painting/camoing my AR questions

[cowboy717]

I have always wanted to camo my own gun. Now that I have an AR again, I'm going to try it, just wondering if anyone has any pointers on what not to do/ what to do. Its going to be a dedicated varmint/ coyote gun.
Thanks guys, anyone have any pics to show?

[LouBoyd]

Do you want a pretty paint job or to actually camouflage your rifle?

[cowboy717]

I want to camo it

[LouBoyd]

I would not paint a rifle if I was trying to camouflage it. I do own a few rifles with desert or woodland "camo" paint but I've never paid extra to add it. The paint might do some good at close range but there is no effective camouflage if you don't break up the outlines which say "human with gun" to an observer at a far greater distances than where paint patterns can be resolved at all.

A simple method I use is a piece of fairly fine netting mottled in natural colors found in the environment to drape over myself and the rifle to break up outlines. A 4x8' piece of netting is light, compact, cheap, comfortable and easy to put on and remove unlike a ghilli suit. From the inside it's practical to see out with a partial loss of resolution and brightness. Sure, it's still visible and if it's moving it can be detected. (like a ghilli suit). When still and sitting or lying down its difficult to tell from rocks even in direct sunlight. As important as the netting and it's color is to make use of the environment by mingling with shadows and similar size and colored objects. Use terrain and foliage when possible to not be in full sight of whatever you're trying to prevent detecting you.

Nearly all mammals and birds are very sensitive to movement in their field of view. Avoid unnecessary movement when game is within line of sight. Many species including humans can recognize a human form at distances well over a mile.

Camouflage is not about being unseen. It's about being unnoticed and unrecognized.
There's is little point in being unnoticed visually if you don't also control noise and odor.

[LouBoyd]

Just some examples of what not to do.


Environment is ok but the uncovered hands aren't. Only humans have hands anything like that. The unpainted rifle is not a problem. Deer would probably notice scent first.


A nice paint job but it's not making any use of the environment and would be recognizable at several hundred yards as an AR-15. . Walk across the room and look again at the screen. You just see a light colored AR-15 with no comouflage.


No camouflage here. They would be recognizable as humans with guns at a mile. Painting the rifles wouldn't change that at all.


This is the idea of using a camo net to break up outlilnes but it's not shown in a good environment. Its in direct sunlight causing the shiny black plastic handgard and black oxide coated barrel to shine brightly. Paint won't fix that. Both need to be covered by the netting. Far better would be for the shooter to pick a location in shadows.

There's no point in posting any pictures of camouflage done right. You won't see the rifle, the shooter, or anything abnormal at all.

[RAYZORT]

Start here if you're still interested: A Simple Guide to Painting your AR-15 - AR15 Armory.com

[Bravo 4]

My rifles get painted, especially anything stainless or solid black.
I do agree that it should match the terrain as much as possible and you need to break up your outline, the head and shoulders for the most part. Very rarely do I wear a full blown ghillie any more, I use a viper style ensemble.