The paint cover outside has two missions: one is to make your gun looked great, and the second is to protect your firearm from the heat and harsh conditions.
Through the time, the covered paint can get thinner, so the durability of the gun can be decreased as the protection doesn’t work well like before. At that time, repaint your gun is essential.
Or you just want to change the color of your gun to the one you like. Then it’s ok; you can do it.
But you may not know what makes a good gun paint? And how to paint your firearm correctly?
To solve your wonder, we have brought to you all the information you need to choose a good paint as well as make your work effective. Let’s continue
How to Repaint You Guns
Always Wear Safety Equipment First
When you are working with a gun and the cleaning chemicals, It’s essential to wear safety clothes carefully.
In this case, a rubber glove is your hero to prevent your hands from getting burnt by the chemicals substance in the specific detergent. The cleaning chemical is strong enough to wipe out your skin if you’re not careful.
Otherwise, A face mask is necessary equipment as the chemical evaporation is also dangerous for yourself. Put a full face mask so you can handle the strong smell from the paint solution.
You will also need a safety glass as when you use the spray paint, many tiny drops of color can go directly to your eyes. Must be careful as the chemical can harm your eyes, don’t think in a funny way that the paint can change your eye color
Unload the Firearm if You Want to Paint Only Certain Parts
To dismount the firearm into smaller parts, you need to follow the instructions carefully. Each weapon model may have a different kind of structure, so if you try to use strong force to take out each part, the firearm can be broken.
We suggest that you should take a video at the disassembly process as it may complicated for you to remember to reassemble the firearm again.
Remove the Old Paint on Your Gun
Pour over your guns or the small part you want to repaint to the Brakleen or TruStrip solvent, then leave it and wait for an hour. As we said above, ensuring that your ware entirely protection stuff as this chemical is toxic.
After soaking time finishes, you can see that the paint is going to peel off. Now it’s time to use a towel or a hard brush you have to clean the firearm parts.
Though you have the help from the chemical substance, this job still hard because the color still tries to hold onto the plastic, so you need to be very persistent in this process.
Don’t worry, continuously rubbing a few times; the color will be removed soon.
When you finish, you can use G96-a specific oil to cover the firearm as it can protect the metal from corrosion.
Coating the Areas that don’t Need to Paint
It’s just a small step but necessary for those who don’t want to paint some tiny parts of the guns. By this way, you don’t need to spend time unloading the firearms.
To cover the areas that you don’t want to paint, just using masking tape as it can handle and stop the permeable of the liquid.
Besides, there are some specific parts of the gun, such as the trigger or the barrels hole which need to be coated as you will not allow getting paint on them. If the color stuck on, your firearm could not work well anymore.
So remember to use the masking tape to create the trigger. For the barrels hole, you can take foam ear to plug it.
Painting Your Firearm
Now easy to observe and paint all part of the weapon, you can use a wire to hang in the air the firearm or the part that you need to paint.
To avoid that the paint sticks on the ground, using a plastic pad to cover your work area.
Hold the sprayer away from the surface about 8 inches and spray gun. Make sure you paint each part precisely; you can apply back and forth motions to make the covered paint smoother.
Otherwise, you can use the gun sight paint as an extra color. The gun sight paint is a unique product that helps you to focus on the target more accessible, even in the low light condition.
Remember that the gun sight paint you choose must be a different color to the principal firearm paint. Take a small drop of this paint and dot in the center of the sight of the gun.
Waiting for Paint Drying and Resemble the Firearm
Now you have to wait until the paint dries to remove all the foam plug and the masking tape carefully. Typically, it takes 30 minutes to 2 hours for an air dry, but be careful as some paint need to be baked to dry.
The baking time for metal parts to dry the painting color is about 30 minutes in 300 °F (150°C) or 300 °F (170°C), which depends on their formula.
So that why we suggest you to choose the paint product carefully before purchasing, you should choose the paint that can be air dried as it saves you a lot of time and effort.
And when the painting process finishes, let resemble all the parts to have a completed firearm. Take some pictures or setting the camera on the disassembled process if you cannot remember the right position of each accessory.
Characteristics of a Good Gun Paint
There are tons of paints on the market with different colors, making you confused immediately. To make it easier, follow the advice below to check if the product is a good paint or not.
