Painting a Fiberglass Stock

[MHO]

Has anyone had any experience painting their own stock. I have a fiberglass stock I am considering painting. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[RT2506]

It depends on the type of material the stock is made out of. The hard plastic like the Remington is a little hard to get the paint to stay on well. Krylon (SP?) has a paint that is made to stick to plastic pretty good so that should work well for them. The only ones I have painted have been like the H-S Precision that has a little ruff-er texture and wood stocks. For sure you need to ruff up the surface with some sandpaper first. I do a digital camo pattern like this. I first paint the complete stock with a FLAT sand color 3 or 4 coats and let dry between coats. Then I take a piece of plastic matting that is used for needle point. You can find it in the sewing dept at Wal-Mart or craft stores. It is a matting that has little squares in it. You can lay this on top of the stock and give it a little swiping spray of FLAT black paint then move it and give another place on the stock a swiping spray of FLAT olive green. Blending your black and olive green in to make it look like digital camo. I got my paint at the Wal-Mart. They used to have their own brand in these FLAT colors but now I think all they have is from Krylon in the sand and olive green but the standard Wal-Mart flat black will do. This paint has stood up to about 5 years of hunting and range shooting and has not come off yet.

 

[royinidaho]

Follow the same process the body shop does for autos..........

Think smooth, any flaw however slight shows through......

 

[MHO]

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a whirl.gun)

 

[Gene]

I have sprayed two composite stocks with auto enamel, several colors, not in camo. Always apply several primer coats first. Finaly, a clear coat or two to resist moisture.

 

[MHO]

Thank you Gene. Have you guys ever had a stock "Dipped"? Several websites do them. I just never have and the quality is my concern.

 

[Gene]

Funny you asked that, because I thought about giving you this referral but then it seemed obvious you want to paint the stock yourself. I am thinking seriously of having one of my benchrest stocks dipped. I have never seen a hydro dipped stock, and would like to hear from anybody who has had that process applied. I have been in contact with this company, and to date I have selected one pattern, and they could not match it. I am not real crazy about the other patterns I see. I will choose another very soon. They do have many camo patterns. The cost to hydro dip a stock is $500. Even if you choose not to do it, take a look at their patterns, they are real neat. Gene

Camouflage / Carbon Fiber / Wood Grains / Burl Wood

 

[Jumpalot]

$500!!!! Holy crap!! That's the most expensive dip job I've ever heard of. I've seen plenty of other sites that run closer to $100 for a stock.

 

[Gene]

Sorry, Jump - that is the price to dip a BR stock, which is what I have. Here is the e-mail response I received from Hydro Dip back in December:

"Standard rem 700 style stock single dip $125 matte or semi gloss finish
special design stocks that require 2 dips $150 matte or semi gloss finish
we wet sand and polish all high gloss finishes--this adds 2-3 hrs to a stock @ $60/hr
Bench rest stocks start at $500 and include some minor bodywork, all masking, 3 coats of high gloss urethane clear, lots of sanding and polishing and a little love. We're all BR shooters here!"

 

[Jumpalot]

Sounds like they do a lot more prep and finish work than everyone else. Just not sure I'd want to invest that into a hunting rifle. If I had a rifle dipped, it would be because I was going to be beating on it pretty hard. I'm sure they do fine work though.

 

[MHO]

Gene, Do you happen to know the turn around time?