun???

Canadian Hunter312 · 07-30-2004, 04:41 PM

hey all ive recently tried rebluing my bolt action .22 but then i was looking at the wood stock and figured since it was in rough shape i guess i should do sumthin with it. so i sanded it down to bare wood today but the store closed to early...

so i was wondering, is it ok to spray paint inside the stock where the barrel and the receiver sit or should i just leave it? (btw, i havent sanded inside the stock yet just incase)

i was also thinkin that my gun would look cool if i spray painted the barrel and scope as well...maybe not the scope but ya neevr know. how would i go about spray painting the metal parts and such on the gun? do i paint ONLY the parts that u can see wen the gun is together or all of it?

and i was also wondering how i would go about free-floating the gun? would it really make it more accurate?

thx for any help

ch312

pyral · 07-30-2004, 05:04 PM

I once got to know a fellow that was a die hard coyote hunter and eventually I was invited on a hunt. This man was an absolute camo FREAK. Everything you could think of, boots, sunglasses, belt, underwear, socks, everything. Even his rifle. I once asked him what he thought a good camo for firearms was and his response was "I always thought Krylon werkt purdy good". Yeah, the stuff you get a Kmart and Walmart. And he didn't just spray his gun, but the bases, bolt (he hated the shine) and even the scope, he just stuffed cotton balls in the lenses and covered with masking tape. I never tried this on any of my guns since I have somewhat of an affection for the classic beauty of wood and blued steel. But painting over it didn't hurt his feelings one bit and I would have to say he was one of the most successful predator hunters I have ever known.

Take that as you wish.

As far as the free floating goes, with the action mounted, try running a piece of paper or a dollar bill down the barrel channel. A properly floated barrel should slide a bill all the way down to the action.

If it stops somewhere in between, mark the location, remove the action, sand a little bit out and replace action and repeat the above steps.

Usually once you have completely sanded all the wood needed to float the barrel, you should put a few thin layers of stock oil of your choice to seal the wood, but if you intend on painting it, I am not sure if this is a necessary step or not.

Hope everything works out.

bigbulls · 07-30-2004, 05:44 PM

Here are some good metal finishes for you to use. Go to the link and type in paint in the search block.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Home/default.aspx

If you want to paint the wood Testers makes an air brush kit that works pretty good and isn't all that expensive. Air brushed paint looks much better than spray paint if you are going to paint a camo pattern. If you are just going to paint in one solid color then spray paint is fine.

Canadian Hunter312 · 07-30-2004, 11:23 PM

thx for the help.....

im gonna be usin the spray paint but wut i really wanted help with is how to prep the barrel and such so that the paint will stick to the metal. do i have to remove the bluing or just go over it? primer? etching?

also, should i put the gun together and tape wut i dont want painted or leave the gun in pieces and paint it like that? i was thinkin that if i put the gun together with the bolt closed and tape the bolt, crown, safety, and trigger then id be ok? i figured that if i paint it in pieces i might get paint where its not supose to be....

thx for any help

ch312

pyral · 07-31-2004, 11:15 AM

I think you pretty much have the right idea in taping off what you don't want painted. Whether to disassemble or not is up to you.

As far as metal prep, I wouldn't worry about removing the blueing or sanding and such. Just use some type of degreaser such as Hoppe's Cleaning Degreaser to remove ALL oils or other such fluids that inhibit the bonding of the paint to the surface.