Painting a Chinese 12.5'' barrel

mosinmaster

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So most of you are aware that the finish on these barrels are pretty thin and weak. Since it's just a beater, camping barrel, I want to create a little more durable finish. Can I just degrease it, spray some primer on it, and Krylon flat black, and then put a clear coat on top? Will gun oil eat right thru the paint or will it be durable enough for general purpose use? Will the heat from the barrel cause it to bubble or melt?
 
Yes Krylon is cheap but I've not had gun oil eat away at my guns finish at all.

I applied four coats to the gun after wiping everything down with carb cleaner solvent until the paper towel stops showing dirt coming off, let it air dry in the sun and sprayed 4 coats to the gun with 15 minutes between coats for it to cure.

Cost me under $15 total to do the job, the high friction areas on the mag tube and on the bottom of the barrel where the action bars rub has removed some of the paint but it will wear there no matter what finish you put on the gun.

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Overall for the dollar spent its a great finish and I've not seen a speck of rust anywhere since, given my gun was bare finish before going for a well worn truck gun look.

Before the paint job.

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I just picked up a can of flat black VHT spray paint from Canadian Tire on Friday to do a barrel or two over the winter. I don't know if the VHT is necessary but from wear the paint is worsening on my 14" Norinco barrel, I was guessing that heat was the issue.
 
Any big difference using automative spray paint or BBQ paint that has higher heat tolerances as opposed to Krylon flat black camo? And also what's a good clear coat to put on top that keeps the matte finish?
 
Custom car shops sell paint that is specifically for painting things like brake calipers.

Made to take extreme heat.
 
Krylon is very heat resistant. It didnt even bubble on the gas block on my 858, even in winter when the steel goes from minus 20 to several hundred degress and back down again within a matter of minutes. It is however a piss poor finish for steel, even with sandblasting, cleaning with wax and grease remover, heating to evaporate the solvent, priming, painting and curing for a week it still chipped like a bastard. Its more chip resistant before it cures, afterwards it get pretty brittle. I re-blasted, prepped and primed with VHT primer then painted with their flat black silica/ceramic header paint. I dont have an oven to bake it but it was far more durable than krylon for about $15/can. I painted the heatshield on my old tri-z with it so it got baked on and it was incredibly tough afterwards. It sat right behind the front tire getting blasted with dirt, gravel, snow, ice, mud etc and didnt have 1 chip or rust spot after over a year. I tried scraping it with the sharp edge of an old bearing race and barely left a mark that wiped away with my finger. If you can bake it on, its great stuff and probably compares to some of the higher end gun finishes.
 
One more thing, the brass bead is known to fly off. Any recommendations on how to secure it permanently? Is it just threaded in or is it pressed in? Maybe take it out, drop some JB weld in and secure it for good? I was thinking of putting a fiber optic behind it anyways, but you need a secure bead up front so it doesn't slide off.
 
Its pressed in and I believe its flared on the inside but if it flys out you can always have a gunsmith D&T it for a standard bead size and thread in a cheap replacement.
 
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