Camo your own shotgun**better pictures added**

[HugoBox]

I have a 10 year old Gold that was pretty beat up so I did a bit of searching online and found a thread with specific instructions on how to paint the gun myself. It was easier than I expected and while I may re-do it before next year I'm going to roll with it as is. Here are some pix and if you are interested I can add the step by step instructions that I used.

Kinda dorky to add my name but what the heck - its mine right?

[Quackaddict9]

thats pretty cool, I like the camo but a little too green for me but it looks sweet.

[dan z]

looks good, why did you paint the wood on the stock looks like new?

[bimbo]

you have got to be some kinda painter, i would love to do that to any of my guns if i could paint.

[HugoBox]

The stock was beat to h*ll so I decided to paint the stock and make it all look the same. The picture of the two guns show mine and my brother's side by side - same gun same age.

Its also too green for me which is why I'll re-do it for next year, but I'm also anxious to see how the finish holds up after a year of use.

-erik

[BoxMN]

Those low res pics do not do it any justice. It is a bit dark, Monday morning QB'ing on it, but it does look great. I am going to do mine (the other one you see in the last pic). I just don't like the look of blued and finished wood on a gun I toss around in the boat or drag through the much in sloughs anymore. Plus, the stock on mine has the finish cracked as well, maybe due to swelling with water, or maybe just Browning has crappy finish... my Dad's old 870 doesn't have cracks, and his has been wet plenty of times

Anyway, I had have tape on mine for years, might as well make it permanent

[Ray Esboldt]

Wow! That turned out nice, Eric. I might have to get the recipe from you.

Good luck to you guys this weekend.

[BoxMN]

Good luck to you too Ray! Shoot em up

[HugoBox]

Hi Ray -

You know how to reach my brother and/or me. I can give you the step by step or I'll do it for you if you trust me.

Take care - erik

[JRedig]

Saw this gun this weekend in person, it looks fantastic, much better than the pics show! Nice job Erik!

[USPENAMC]

what type of paint did you use. i might get creative on my 870 have had it since 96

[Cheetah]

HugoBox, if you could post up some instructions, links to other sites with instructions, it'd be much appreciated. I have an 870 that I would consider doing it to.

[HugoBox]

HugoBox, if you could post up some instructions, links to other sites with instructions, it'd be much appreciated. I have an 870 that I would consider doing it to.

1. Materials needed are:

2. I used Rust-O-Leum spray paint.

3. Grey Krylon auto primer

4. Marsh brown (TAN) camo spray paint

5. Olive drab camo spray paint

6. Black camo spray paint

7. Acrylic Clear Matte finish

8. 1 pint – Nutmeg (American Accents)

9. 1 pint – Taupe (American Accents)

10. 1 pint – Hunter Green (American Accents)

11. 1 pint – Black (American Accents)

12. 1- 3/8” bursh (angled)

13. 1 – ¼” brush (angled)

14. Totally disassemble the shotgun so that you end up with the barrel, fore-end, stock, and receiver all separate (I chose not to do the trigger assembly on mine)

15. Sand the finish off the wood (if its synthetic rough it up a bit with 150 grit sandpaper)

16. Use steel wool and solvent to remove any rust from the gun as it WILL work through the paint.

17. Clean the entire surface of all parts with paint thinner to get any leftover gunk off.

18. I went overboard and also cleaned the surfaces with rubbing alcohol followed but another cleaning with acetone.

19. Once cleaned I thurroughly taped off any areas that I didn’t want paint on. For the receiver I taped it from the inside and then stuffed it with paper towels to ensure no overspray got in there.

20. Once cleaned and totally taped I hung each piece from decoy string in the garage.

21. After all pieces were hung I put on rubber gloves and repeated the cleaning steps with rubbing alcohol and acetone (the gloves are to ensure that no oils from your fingers end up on the metal).

22. Once totally cleaned and dry apply 1 THIN coat of primer to all pieces – let it dry for a half hour or so and re-apply. You’re not looking for thickness here, just total coverage.

23. Apply two thin coats of Marsh Brown to all pieces – again looking for coverage. Keep the can at least a foot away and keep it moving so you don’t get the runs.

24. You can take them off the string now.

25. Hold grasses and cat-tails over the top of each piece and use O.D. green as an overspray. This will give the appearance of tan grass with a green background. DON’T GO TOO HEAVY here or you end up with too much of a green look like I did. I would start with keeping as much of the tan showing as you can always darken it with more layers.

26. After you have the green overspray use brown or black to do another layer of overspray. I used black and it looks okay but if I did it again I’d try brown. I used bunches of grassed that were thinner that the cat-tails to give it a bit different shape and again to add depth.

27. Once you feel good about the background layers with the tan and green and black/brown you’re ready to add the details.

28. Use the wider of the two brushes with the taupe and make the long blades of grass. I’d practice this step some. Put as many or as few blades in as you want – I guess it depends on where you hunt.

29. After you have the initial blades done use the thinner brush and the nutmeg color to go back over the first blades with the nutmeg (I’d do about 2/3 of each blade) this give them more depth.

30. I added in some brown blades of grass as well.

31. Also add A FEW long hunter green blades. Don’t do too many – again try to match your background.

32. Now again with the thin brush, add a small amount of black to the bases of about 85% of the hand painted grasses. This again give you more depth and the appearance of shadows (more for us than the ducks).

33. The final step is two or three thin coats of the matte finish. I haven’t used and abused mine yet but from what I’ve read it should hold up will.

It seems like a lot of steps but they go pretty easy. Like I said earlier I’ll post a link if that’s okay cause this guy has pictures to go along with each step. I’ll also try to go back and pull pictures from my camera of each step and get them in here is its helpful.

The toughest part was taking the orbital sander to my stock – once got past that mental block it was pretty easy and fun. I also would maybe not use my primary gun as the guinea pig if I did it again – I’d maybe practice on a paddle or baseball bat or something.

Good luck. Erik

[Scott M]

Nice job HugoBOx. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[HugoBox]

Bumped back to the top just cause there are better pix that show a step or two of the proecss - now I'll quit clogging the board. It was just pretty cool to make an old gun feel like a new one for about $20.

[chillincarp870]

I don't care what anyone says Hugobox that is better than most camos that come on factory guns. Great Job

[icefishing21]

yeah sweet lookin gun hugobox! nice work