Help I want to repaint a Rifle

To start out I have a Marlin Model 60 .22 basic rifle made in the late 70's. I picked this gun up about 10 years ago at an auction cheap. I just replaced the wooden stock with an ATI plastic stock which was only $40. The new stock has added new life to this old rifle. The rifle is one I use for target shooting and plinking in the back yard. The bluing on the rifle barrel is in real good shape but the parts that have been factory painted are showing some wear. Since this is a basic cheap reliable gun and no matter what I do with it it will always be a basic cheap reliable gun I want to paint it to freshen it up. I was thinking about painting all the metal surfaces of the gun except for the plain metal trigger and bolt. I think I want to use a deep metallic blue like you would use for a car. I plan to leave the stock the color it is.

What do you guys think? Lets hear some ideas. I have not made my final decision as to color yet and an open for ideas.

Dependent on how much money you would like to spend, check duracoat, alumahyde, and brownells finishes. They are a step up from spray paint. I don't know how far you wanted to take the project. The only problem with spray paint is heat build up. If you choose spray paint, look for automotive block paint (hi-temp). Good luck. You can't beat a 22 RF.
Doc

I had good luck with Alumahyde-II on my AR, but it is a very thick paint so much care must be taken where moving parts penetrate, and where parts are fitted (like the bedding of the barrel into the stock).
It is also very tough.. I spend hours clearing the holes and sanding the pins to get my takedown pins and selector to fit and rotate properly in the lower.

This was not the bake-on type... I used the rattle-can type, but I can't imagine the bake-on would be any thinner.
Duracoat might be a little better to work with since it can be reduced, but since you're wanting a metallic, that is always going to be a moderately heavy finish.
Just take your time with masking and plugging any holes. Re-tap any threaded holes and run any painted screws through a die to clean the threads.

docismyname said:

Dependent on how much money you would like to spend, check duracoat, alumahyde, and brownells finishes. They are a step up from spray paint. I don't know how far you wanted to take the project. The only problem with spray paint is heat build up. If you choose spray paint, look for automotive block paint (hi-temp). Good luck. You can't beat a 22 RF.
Doc

Click to expand...

No problem at all with heat on the barrel of my AR with Alumahyde-II spray-can. If it can handle an afternoon of XM193, I'm sure it can handle a few bricks of .22lr

I've had good luck degreasing, then heating with a heat gun, degreasing two or three more times, then heating up with heat gun again and spraying light, multiple coats of flat black grill paint.

Sounds good, i'm definately a fan of Rustolium, the only recomendation I would give you is to avoid the final coat out of a spray can. If you buy Rustolium out of a pint jar and pick up a can of oil-based paint hardener from tractor supply and mix it, the finish is SO much stronger. You paint it out of a can and it will scratch to high-heaven. I have painted the rims on my work truck with this with excellent results. Only thing stronger you can do at home is powder coat, which requires way more tools and facilities.

I just had my Springfield XD slide done in a titanium dura coat finish and it looks fantastic. It's supposed to be very durable and comes in many different colors. Supposedly it requires no more skill than painting a lawn chair. On an inexpensive gun it might be worth a look. It's sold by Lauer Weaponary. Sorry I don't have any pics to put up but there are plenty on Lauer's website.

Thanks for the information. The titanium dura coat finish comes in a ton of colors. The process and technique for painting the rifle I have under control. I am still undecided on the color. I am some what traditional with most guns being blued but I think a different color might be fun.

docismyname said:

Dependent on how much money you would like to spend, check duracoat, alumahyde, and brownells finishes. They are a step up from spray paint. I don't know how far you wanted to take the project. The only problem with spray paint is heat build up. If you choose spray paint, look for automotive block paint (hi-temp). Good luck. You can't beat a 22 RF.
Doc

Click to expand...

Completely agree with the recommendations made here. I've used all three products mentioned. Brownell's product is reasonably priced, easy to apply and fairly durable. In my opinion Duracoat has sort of become the De facto standard for a serious firearm paint. It costs a bit more to get into their systems but unlike most rattle can paints you really have to try hard to get this product off. It's there to stay. They have a ton of colors and a variety of products to meet most users needs. It works very well. Their website also fairly insightful.

Since the blue finish on the barrel is still in good shape I'd be tempted to mask off the barrel and only paint the aluminum alloy receiver with one of the durable products mentioned in the good posts above.

I dont' have much aluminum alloy in my collection of firearms but have used Birchwood Casey Aluminum Oxide touch-up. I bought a bottle probably 25 years ago to use to touch up a bright worn spot on a Ruger 77's trigger guard. Went in to the reloading bench to read the product name off the bottle and couldn't find it. I think I noticed that it had dried up when I moved my bench last month so tossed the bottle. It was used on few other folks' firearms with good success.

Have a cousin who has one of those Marlin Model 60 rifles. I was with him when he bought it back in the 1970s. It has always been trouble-free and dependable, even without a lot of care.

Dura Coat http://www.lauerweaponry.com/

I actually just completely refurbished an old Marlin 60A for a friend not 6 months ago. The 60A being a bolt action and yours is a semi. You have gotten some great advice so far, but I would like to throw mine in also for your consideration.

When I refurbished my friends Marlin, it was pretty old and unkept. It's value couldn't have been between 40 and 60 bucks. It was that bad. I reblued the barrel using cold-blue by Burchwood, however, I blued it using the hot blueing method which worked out great. Not knowing what year your rifle was manufactured or what specific parts you want repainted. I saw in a post here about aluminum. Are the parts aluminum or steel? The model 60A I worked on other than the wood stock, were all steel parts.

So after sanding the barrel down with many different grits of sandpaper and blueing it which turned out great, I stripped the blueing or paint in your case from the bolt, bolt handle and metal parts with Navy gel. I then took them to a local plating company and for very little money had the bolt, handle and parts plated with a nickel carbon exo plating which made them not only rust-proof, but also made the bolt self lubricating. It gave the bolt and parts a chrome type finish which contrasted with the blued barrel and made it look spectacular.

My friend was so impressed with the finished product he kept insisting to pay me for my effort, which I refused as I was doing it for a friend. However, if you not looking to get into it like that but the parts are steel. you can go to walmart and pick up a bottle of cold blue and easily blue those parts to match your barrel for alot cheaper than a duracoat kit.