Painted my Vangard Stock

[efw]

I traded into a Vangard chambered to 257 Roy recently. I mounted a Bushnell 3200 10x 40mm w/ mil dots & turrets in Talley LWs on it. I'm likely going to get a new scope for it at some point, but the 10x seems to be shooting fine and I'm broke so no hurry.

The thing shoots like a house afire, but I couldn't stand the factory tupperware. I'm going to put a new stock on it at some point, but to make it more bearable I painted it.

My "system" is to rub the stock down w/ acetone before scrubbing it w/ 100 grit sandpaper with which I erase the mold marks, then hit it w/ a light coat of primer. I like textured stocks, but the Plasti-Kote Stone Touch I've used in the past is in short supply around here for some reason. I found Rust-oleum's stone textured mineral brown at Home Depot, and followed the directions, spraying from far away to maximize texture. After letting it cure I hit it w/ 2 coats of matte-clear Aluma-Hyde II from Brownells which is epoxy for durability. I learned early on w/ the stonetouch that even w/ their own clearcoat it is NOT durable AT ALL, but the Brownell's product took care of that problem.

Here is how she looks now:

...and here you can see the texture of the paint, even after the overcoat:

It was a shot in the dark but I'm happy with the way she turned out. I highly recommend the textured stone products if you're looking to give your stock a unique look, but don't forget the Aluma-Hyde II if you do...

 

[Dr. Vette]

Re: Painted my Vanguard Stock

Neat! I've thought about the same thing and like your tips, especially the Brownells.

FYI, even with the plastic stock I bedded the recoil lug of my Vanguard and the Devcon seems to have stuck quite well. I'd suggest doing that if you are sticking with that stock for a while. You don't have to do the full bedding job just around the recoil lug and a bit under the rear lug. My stock was being pulled up 1/8 inch when I tightened the action screws but now I can get repeatable torque values with no deformation of the stock.

One of these days I'll get a photo of it so I can post it. Not pretty but it works.

Thanks again for the painting tips.

 

[efw]

Thanks Dr. Vette!

The original owner actually bedded & free-floated the barreled action in the stock. I don't know what he used, but it seems to have worked well.

I've never used Devcon, but have found that Marine Tex works well if I rough up the surface while removing material. I even drill shallow holes into the inside of the stock for "anchors" so the Marine Tex can hold solid.

Thanks for the compliments on the stock!

 

[Dr. Vette]

Re: Painted my Vanguard Stock

I had a bit of time to get a photo. I know yours is done but it may help the next guy. I know that this is not at all pretty; that was not the point. I was just trying to support the recoil lug and keep it from sliding around inside the stock.

Take a look at how much epoxy there is between the base of the action and the old stock. That's how much the stock was bending to meet the action before I did this.

The rear bolt area only got a tiny thickness so that it was flat with the bottom of the action.

Right now I'm working on a B&C Medalist for this rifle.

 

[Firecat]

That bedding material looks like Devcon Plastic Steel Putty. It's some of the best fror bedding with.

 

[Dr. Vette]

That bedding material looks like Devcon Plastic Steel Putty. It's some of the best fror bedding with.

Yes, that's mine done with Devcon.

It's the original poster ("efw") who doesn't know what material is in his.