The Pros and Cons of Painting your AR

[Doc Safari]

The fact that this thread even exists on this site confuses me...

Come on...it's all in good fun. Really too many are taking it waaaaaay too seriously.

I wanted to subtitle this thread, "Does this camo job make my rifle look fat?"

[26 Inf]

I like a nice slim fit flannel shirt sprinkled with some dead sexy multicam accessories. I find it makes me and my painted rifle look much more ninja esque while playing a symphony on the steel.

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!

[Inkslinger]

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!

I’ll trade you a John Deere hat that’s barely clinging to life (has that sweet plowed field patina) for your DeKalb hat.

[RobertTheTexan]

But hey, people are correct: It's your rifle. Paint it if you want to.

I don't object, by the way, to professionally rendered camo paint or other finish jobs. If I did I'd have to sell my Colt M4 with factory Vietnam tiger stripe camo. It's waaaaay cool. I'm just saying that taking your AR out in the backyard with a couple cans of Krylon is just bubbafied amateurish nonsense. Sorta like pasting fake bullet holes on your vehicle. It's like when you built models as a kid and instead of using the factory professionally rendered decals you tried to freehand paint the insignia on your airplane or whatever. Just looks like someone with too much free time and probably not much artistic skill.

As the saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Apparently us lower life forms have not reached your level of “professional critical artistic excellence” that you so smugly possess.

Goodness!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Doc Safari]

As the saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Apparently us lower life forms have not reached your level of “professional critical artistic excellence” that you so smugly possess.

Goodness!

I love it. LOL.

I'VE TAKEN FINE ART CLASSES, PAL! LOLOLOL!

[boltcatch]

The fact that this thread even exists on this site confuses me...

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.

[Doc Safari]

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 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.

Most intelligent post in this thread so far. Thank you.

I'll reiterate: I'm all for professional finishes, just not backyard paint jobs.

[RHINOWSO]

The fact that this thread even exists on this site confuses me...

I know, a certain number of OPs post like it's facebook.

"No, the gun doesn't make you look fat, the FAT makes you look FAT" type thing.

[RHINOWSO]

As the saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Apparently us lower life forms have not reached your level of “professional critical artistic excellence” that you so smugly possess.

Winner Winner, chicken dinner.

[Doc Safari]

I know, a certain number of OPs post like it's facebook.

"No, the gun doesn't make you look fat, the FAT makes you look FAT" type thing.

Takin' it way too seriously. Not every thread can be about totally serious stuff I don't think. Painting your AR is indeed fun, even if it makes you look fat.

And what the Hell is Facebook? Never heard of it.