The Accurate Reloading Forums
Painting "synthetic" stocks
16 December 2006, 20:28
TCLouisPainting "synthetic" stocks
There is a broad spectrum of synthetic stocks out there, but what treatment (solvent or mechanical prep) will work best to give a paint job a bite. There is bound to be some that are made of materials that are NOT paint friendly.
Your suggestions greatly appreciated.
Right now I know Ram-Line, Winchester (factory) and Bell and Carlson are in the mix to see a paint job.
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16 December 2006, 23:42
fyjjimmy223 posted some pictures awhile back of a stock he painted with fleck-paint and it looked really nice and I believe he told exactly what he used and how he did it. Do a search and you should be able to find it.
17 December 2006, 07:53
jimmyd223LouisB, here's a link to that thread
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/318107085I am in the process of doing a couple more Remington/H-S stocks right now.
I tried to get more of the Fleck-Stone and our local Wally World said they didn't carry it anymore, I about flipped, drove about 35 miles to a larger WWorld and they had it but it is now called "Stone touch" still made by plastic-kote. Runs about 7.00 a can, and by the time I got out of there it knocked the hell out of a 100.00 but well worth it.
I am doing one stock in soapstone which is a winter white with gray/black flecks. The other is going to be Hunter green. Give me a couple of days and I will post up a few pictures.
18 December 2006, 07:55
JordanI have used Zolatone paint on Brown Precision fiberglass stocks with the following preparation, which gives very good adhesion
(1) Sand the entire stock with 50-60 grit paper. You want to completely roughen the surface and the rougher, the better.
(2) Clean the stock off with acetone or Berryman's carb cleaner (Just wet a rag and wipe the stock down. You don't want to soak it in Berrymans!)
(3) Once the stock has been throughly roughed up and cleaned, hit it with the Zolatone. You can buy it by the quart and they also sell a little areosol powered spray gun which works great.
(4) No need to apply the Zolatone epoxy sealer. Once a year, when the hunting season is over, you can strip it down completely and hit it again with the Zolatone, or don't strip it and just touch it up.
Jordan
18 December 2006, 07:57
Jordan...and the above process will work on any fiberglass shell stock. The one caution I would give is don't sand through the fiberglass external shell. That should not be a problem because in sanding the stock you are not trying to remove material or alter the shape, just rough it up real good.
Jordan
18 December 2006, 23:48
BriceSome paints, such as wrinkle paint, will easily go into solution with DEET (insect repellent). I discovered this to my discomfort and sticky hands in Alaska. You might want to test first.
19 December 2006, 00:15
jimmyd223Brice, I have never noticed my rifle stocks attracting insects

so I haven't had to spray them with deet.

Good info though for future.
19 December 2006, 00:25
Paul HThe stocks the original posted listed are, to my knowledge, all injection molded stocks, not fiberglass as the others have mentioned.
I haven't tried to paint the injection molded stocks, but would use both sandpaper to rough up the surface, and a solvent such as acetone to help prep the surface. Considering I have gotten decent adhesion to bedding compounds by roughing up the inside of the stock, I'd expect the paint to have fair adhesion.
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19 December 2006, 16:56
Dr. LouI have used Dura Coat's spatter paint for trunks and it works real well. It provides a little more grip than factory paint. I applied it to a Sako Fiberclass and Kimber Montana. So far it has proved to be very durable. It's a little tricky getting it applied evenly. Lou
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20 December 2006, 00:53
LJSMy local gunsmith gives the stock a very quick once over with a torch to burn off some of the slippery material on the stock surface after molding. Anyone doing silk screening will tell you flame treating is necessary for paint or ink adhesion to molded plastics otherwise the paint will flake off. My gunsmith says his paint problems went away when he started doing this.