Ugly paintwork.

[Frosty100]

Hello everybody,
Being a newbie here but not to air rifle shooting, this is my first thread. I have recently purchased a very nice air rifle, the make is irrelevant. It has been subject to a rather sub standard camo paint job which I am considering removing. The wooden stock is unpainted but the barrel, bottle, and action are painted. (I think its tinned paint and not sprayed) Normal DIY would see me reaching for a well known acidic paint stripper brand, but I know this would be fatal. Does anyone have any experience in this and can offer some product recommendations and/or methods please.
Thank you.

 

[marflow 777]

first off, we would need to know the rifle model the why if so we could guess what finish is under the paint
second i would use Rubbing Alcohol first and see if it touches it, it shouldn't harm a factory finish
anything stronger than that you are at risk of damaging the factory finish
it is a PCP and has a bottle and in the end, you could be in for quite an adventure

 

[WoodWelder]

My first thought would be why was it painted in the first place?
To make it look kool or was it to cover up rust?

 

[coastal drifter]

you could start with denatured alcohol on a rag and work your way up to lacquer thinner or even acetone. be sure to be in a well-ventilated area or outdoors

 

[3Crows]

Well, MPK, fresh air and a tooth brush and a soft brass brush. If it is the typical cheap rattle can that should work. Best thing is not to paint a rifle but it seems to be the cool thing to do these days. Kind of almost as bad as a tattoo. Easy on but not so easy off.

 

[almost sbd]

Some spray on oven cleaners work well to remove paint without damage.

 

[RickH]

Walmart sells a spray on paint stripper that works very well on brass model trains that have been painted. It takes the paint off quickly but then I can just wash it off in the sink. Effective but very gentle to metal parts and I suspect plastics as well. I’ll check the name when I get home this week. Not expensive and no serious odors.

Rick H.

 

[3Crows]

Some spray on oven cleaners work well to remove paint without damage.

That oven cleaner will also remove anodizing and if it is a China rifle with black something other shoe polish on it that most likely will come off also. MPK will probably remove the China shoe polish also but will not harm anodizing or blueing nor catalyzed coatings unless exposed for a lengthy time. And most likely rattle can Krylon/Rustoleum are not going to come cleanly off of China shoe polish or Cerakote or any of those without damage.

 

[Frosty100]

first off, we would need to know the rifle model the why if so we could guess what finish is under the paint
second i would use Rubbing Alcohol first and see if it touches it, it shouldn't harm a factory finish
anything stronger than that you are at risk of damaging the factory finish
it is a PCP and has a bottle and in the end, you could be in for quite an adventure

O.k.
It's a Daystate redwolf in walnut stock.
As another reply has said...why was it painted in the first place? I don't know the history of the rifle as its come through a dealer but it's definitely a brush job as its not a smooth finish

 

[MikeVV]

Just get a DA (double action sander) and carefully sand all the paint off. You'll probably also need to use your fingers in the tight corners too.
Then refinish it to your liking.

Mike

 

[357cal]

I may be, but why not determine the type of paint used and then find a suitable primer to seal it before proceeding? As a hunter, I wanted my PCP to blend in with the vegetation I hunt in. If you really need to remove the paint, exercise caution. If you decide to repaint, ensure you tape off the parts that should not have paint on them, such as gauges, etc. I repainted over the factory paint.

 

[Frosty100]

It's quite a rough job and I don't like it. I like the camo effect and if I did decide to repaint I'd definitely get it hydro transferred

 

[rc4fun]

Do Not use oven cleaner. It may work well but it will damage aluminum!

 

[Frosty100]

Do Not use oven cleaner. It may work well but it will damage aluminum!

I'm going to try non chlorinated brake cleaner or rubbing alcohol first on a small inconspicuous part of the rifle

 

[DeanB]

Who in their right mind would brush paint a Daystate Red Wolf, please post some pictures of it painted before you start working on it.

 

[Frosty100]

Who in their right mind would brush paint a Daystate Red Wolf, please post some pictures of it painted before you start working on it.

I know right!
I did some research today as to why? The previous owner was for the most part a crow shooter. The birds apparently would shy at the shine on the gun. He remedied this by toshing it over. I get his idea but I would have hydro transferred camo onto it. I will post some lovely pics.

 

[Sawney Bean]

Who in their right mind would brush paint a Daystate Red Wolf, please post some pictures of it painted before you start working on it.

I don't do much hunting anymore, but I used to do a lot of it. Back then I had a few guns that were spray painted woodland colors in random blotches. The idea of it was both to camouflage the guns and to give them a protective finish, but not to make them look good. Here in the Pacific Northwest it rains most of the time during hunting seasons, so these were guns that were going to be getting wet and getting banged around. I wouldn't do that to a Daystate, but I might do it to something like a Cometa or an Air Venturi. It looked really ugly, but it was really practical. Any time the finish got too scratched up I'd just give it a couple more squirts of paint.

 

[Frosty100]

This is a dealer pic.

 

[Sawney Bean]

This is a dealer pic.

View attachment 531798

That's actually much nicer than the paint jobs I did and fortunately he didn't paint the wood.

 

[Frosty100]

It's not massively painted TG!
I have seen much nicer realtree patterns also