"Battlefield pickup" finish

[86K5]

I searched but to no avail. Has anyone done or know of someone who has done a battlefield pickup AR? I know Nodakspud is finishing receivers for an extra cost but I am thinking of doing it myself for that been there, done that look.

Edited to add the reasoning behind my question.

I am building an A1 clone and I would like to have a rifle, while being 100% functional, with the outward appearance of being well used. Much like spray painting a rifle, this will just be a finish, or lack thereof. I would like some info on what, if anything, people have done to achieve the desired look.

[TOrrock]

Might want to send a private message to a moderator and ask them to move this to the Vintage AR section.......

[Stickman]

I have a war capture/ battle field pickup, but its not an AR. Are you just looking for something that is beat up, or for an actual captured weapon?

[militarymoron]

i've moved this over to this section instead of closing it to give it another chance. if the OP is looking to replica the look of a well-worn/battle used Vietnam-era AR for whatever purpose (re-enactment, etc), let's see if we can help. maybe he didn't phrase it properly in the original question.

when i first read it, i thought "what the hell?", but if the OP is serious about building an A1 replica and wants it to look old, here's what i suggest, and anyone can correct me if i'm wrong. i'm treating this question as if someone wants to 'weather' a prop for the purposes of a movie or something.

i'd go over the 'high points' on the rifle with scotchbrite or fine steel wool, very carefully, and not overdoing it, using photos as a reference. obviously, the corners and all raised portions will be subject to the most wear. i'd then throw the rifle in a gravel pit to add some dings on the plastic furniture, rub some sand on it, etc. clean the weapon thoroughly/wipe it down.
then, i'd use super blue and aluminum black, and touch up those worn areas again (so they don't look newly worn), then lightly go over them once more with scotchbrite and remove a bit of the finish you just applied.

[Blastard]

I understand what you're getting at. Perfect mechanicals but a worn in finish. Alot of people in Cowboy Action Shooting like to add a little wear to be more authentic. Nothing wrong with that. Mild finish wear can be achieved with fine steel wool. Keep in mind that there's no going back without a full refinish though.

[BushmasterFanBoy]

I'd recommend using it as a "hiking" gun if you have access to some land where that's possible. It'd be a great way to wear the gun in and get yourself out and about as well. The range is a good place to shoot the gun, but I don't think the finish gets much more than a dusting there. For real outer wear, you gotta take your rifle some tough places, and don't skimp on the butterfingers while you're at it. :D

That's my idea, and yeah, its not easy, but its fun (to me at least) The easier way is what the guys above have said, keep the wear to the high points of the gun, and keep it uneven. While you're at it, get a good steel/aluminum Brit or USGI mag and reload the hell out of it, at the steepest possible angles to get it in the magwell too. This'll be sure to give the magwell a well used look, a telltale sign of someone who uses their gun a lot.

Also, give the charging handle a couple hundred racks to wear the finish off the latching area on the upper. And another tip, with all my "beater" AR's, the left side has more than its fair share of dings, even more than the right, mostly from hitting exposed mags and metal buckles on webgear when slung on a right-handed shooter. Don't forget this either.

[usmcvet]

Nodak only charges $10 a part to do it. The issue I see is you would need to do the bbl and FSB too so doing it yourself makes good sense.

http://www.nodakspud.com/AR%20Lowers.htm

[Army Chief]

This thread was closed last night because it had devolved into a collection of snide remarks and unhelpful commentary. While I've my own concerns about the "arts and crafts" overtones of the topic as it was originally introduced, the lock on the thread is going to be removed in the interest of allowing reasoned discussion, should there be any further points to make.

I'm not sure that the OP provided enough of a context to really help us understand why such a project might serve some professional, rational or functional purpose, but we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt. What we're not going to do is to allow follow-on posts that do not deal directly with answering his questions. Posts that served no larger function prior to the thread lock have been removed or edited. Please keep this on-topic (or refrain from commentary), so we can avoid the kind of feeding frenzy that might otherwise result.

Thanks!
AC

[usmcvet]

86K5

Did you get any where with your build and finish? Does the Retro middy you mentioned have this type of finish? Got any photos of it?

[Redmanfms]

Some fine steel wool will do it. Flinging it into a carport to "test its durability" however, is not recommended.

Battle-field pickup is a very popular look amongst AK collectors, especially on Khyber builds. You might want to head over to theakforum.net and ask this question in the build forum.

[jtb0311]

On TOS guys have mentioned steel wool and sanding wheels on a dremel to hit the raised areas.

[torquemada055]

On arfcom in the retro section the threads mention using a red scotch brite pad lightly till you get the desired effect.