DPMS Oracle, just a KISS coyote rifle;






 And what may be my favorite rifle, a newer Ruger 77/17 .17hmr stainless, with a Sightron Sii Big Sky 4-16x42 AO and a worked trigger. I love shooting this thing! Soon to be threaded for a suppressor to take a bit of the bark out of the noisy little .17hmr.
 
   











 Sure, why not.
  First, let me say, there's no miracle finish, they all wear. Some better than others, I've had great luck with well prepped Duracoat. From what I've seen, I think Cerakote is a bit better on metals, and I think Duracoat is better on polymers. That said, prep is crucial! Also, after you put the parts in the degreaser, DO NOT TOUCH THEM WITH YOUR BARE HANDS! Use nitrile gloves, the Venom Steel ones hold up very well to the chemicals.

   --Have a clean working area, and you'll need a way to hang the parts while prepping and spraying, as well as an area where you can let the parts cure for a time.

   --Strip the gun down to the parts you want to spray.

  --For plastics, I give them a thorough scrubbing with Dawn, a fine or medium scotchbrite pad, and hot water. I've had adhesion issues with degreased and oxide blasted plastics, but I haven't had any issues since I've been giving them a bath before the degreasing and blasting.

   --For degreasing, the parts need to be submerged in Acetone or a similar commercial product (I use TruStrip from Duracoat) HOWEVER---BE CAREFUL what you drop in there! For instance, all the Savage plastics are good to go EXCEPT the grip caps, I ruined 2 of them when I dropped them in my dip tank, and they were a pain in the ass to get. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR PLASTICS BEFORE YOU DEGREASE THEM!

    --Have a separate area where you can place the parts after you degrease them, I use an old stainless table I wipe down with degreaser, and spray the parts off with air after you pull them out. They'll probably have some chalky looking spots on some of the parts, but they'll go away when you blast them.

   --If you use lots of scotchbrite on plastics, you can probably get away without blasting, but I HIGHLY recommend it. And NO GLASS BEADS!! Those are terrible for spray prep. I recommend Aluminum Oxide, 120 grit. I usually blast around 25-40 PSI, depending on material and how hard it comes off.

   --With plastics, I just blast enough to rough it up evenly, paying attention to all the nooks and crannies. With metal, depending on what it was from the factory, I'll sometimes blast it back to bare metal. Good hard anodizing can be left on after a good roughing up, but if it comes off easily, I strip it all off.

   --Spray the dust off of the parts and then I wipe them off with a clean auto body tack cloth lightly. I usually hang the parts in my curing oven and heat them up to about 115*, this will let you see if any oils are going to secrete out of them. If it does, I re-degrease and blast, blow off and tack cloth again. Time consuming but worth it!

  --As far as designs, use your imagination! You can get templates and stencils in vinyl, but one these white rifles I used stuff I got from Hobby Lobby, I got some plastic grass and a coarse mesh laundry bag for the patterns. I stuck the stock in the laundry bag, and used 3M blue painters tape to pull it tighter on the back side of the stock. Then I held a small handful of the plastic grass over the top and sprayed the color on lightly. It doesn't take much to add accent colors, so go slow and light! It's easy to over do it. Let that set for a few minutes (Duracoat flashes really quickly, not sure on the other finishes?) and when it's ready, I flip it over and repeat on the other side.
 
  --I shot a matte clear over it to help keep it cleaner, as well as help the grip. That's one problem with a lot of factory dipped guns, they're all so shiny and slippery after they get used a bit!

   I give it a few days before I reassemble and use painters tape to make sure I don't slip with a punch and take the finish off, and I never use any harsh cleaners after wards.

 Hopefully this helps some of you guys with your projects, it's fun showing up at the range with something other than a plain black rifle! Good luck!

looks good.

Good job, I like the white and stainless together

Didn't think I would like it but I do.  Nice job

This.

Me too! Thanks

+1

Nice job!

Good job, and excellent tips and tricks too!

Thanks guys, happy to help!