See that's always the problem, a poor kid can never compete with a cool kid. All I got is Big Smith bibbers, a long john undershirt and a DeKalb seed hat. No extra money for spray paint. And I'm supposed to compete with a Metrosexual Lumberjack rocking an oiled beard and sharply parted hair? I can barely afford the velcro to mount a morale patch to my bibs. Oh, the humanity!
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.
Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee
"Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
~ Sam Houston
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
~ Sam Adams
The topic is fine, it's the emphasis on what people perceive to be other peoples' perceptions that is sort of silly.
There are real downsides to painting some things -
- You may void warranties. Last I read (product manual) this was the case with Steiner lasers
- Parts should be thoroughly de-greased before painting. This means that your corrosion protection will then be the paint itself, and camo krylon isn't very good at protecting parkerized steel.
- Some insect repellents make paint gummy (already mentioned), as do certain oils and cleaning solvents
- Resale value is a real concern for certain items if you want to sell them some day
- Your particular firearm may become extremely unique and thus identifiable via photos
I big positive that I don't think I've seen mentioned here is that non-black firearms are frequently "invisible" to non-gun people that aren't paying attention. I've seen it happen quite a bit, with both factory and rattle can finishes.
In terms of pure concealment vs an observer, a well done rattle can finish is going to outperform most factory or custom-shop applied camo finishes like alumahyde, hydro dipping, etc. This is because they're usually using patterns that are limited by concerns of mass production, fabric printing, use across many different environments, etc. Those professionally applied finishes also often have the sort of non-visible spectrum issues you see between commercial and military patterns.
Last edited by boltcatch; 11-30-18 at 16:55.
Bookmarks