I’ve got an AR that’s been painted like a million times. I’d like to remove the paint but I’ve tried this before with acetone and it was a pain in the ass. I quite literally want to just hose the gun down and be done with it, not deal with any of the bs scrubbing.
I am not concerned about damaging the furniture, but it does have a KMR that I’d prefer not to damage the finish of.
I don’t mind disassembling it the gun.
Does anyone have actual experience removing spray paint? I want the easiest method possible.
I’ve used that all natural citrus based paint stripper. I believe it’s still solvent based so I’m not sure how natural it is, but it works! Wear heavy chemical resistant gloves, well ventilated area and for gods sake man, don’t get it on your skin.
I sprayed it on - let it sit for 10 minutes - scrubbed with a toothbrush to get all the nooks and crannies and repeated until clean. Took about 2 passes total - rinse with water and voila!
Thanks for all the tips. I prefer a spray on even if MEK works better. I am not sure if it differs based on types of paint but I have used brake cleaner with literally zero effect whatsoever. I am using Rustoleum and Krylon paints.
I don’t mind scrubbing a little bit, I just don’t want to be doing the acetone dance where you pour it on, scrub it, it evaporates, pour more on, scrub it, etc etc. That was miserable.
I’ve unpainted a bunch of ARs. Sell it cheap and build/buy another one. The paint will never come all the way off. It’ll always look dusty at best. Some parts can NOT be unpainted. The finish on the KMR is done. It comes off easier than the paint.
Yes. MEK requires precautions in large amounts, but its not THAT bad. I’d rather be around MEK than some of the additatves in motor oil and transmission fluid that people are using for firearm lube. I’ve only had to use it once, on an M1A stock that was coated in 3-4 coats of automotive primer.
The citrastrip goo applied and left to sit for an hour or so will do what you want, I think. It will stay in where you put it. If the paint was well applied (as in good surface prep) it may require longer and/or multiple applications.
Also, with any chemical be careful of rubber. Most of these will damage rubber in one manner or another.
There used to be some Military stuff that was called “Dry Cleaning Solvent”, it was very good. We got it in 55 gallon drums I think.
We didn’t but any prudent person would take precautions with this stuff, gloves goggles etc.
Break Cleaner on steroids.
I agree…unless your going to repaint a different color it then it doesn’t matter. The only other option is to sandblast it, but then you have to retreat the entire rifle.
If the KMR paint comes off I’ll just hit it with flat black. Not the end of the world I suppose. Or an FDE? Could play with that.
My main issue with the paint is because this is shot almost exclusively suppressed when the oil and gas oozes out and then gets wiped off the paint goes with it. I’m sick of painting it over and over again.
Maybe I Can I send it in to be cerakoted? Will the KMR take cerakote?
I have only decided to remove spray paint once, and the experience lasted 15 minutes. I read all of the forums, searched, googled, bought all of the various removal chemicals. It was so baked on to the barrel that it just wasn’t worth the time to screw with it. I’m happy.
