Mossy Oak Gun Skin Application Photos

[Cheetah]

My next project is to apply the Mossy Oak Gun Skin to my turkey gun which I was considering dipping or even painting when I set it up last year. Most dipping or coating options cost as much or more than I paid for the gun, so the $35 kit from Mossy Oak seems like a heck of a deal.

 

My initial impression is that the kit is not really meant for the gun I am applying it to. My dedicated turkey gun is a Remington 870 Youth 20 gauge with a ShurShot stock that I installed separately. The vinyl graphic clearly is meant for a standard stock, not the ShurShot. I think it will cover the majority of the stock just fine, and along the bottom section behind the grip I will have to piece in a strip of extra material that will come off the end of the barrel piece. The Youth 20 gauge is a much smaller gun than the 12 gauge that the kit is sized for, so there will be plenty of extra vinyl being trimmed off.

 

Another problem is that the vinyl pieces are not cut in such a way that the pattern will flow nicely between major pieces like stock to receiver, and receiver to barrel. I am a bit picky about how that sort of thing looks, so I am going to rotate around some pieces and install them the wrong way, and with a bit of trimming I should be able to make it look a lot better than the original layout. Like I mentioned above, the 20 gauge's smaller size will allow me a lot of flexibility in how the vinyl lays out.

 

I'll post more photos as I proceed through the project in the coming days.

[Cheetah]

Playing around with some of the vinyl layout options I have available to me to make the pattern flow nicer.   Fortunately the size of my gun is small enough that I can move pieces and still have them fit over the stock/forend.  Although I have to be careful as I might not have enough of the proper sized scrap pieces to cover the bottom of the ShurShot stock if I move the forend piece back there to get a nice pattern flow... 

[Cheetah]

I forgot to mention which pattern I chose.   I went with the Mountain Country pattern because I felt it was a good fit for my favorite place to hunt, the Black Hills in SD, and it still provides good colors for the other areas I hunt in MN/WI as well.   Most of the other patterns would not require this much messing around with layout to line up the tree trunks and branches in the graphics... 

[Cheetah]

Looks like I was wrong on being able to move the one stock piece up to the forend, it is about 1/4" too thin to wrap all the way around at the thickest part of the forend.  I'll triple check before resigning myself to having mismatched sides on the stock.  

[leech~~]

It will be interesting to see what you came up with. Those are some big solids to work with.

[Cheetah]

Making good progress, but not happy about the pattern flow from piece to piece.   I ultimately gave up on trying to make it look perfect in my eyes.  No matter what at least one area would not look exactly like I wanted because of how the pattern is cut and put in the box.   If I had one big sheet of vinyl to work from I am sure I could have made this look really nice, at least in my eyes.  I think you guys might still like how it turned out though. 

 

I still have to do the forend, and also figure out what to do about the bottom section of the stock behind the grip...

 

Here are a bunch more photos showing the whole gun on each side so far, as well as how the two sides of the stock line up with each other.  

 

 

[leech~~]

I'm thinking it's looking pretty darn nice. Better then I thought with all the large log print.  Are you warming it with a heat gun or hair dryer or is it laying down pretty nice without it?  

Not a biggy but just because there is word print it would have been nice to try and have that up right. I'm sure the Turkeys wouldn't even notice! 

Edited April 11, 2018 by leech~~

[Cheetah]

I am using a hair dryer on high setting, works well for making the vinyl more pliable and sticky.  I don't think anything more than that is necessary.  Low setting is not enough heat.   The only other tool necessary is a sharp razor knife with a new blade to get good clean cuts in the vinyl.  

 

The logo bothers me also...  I went ahead and put it that way because the actual camo graphic is in the right direction, but the logo is opposite of the direction of the foliage in the graphic...  Seems like a flaw in the pattern to me.  

[Big Dave2]

Looks good to me!

[leech~~]

56 minutes ago, Cheetah said:

I am using a hair dryer on high setting, works well for making the vinyl more pliable and sticky.  I don't think anything more than that is necessary.  Low setting is not enough heat.   The only other tool necessary is a sharp razor knife with a new blade to get good clean cuts in the vinyl.  

 

The logo bothers me also...  I went ahead and put it that way because the actual camo graphic is in the right direction, but the logo is opposite of the direction of the foliage in the graphic...  Seems like a flaw in the pattern to me.  

 

Watch when heating that you don't over scratch it. Once it cools, over time it may contract and pull away by the edges.  

[Cheetah]

Late start to dinner here so I went back down to finish off the last two pieces.  The bottom of the ShurShot stock took some playing around as I did not have a single piece of leftover vinyl big enough to cover the whole thing, but I found a nearly matching thin strip to cover the inside, and then wrapped the bigger piece around from the outside.  It matches the rest of the stock pretty well actually.  I intentionally left the grip area clear of vinyl because over time I expect it would wear off.   

 

Another area that I might do differently next time is on the forend front and back where all the vinyl comes together, there is a lot of wrinkling as it bunches together.  I think the only way to not get this effect is to cut relief lines into the vinyl so strips come down together and overlay each other.   I did not have the patience tonight to do that...   

 

The instructions say to let the gun rest at warm room temps for 12+ hours to let the adhesive in the vinyl cure and set.  So I set up a space heater in my storage room where I did all the work and have the gun resting nearby.  It will have another couple weeks of sitting in my gun safe before I take it out for my first turkey hunt of the year. 

 

If anyone has any questions or wants additional close up photos of certain pieces, let me know.

 

 

 

[Duffman]

I like it!

Looks good.

 

And if a turkey gets close enough to notice any flaws, it should find itself on the dinner table.

[leech~~]

Looks great!  A little heat with a popsicle stick sometimes works to rub some of those little wrinkles out on the ends of the forearm. But, like you said cutting small relief cuts helps a lot.  I think you will be glad over time that you didn't cover the grip. Like you said it will wear over time but the other issue is the adhesive working out and making it all sticky on a warm day in the blind. 

Edited April 12, 2018 by leech~~

[paceman]

That looks Great! Well Done! You had better be careful if you lay it by a tree or on the ground in the pines. You might not find it again

[Wanderer]

I’ll have to look into that product!  I want to camo my black waterfowling gun and was considering getting it dipped.  This looks to work just fine.