So, I was asked to post this on m4carbine and figured it may benefit some here as well. Reasons for painting rifles will vary, but in almost all cases, there is a benefit. Black is one of the biggest target indicators out there and will show up against most environments and under night vision more so than almost any other standard color.
Aside from that, it also keeps your rifle cooler in the heat and is a benefit for some when hunting. I don't paint my work rifles, so for me it comes down to hunting and keeping them cool the South Texas heat.
Here's what I posted - keep in mind this was written for m4carbine and showing one member's rifle that I panted the other day as an example.
Painting rifles...
I'll start again by saying everything I do started by talking to Lightfighter forum members GTF425, AShooter and Pat Rogers' thread "Painting Your Carbine - from the Book of Pat". Everything is just a variation of what I learned from them.
The colors I use the most are Aervoe Sand, Marine Corps Green (which is the large dark patches of green you see), Dark Green (which is more like grass), Field Drab, Highland, Light Coyote and OD Green - Post WWII. For the accents I use Aervoe Sand or Krylon Tan with Krylon Brown. I don't use all of these colors on each rifle, it's just the ones I use for everything. I have plenty more, but these are the ones I prefer.
I'll use SOWT's 700 to explain the process. (SOWT is a member on Lightfighter and m4carbine and I painted his hog rifle, a Remington 700. The picture is below with my 14.5" AR as well).
For prep, I just clean the rifle and wipe it dry. I leave everything in place, especially the optics. I stick a foam earplug inside the barrel and use tape over the front and rear of the optics. I just press the tape on like a lens cover, no need to get too precise. I tape off the trigger and bolt as well, or close the dust cover on an AR. I also tape of the rubber on the stock. Not for any reason other than in my experience, like with the Benelli, it takes considerably longer to dry.
I usually let the rifle sit in the sun for a good 15 to 30 minutes before painting so there's no moisture on the surface.
• The first thing I do is put down a base coat of Aervoe Sand. It doesn't have to be perfect as we're painting over a good portion of it anyway. I hold the can about 12" to 18" away and do long passes, starting to spray before I get to the rifle and continuing to spray just past it, this way there's no build up.
You'll notice the paint barely goes on and it's a very light dusting at first, that's a good thing. I'd rather pass over an area ten times with very light coats than once with a heavy coat. There's no instant gratification here, but trust me, it'll come together in no time.
• Once I have a good base coat down, I start with the large splotches of color. I use Marine Corps Green first and for the largest sections. I use a piece of cardboard that I cut a waves pattern into on the edge (idea from AShooter). I hold this near the rifle and spray the MC Green. I dust it on similar to the Sand. What will happen here is there will be a solid separation where the pattern shows, the you can fade it out slightly on the other side.
You can see in the pics that I use palm size section of MC Green and leave as much, or slightly more, Sand showing through. There's no set way that I do this, I just add it and make it larger if needed.
• Now, I'll use the Field Drab and Dark Green and dust just a light amount into the areas where the Sand and MC Green meet. To give you an idea of how little, I've been through three or four cans of Sand and a little less than two of OD Green on all these rifles, *but I'm still on the first can of all the accent colors and you can barely tell a difference in weight from when they were new.
• Once that is done, I'll take the OD Green and dust it over the entire rifle, basically putting down a very light coat over everything that is almost unnoticeable as its happening, but can quickly get away from you and cover everything you just did. So always err on the side of caution here. I'll go a little heavier in some areas and hardly dust others, this is usually decided as I'm spraying.
• Accents - I took a few manilla folders and traced/drew Multicam style patterns on them using Multicam I have here. I then cut them out with Of the folders. Well, I had my wife do it. She thought I was a little retarded but she did it anyway...
I then just held the patterns next to the rifle and sprayed directly through them, not the normal sweeping motion. Go very light, especially with the Brown, but don't go too light where you have to do it again as it might not be in the same place exactly.
What I've found works really well here is using the tan accents over darker areas of the rifle and using the brown accents over the lighter areas of the rifle. The accents are much more noticeable and give that separation we need for a truly effective camo.
• Finally, I might give a light dusting of OD Green again once the accents are done, but too much will quickly subdue the accents to a point where they'll be less effective.
One thing I've noticed is that many people will try to use subtle fades and blend everything together and when viewed from a distance it's just one blob of color. That's better than black, but still not what we're looking for. For camo to truly be effective, we need to break up the pattern. The best way to do this is with contrast and sharp separation with no straight lines.
The accents I use are not a must. They double the painting time and though they help, solid blotches of paint will work pretty much just as well for most people's needs. The 14.5" rifle I painted is not my work rifle and it's primary use is trainng and occasional hog and coyote hunting. I'm not trying to disappear from the enemy, i just want my gun to blend a bit better. Another benefit to painting the rifles is they don't get nearly as hot in the Aouth Texas sun. I'd say that's one of my main reasons now for painting.
This is obviously not as durable as other coatings out there, but I just don't care. I'm not trying to make them look pretty though I can't help myself at times and do try to do it right. Over time, they get the beat up look I prefer. Obviously, that's not for everyone.
- I'll edit this with a little more info and pics shortly, but this is all you need to get it done... Feel free to PM with any questions.
Again, I did not figure this out on my own, I learned it all from Lightfighter members AShooter, Pat Rogers and GTF425.... Plus others bits I've picked up from others along the way.
Here are a bunch of pics. Near the bottom you'll see a little bit of the process on the VZ58. Ill pick the ones that matter and post them in this thread later today.
All the painted rifle pics are in this set and not grouped together, though most are in the middle or end. there are pics of the Vz58 before the accents and final dusting. You'll see I dusted it too heavy and removed most of the other colors.
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/2492587...7629846580235/
Here's the paints that I use, but not all on one rifle, and the cutouts below. This is all very simple and easy to do, hopefully I didn't make it sound complicated n any way.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7...215e828c_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8038/7...a829df9b_c.jpg
Painted suppressor and Nightforce 2.5-10. I know it's hard to see, but the can shows how well the paint holds up to heat and countless days pushing through brush and limbs. There are better pics in the Flickr link above.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7...5e178ae4_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7...894651fb_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/6...c9223e5d_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/7...c7d6213c_c.jpg
Jon
