DIY Rifle Camouflage....

This instructible is based on my latest camo job on a Ruger M77 25-06 long-range hunting rifle.

If you're looking for instructions on dis-and-reassembly, I'd prefer you consult either your owner's manual, or a reputable source, as I know only my weapons, and limit my expertise to what I own.

Also, don't forget to check out my site: www.htwtusa.com!

So....without further ado, if you please......CLICK-IT!!!!....I meant the "Next Step" button....

First, after familiarizing yourself with your weapon, its assembly requirements, and assuring that it has no ammunition onboard.......remove any accessories (scopes, lasers, tac-lights, etc.) and set them aside.

For this, a bolt action rifle, I removed the bolt assy, as it wil not get any paint on it, and also removed the barrel/breech assy from the stock....

After disassy, clean EVERYTHING with some brake parts cleaner......yes-everything.....it dries fast and strips ALL grime from the surfaces to be painted....

Next I arranged my materials...I choose brake parts cleaner because it absolutely strips all goo from any metal and dries pretty fast; Krylon ultra-flat camo paint because it's basically the toughest sh*t in a can; Acrylic, flat clear coat for extra durabiliy and super low-gloss. Choose your colors assuming your AO environment, and stay away from black....it rarely occurs in nature and is pretty easily spotted. Since I wanted a forest break-up pattern, I chose khaki for my base, brown for layer 2, and dark green for foliage layer 3.

I taped off and otherwise covered anything I didn't want paint on (trigger assy, bolt holes, etc.)...as you can see, earplugs work great as barrel plugs, too.

Next I hung everything up w/bailing wire from the ceiling and prepared for my base coat....

I put 4 base coats (in khaki) on everything, stock, barrel, scope, magazine trap, trigger guard....Then I went to cutting stencils for layers 2 and 3...I use a disposable straight razor and a pane of glass as my backer-board.

I got my stencil designs online....just google your favorite leaf and pick out some line art...print and cut - you got a free stencil....

I used a "stick" stencil and some brown to make "branches"....I just went random and relatively sparse with the layer, to avoid "bundling."

After applying layer 2, I fogged the whole project lightly with the brown paint, to fuzz it up a bit and darken the overall scheme.

After 15 minutes or so, I went ahead and hit up coat #3 with a leafy stencil and some green....same advice as in the previous layer.....break up, not clutter...

After waiting another hour for the project to cure again, I pilfered my kid's colored pencils and chose a peach-colored one to add sketch accents to the leaves. They don't need to be perfect....a sketchy outline actually adds good breakup to the overall pattern....

After accenting where I wanted w/the pencil, I fogged the whole thing again lightly with green, waited another hour, and applied about 5 coats of clear, low gloss acrylic to the whole d*mn thing....and after another 2 hours under a baking lamps , I was ready to reassemble the pole....

Well, what can I say? When it's dry, put it back together, wait about a week for the paint to fully cure, and hit the range to re-zero that scope....

The whole project took about $20, has stood up to Hoppe's No. 9 powder solvent so far, and I couldn't be happier with the resuts....

Hope you enjoyed my second "Instructible".