Painted pistols

Jeez, there's a guy on Auction Arms who's selling Tokarevs that have been

Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it! A buddy of mine had an old Stoeger side by side 12 ga. that he spraypainted a fluorescent hot pink. Added to that were those hippy daisy flower stickers on the stock.

It was a total 'beater' to begin with, and we used it to either shoot up trunkloads of beer bottles or hunt rats in the local dump.

Now, I don't recommend this with any gun that you paid more than $80 for, or ever intend to resell. This was a project intended to amuse and/or frighten the mostly non-gun types we hung out with in college.

Just remember, degrease thoroughly before painting! Went through 2 cans of Krylon before that one got figured out. Also, plug the muzzles and tape over the trigger area before you Picasso-ize your gun.

Ars gratia artis... (or armis, as the case may be!)

El Capitan

# Jeez, there's a guy on Auction Arms who's selling Tokarevs that have been # painted. # If it keeps them from rusting why not?

Melissa wrote#Jeez, there's a guy on Auction Arms who's selling Tokarevs that have been painted.

I believe the CZ-75 Pistol still has a black enamel paint finish from the factory.

Spy in Hawaii

#Jeez, there's a guy on Auction Arms who's # selling Tokarevs that have been painted.

It depends on what kind of paint was used. If it was the bake-on enamel sold by Brownells, it would be fine. I've done a couple M1911's myself using that paint. If it's the 97 cent junk from WalMart that wouldn't be so good.

Mike Corey NRA ~ USA Shooting Appointed Pistol Coach

# It depends on what kind of paint was used. If it was the bake-on enamel # sold by Brownells, it would be fine. I've done a couple M1911's myself # using that paint. If it's the 97 cent junk from WalMart that wouldn't be # so good.

I haven't done a gun yet, but I used some Rustoleum to paint a socket (as in ratchet) a few months back as sort of a test (baked it in the oven). It actually held up pretty good for a couple of months. It's wearing off now but it was a single, thin coat and I carried it around for quite a while so it actually impressed me. I'd definitely use a better paint for a gun, but I was surprised to see it didn't flake.

Some guns are painted from the factory, mostly military.

It was a wartime expedient finish on certain W.W.II guns. I know the Brits painted some guns, particularly in 1943.

I've seen original Russian SKS's in pristine condition that were painted. Maadi and other close copies of Russian AKM's are also painted over phosphate.

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Wilbur wrote<snip>#I haven't done a gun yet, but I used some Rustoleum to paint a socket (as in ratchet) a few months back as sort of a test (baked it in the oven).#I was surprised to see it didn't flake

I have a buddy who bought a cheap powder coating machine at Harbor Freight, for about $70 on sale. He bakes the items in his regular home oven or if they are bigger, he bakes them on with a radiant heater. That stuff is tough. He painted a lawnmower blade red last summer just to give it the acid test. As of 2 weeks ago, about 97% of that finish is there. There are a few scrapes where rocks got the blade and the leading edge is worn about 1/8 back, but that's it. I'm going to get one when they go on sale again!! You can buy other colors than what HF sells, he got some transparent purple powder from an internet supplier and did some chromed go kart wheels, they are beautiful. I would think a gun would be a good candidate for a powder coat finish. BTW, here's the Harbor Freight link to his machine; you can download the manual to see what's involved: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf? itemnumber=42802