I have an AK-47 style WASR-10 that I bought in 2008. It originally had wood furniture and was just a run-of-the-mill gun. I wanted to turn it into a working gun with a light and sling. So I added a forend with a rail. Then I wanted it to be more compact so I could take it with me when I traveled, so I added a folding stock. Then I wanted an optic on it.
By the time I was done it looked like a Franken-Gun. Since I used different companies for different pieces, nothing matched. It was just pure ugly, but it worked as a truck gun for many years. I just wanted it to look better.
I went to the local Home-Depot and bought some camouflage paint (because that was all I could find in a dull green color and it seemed appropriate) and some blue painter’s tape, totaling $7.68.
I brought it home, disassembled the rifle and pulled off all the pieces I wanted to paint.
I then taped over the places I didn’t want paint to go.
I taped over the front of the light because I didn’t want paint on the bezel to affect the light output. I also took off the end cap that has the switch inside it. It’s a rubber switch and has just a little bit of electronics, but I didn’t want to risk it. So I just didn’t paint the end cap and taped over the battery hole.
Paint one side and the sides then wait until the paint is dry to the touch. Then flip it all over and paint the rest. I used a bucket as a hard surface to paint the round light and put the bezel down because I didn’t want to paint that part.
I waited a little longer and put the rifle back together.
It looked great. So I put it back in it’s case and back in the safe where it belongs.
The next day it was off to zero the new optic so I could use it in a rifle competition the next day. The rifle performed great, but the colors started to run.
When I took the rifle out I could still smell a little bit of spray paint, which tells me the paint hadn’t cured all the way on the plastic. When the rifle started to get hot from use the paint started to get sticky. But the funny part was that the paint wiped off the stock on my cheek as I was shooting the rifle.
Paint also wore off the forward handgrip a little. I’m not sure if that was the paint wiping off or the paint just didn’t dry there before I touched it.
Two lessons learned from this project:
- Let the paint dry at least a couple hours before putting it back on the rifle, and then let it dry a little more once everything is back together so your rifle bag doesn’t stink like spray paint.
- You need to rough up any spots that are smooth or the paint will wipe off.
The paint wiped off the stock that was very smooth but not off the pistol grip, forend, or light. The only truly smooth plastic was the stock.
Now I’m going to take the stock off, hit it with some sand paper all over to rough it up a bit, and then put another layer of paint on. But this time I will let it dry for a couple hours before putting it back on the rifle.
Stay Safe,
Ben
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