I bought a Savage short-action lightweight .308 in a factory assembled package ($370). I wanted a cheap .308 lightweight woods/beater bolt for hunting.
I removed the factory-installed Simmons 8-point 3-9x40mm and weaver rings and put them on a new 10/22 I had purchased as a Christmas gift for the significant other. I replaced the weaver mounts with a Leupold rotary base and medium rings. I purchased a cheap Simmons 44Mag 6.5-20x44 ($144 from SWFA) to replace the even cheaper 8-point Simmons.
[url]http://www.jobrelatedstuff.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=185015&page=1[/url]
Here is the test subject for my first camo job.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=10607[/img]
Materials purchased were:
-Krylon Camo paint system
-Acetone
-Alcohol (Beer & Denatured)
-Primer
-220 and 330 sandpaper
-3M masking tape
-Pinstriping tape
-razor blade
Stuff I used but is optional:
-2-component Epoxy
-Great Stuff, Urethane in a can.
-Lauer Weaponry DuraCoat Clear
-Disposable airbrush & propellant
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12288[/img]
The first step is to disassemble and clean everything. I used Acetone, a little Berryman’s (DON’T get that near your scope!) pressurized carb cleaner around the trigger group and scope mounts, and denatured alcohol for final whiping and between overnight primer coats.
I spent by far the most time on prepping the stock. Everyone knows that Savage stocks are pieces of shit and this one was no different. There were many mold seams to remove, curves to clean up, dimples, etc. Besides that, the stock was just plain flimsy. I laid 2-component epoxy into the forearm all the way up the receiver bed. I was careful not to build up too much epoxy to interfere with the floated barrel.
With the stock made substantially more rigid, I noticed that the hollow stock cavity had a cheesy piece of bead-foam shoved in it. I removed the piece of white bead foam and filled the cavity with urethane foam.
Mask off any area of the stock bed that will contact the receiver. Do not build up to much paint/primer in the forearm to also interfere with the barrel. I also masked off the inside diameter of the forearm.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12289[/img]
Once the rifle stock was adequately sanded and prepped, it was time to prime it. By now almost a week has passed so, so don't rush. It is easy but, it is better to break the parts up into small bits each evening.
I used a sandable “automotive” primer in a spray bomb. I chose this because it was also dark grey instead of light grey. I figured any future chips in the finish would epose the "darker underside" and be less noticeable. The actual dark color of the primer is shown in the next pic. Yep, that is with the primer.
Now in retrospect, I wished I would have used a REAL automotive primer…..like URO. I really feel that the weakness in the end finish is the primer’s adhesion to the metal and stock…….especially to that stock. That goofy graphite plastic has some strange properties. With any future applications of Lauer DuraCoat, I will probably skip the primer all together (although it did do a nice job of evening out the crappy stock).
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12290[/img]
I applied and sanded about 7-8 coats to the rifle stock. Now, I am sure a higher quality stock (like Remington) will not require this amount of preparation.
The Savage rifle stock has checkering by the grip and forearm, I was careful not to flood these areas with primer and not to leave primer dust from sanding in the divots before the next coat. Well laying on primer coats kind of avoid this area if your stock is checkered.
While the stock was drying in-between coats, I took the time to prep the riflescope. You may [b]not[/b] want to leave so much of the scope exposed with the original finish (as I did in the end). I think it be nicer totally sprayed. Owning several AO scopes, I never use the markings anyway.
In any case, be super careful in masking the lenses. I used automotive striping tape and quality 3M masking tape to acquire clean edges and no “leaking”. I went over each lens area 2x with masking tape also trying to keep the tape adhesive off of the lenses. If you spray the lens you'll damage the coating removing the paint.
While the scope was drying with a light coat of primer (only a single coat), I went and degreased the barrel and action again. Be careful in the rags you choose to use. Terry-cloth towels or rags will leave allot of fibers behind. I used old cotton boxer underwear!
You can see the leaves I was looking at while some paint dried. Watching paint dry is boring.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12292[/img]
Once the action was clean and thoroughly free of oil and grease, I totally masked off the action.
I needed a way to fasten the clean and taped action and barrel to the ceiling of my garage. Thanks to Skullboy (Ed), he had tipped me on using a 1” dowel through the scope mounts. Per his idea, I added handles to be able to move the barrel around if needed.
Note that I wiped everything down with alcohol again once I got it hanging. Use a foam ear plug to plug the muzzle.
Not shown is the masked bolt for I also camo'ed the bolt handle. I failed to figure out something to cover the shiney bolt. I will write Savage to inquire on buying a matte one.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12295[/img]
Now you may not agree with the following procedure and that is fine. My method was to mask the receiver and use a grey Rust-Oleam “Hardhat” primer to prime the barrel. I did not metal prime the receiver.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12294[/img]
My reasoning was that the bulk of the oils will reside around the receiver bolt. I planned on camo’ing this area however I planned to flash the colors in directly onto the clean metal.
Again if it does chip, it won't expose that bright ugly light grey!
This is the time where I am lacking in pictures and I am sure any readers have the most questions.
Once the primer had all dried, the next day I “went to town” and was having so much fun I never took any pics in the process.
I will start with the only template or stencil I used: the pieces of leaves in the following pic. As you can see, I already went and put a base coat of OD green on the masked scope.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=12291[/img]
Here is the process I used in creating the leafy pattern: I first added spots (like a Guernsey cow) of black, tan, and brown in small areas all over the green. I now had a green stock with crappy looking blobs on it. I tried to made the ratio of colors to area about 40% OD green, and 20% each for the remainder of the colors. Now this ratio will not apply to the end result…….this is just the first stage.
I went over the colored blobs masking some of that color with the various leaves shown in the previous pic. For the first stage, I sprayed OD green while each differ color remained when I removed the leaf used as a mask.
I repeated the addition of smaller blobs of various colors where I felt they fit in. Each time I went over the color with a different color while masking some of it with the leaves. I just kept doing this……..until the finished got a complicated layered look of different colors and leaf outlines. The leaves are all different colors and seem to blend nicely.
NOTE: One has to be cautious not to flash to much overspray over other parts, this not only ruins patterns you already finished but the dry paint creates a rough crappy looking texture where it flashed.