Preperation before painting a mossberg shotgun?

Question

only the things I need to do please this isn't a very nice gun.

Thanks guys
Shane

Answer 1

As a Gunsmith I suggest you do your metal surface prep with #000 Steel Wool, The idea is to rough up the surface somewhat without destroying the finish..Ultra Fine Tri-mite sandpaper will also work but avoid rubbing hard on the metal surfaces. A little pressure goes a long way...Use that Tri-Mite on your stock and fore arm. Sand it just enough to dull the clear coat on the wood and that's as deep as you need to go.Make your camo-overlays/patterns & spray templates buy cutting 2" wide pieces of Painters masking tape,that has been layed out on a piece of clear window acrylic plastic (the stuff you replace small windows with instead of glass) Cut the masking tape patterns with an exacto knife or a single edge razor blade..Spray the whole gun with a base coat and let dry. Apply the cut out patterns and spray over the patterns once you have arranged/applied them to your liking. Try to avoid using more than 3 different colors of spray paint .Let dry....Looks great, Inexpensive..

Answer 2

Forget Carburetor Cleaner. It has some oil in it. Use Brake Cleaner. it evaporate fast and takes the oil with it. If you have a air compressor then go over the gun with it to get all the oil and debris out of the corners and cracks. If you don't they will bleed out and loosen your finish. You will need to use light sand paper such as 600 or 800 garnet and just brush lightly the finish, (you are not going to take the old finish off) This will give it enough tooth to hold your paint well. Be sure you get metal paint, not wood paint. The Army Surplus stores have camo paint in spray cans that works well. My son used a gray winter camo on his stock and it looks real nice.
Sarge

Answer 3

Make sure it's unloaded then take it apart.

Metal parts need degreasing and surface prep to hold the paint. JD is right on with the steel wool to buff out the surface. Nothing that's going to get paint should be shiny. Be careful if you live in a humid climate, your steel will rust fast with no oil on it. Get a can of Denatured alcohol at the home depot and wash and scrub off all the oil. Then buff with steel wool. Wipe with clean dry cloths, mask off areas not to be painted and paint.

I assume it's a wood stock. Sand well with a 200 grit paper all over, wipe well and then paint.

I recommend using Krylon Camo paints. Be patient and spray a lot of very, very light coats, actually just misting the paint on in very light passes.

It would be best to paint one base coat in all the same color then you can add other colors on top for camo patterns.

Make stencils out of heavy paper or sheet plastic using an Xacto knife.

Answer 4

A tip for painting a plastic stock. Use Bulldog. It is in the automotive section and is used to help paint stick to difficult surfaces such as plastic

Answer 5

remove any surface rust. remove any grease or oil on the surface. carb/choke cleaner works good and it's cheap. put your base coat on next. then be creative and put on your camo pattern. practice on a piece of cardboard first.