Try to clean the paint with the detergent. Of course, a regular detergent cannot wipe out all the paint; but If the color is blurred just a bit, then you should not choose that paint as it can withstand the chemical elements.
Time for paint drying is a good aspect to determine the quality of the product. You should prioritize fast-dried paint, as it just takes no more than 20 minutes to dry so you can save a lot of time. Time is money, right?
The flexibility to fit with any kind of the surface is an excellent point to evaluate the product quality as good paints can work appropriately on plastic, metal, and even wood surface.
And the last aspect that you should take care is the price. Choose an affordable paint, you don’t need a very expensive ones to do your work. Some expensive paints are even not as good as the cheaper products, they just have a better brand.
Those are all things you should know before running to purchase the paints. Go to the market and check all aspects we said to choose the most suitable ones for your rifle.
Some Tips on the Painting to Make the Color Last Longer
So how long do the paint can last on the gun?
It depends on the way you use your firearm. If you don’t use your guns frequently, then the color can hold on the metal surface for more than 15 years.
However, in the case you are a hunter or a gunshot athletics, then, surely, you have to use your gun every day. For a high using frequency like that, the paint can be blurred for about three years.
Therefore, it’s important to repaint your gun every three years. It does not only keep the eye-catching outlook but also maintaining the quality of your weapon.
But there are some ways to make the paint can last long on your firearm. Let’s see what those are.
Cleaning the Surface Carefully Before Painting
Many people get a mistake when distracting on this step, cleaning the surface is essential before painting the firearm. If the surface is dirty as you didn’t clean it carefully, the color cannot retain durable on the surface.
So please clean the surface carefully.
The best way is using the specific detergents, which are 91 Isopropyl alcohol to wipe down the plastic parts and the acetone for cleaning the metal part.
Please, you are ensuring that you don’t pour the chemical solution directly on your weapon. Take a lint-free paper or a rag and sink to appropriate detergents. Then take out and wipe down your gun’s surface.
Sanding the Gun Parts
The purpose of sanding the guns is to remove the old coating from the metal entirely.
Normally, the sandblaster aluminum oxide 120 grit blasting media is the famous one to use on this process.
Besides, if you don’t want to use the detergent because of their toxicity, then you can take sandpaper to wipe the desired surface. The sandpaper can have a great result as using the cleansers, but you have to spend more effort.
For the areas that you don’t want to paint; you can use masking tape to cover as well as plug the barrel’s hole by foam in this step.
Applying Multi-coated
Instead of painting your firearm one time, you can paint two or even three times to make different paint layers. You can imagine each crust of color is like armor to protect your gun from the outer condition, and three shields are better than one.
After you finish sandblasting your gun, then you can start to spray the first base layer. The base layer takes about ten or fifteen minutes to completely dry.
The time for paint drying is different in each product, so read precisely the instruction of the paint that you choose.
When the base layer gets dry, it’s time to do the second layer. Spraying the paint as you have done on the first coat, but this second coat takes more time to dry. Usually, you have to wait for about 20 to 25 minutes for drying.
When the second layer is finished, you can add one more layer if you want. In my opinion, it’s not necessary, but if you still feel doubtful about the ability of two-coated. Then go ahead, making one more painting layer.
Baking the Color in the Oven.
There is an amazing way to increase the strength of your gun paints, which is baking them in the oven.
Sound like crazy, but you will find a fantastic result in this work. This step not only reduces the drying time of the color but also increase the durability of the coated layer.
After you paint your gun, all you need to do is baking it in the oven at 212 °F (100°C) for 30 minutes.
Now the chemical formula of the paint has increased the ability to against harsh environment and intense heat. The color cannot be blurred easily like before.
Wrapping Up,
Those above are the correct way to paint your firearm and the tips to make the color can hold on longer on the metal surface.
Let’s follow our steps and tricks to have the greatest coated for your guns. Remember to repaint your weapons every two or three years to keep it the operation of your firearm always in glory.
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I am Peter Levick, with over 10 years of experience in the home improvement industry, I have become a seasoned expert in painting and paint sprayers. Through numerous DIY projects, I have developed a keen eye for aesthetics and a deep understanding of the technical aspects involved. My expertise extends to various paint sprayer systems, and I stay updated with the latest advancements. I bring a meticulous approach to every project, ensuring stunning and durable results. Clients can trust in my craftsmanship and commitment to delivering exceptional work.
