Between bowhunting, bass fishing, a new house, and new hobby of pistol shooting, I have less and less spare change for my main passion: duck hunting. I've carried the same Remington 870 12 ga into the blind for 15 years; it's taken a lot of abuse but I point it well and it always goes bang. My only real complaint has been it attract rust anytime it's near water. Instead of shelling out $1000-1500 for a top-of-the-line autoloader with a nice camo finish, I decided to give my old gun a facelift.

Over the course of the past week I sanded, primed, painted, and sealed it using Rustoleum paints, painters tape, and a bunch of Johnson grass and reeds for stenciling. I have a stainless follower, paracord sling, Carlson choke tubes, and new recoil pad to install as well. Painting alone only cost about $20 in materials. Upgrading the other parts set me back only $140.

I'm really happy with how the paint job turned out and wanted to share it with anyone who is thinking of doing the same. Just go for it - if you mess up, sand it off and start over. You'll have a gun that doesn't look like anyone else's when it's done. The paint will hold up a lot longer than hydrodipping and cost a fraction of that process. It was a pretty rewarding project and I have the added benefit of continuing to get to use the gun my dad gave to me for Christmas when I started duck hunting in high school.

Looks pretty good! Was thinking of doing the same with my 17 hmr, instead bought the gunskin for it off amazon, I hear they are a pain in the A$$ so might just end up painting it instead!

That is a great looking paint job.

Thanks, guys. Yancey- If I can do it, anyone can. This was my first attempt at doing something like this. I'm just a little OCD about colors and shapes so I kept at it over a few days after work in my garage until I thought the pattern (or lack thereof) was balanced correctly.

Very nice. Bought some camo recently with an eye toward doing the same to one of my old 1960s 12 gauge pumps to use for duck hunting.

I just painted an old break open 410 of my uncles with rustoleoum. Was rusted up pretty good, just hit it with steel wool and washed it real good (after taking it all apart) and wiped it down with acetone and I was really suprised at how tough it is so far. I had to beat on a few pins and what not and didnt even mar the finish...

I agree. Very easy. The durability of the paint falls on how well you did all the prep work. Make sure you sand the gun down really well and clean off any dust, dirt, oil, etc before you prime the gun. I've done several turkey guns. Here's my personal gun:






















Going on 5 seasons and had held up well.

And unlike those other coatings, when it chips or scratches, just whip out the old rattle can, give it a squirt, and you're good to go. Great idea and it looks great!