I'm thinking about sending my .280 AI rifle to have a make over. Question is I don't know what I want, exactly.

I plan to order an Hunter's EDGE sometime after the holiday season. I was thinking OD green, but that's just plain boring! I'd like to have it spiced up a bit. Perhaps something like this picture that came up on google? Anybody know what type of paint that is and who does it?



I'm also trying to decide on a Cerakote finish. At first I was thinking about graphite black, but I've recently seen a few pictures of AR15s done in tungsten grey. Does anybody have any good pictures of OD green stocks and tungsten grey metal they would be willing to share with me?

Thanks!

That looks like Zolatone, the finish that Kampfeld and others use on stocks.

A similar finish could also be done with Curacoat or Ceracoat using the green base, with black and white splatters.

Eddie Fosnaugh can paint a stock like that using Cerakote.

I've done a number of stocks with a speckled finish, such as this one

You might talk to Rick Bin at this site. He's done alot of that sort of thing. E

Tungsten grey with the bolt and rings graphite black. McMillan green.

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll have to check these guys out. I've always been more into precision shooting with customs and just used off-the-shelf hunting rifles until I built my .280 AI. It was too heavy and I have since had the smith recontour the barrel. I had rattle-canned it, but decided it needed a little more because the paint just isn't working for me.

Chrome, your rifle is gorgous! That was almost exactly what I was looking for! I think I may have my bolt fluted and do black flutes and tungsten grey on everything else. That looks sharp!

Does Zolatone have a grippy texture like it appears in the photos?


ETA, just noticed that if you click on the link, you can order an EDGE through the site at a discount? Does it also include pillars?

Yes. Zolatone was one of the original bedliner treatments. It does have some texture. However, your Hunter's Edge will be nicely textured as well.

Yes on the Zolatone texture question. I just recently had a stock done in Zolatone and have to say its become my favorite stock. I hunt a bit in the rain here in Oregon and when wet or cold its sure a nice feeling stock. Mine is a Classic Edge and I'd sure like another like it.

I just sprayed my second stock, the first was back in the mid-90's and I had no idea paint would not stick to the Model 7 stock worth a flip.

Round two, a Steven's 200 with black satin Krylon Fusion as a primer, Rustoleum Camo Green, Krylon Webbing paint followed by a few coats of Krylon matte clear. I am very pleased with the results and next will be hot pink and glitter for my daughter's Mark II following the same process.

Dave,

That looks good!

Karl Feldcamp (Kampfeld Custom) does not use Zolatone as far as I know........he only uses Cerrokote, both on the metal & stocks.

He's done metal & stocks both for me & both were done with Cerrokote........he has some really great colors. I was at his place a couple of weeks ago & saw some new stuff he had just done.

MM

Tag

Karl uses Zolatone too.

By the way Eddie Cerakoted the Remington 700 above.

He does awsome work, the rifle now belongs to Steelhead.

Sorry to say, Zolatone is absolute crap. I knew a maker that used it, trusted him, recommended it here and subsequently found out it's junk. I usually never recommend something I don't have first-hand experience with, and that experience cemented that commitment.

What I can say is no paint I've ever seen is better than Sherwin Williams Polane-T. Nasa uses it on the nose of the space shuttle. It's the paint McMillan, Rick, Bansner and Brown Precision use. I'm sure other use it too.

For stocks my #1 choice is air cure cerakote. He is a Tikka in sniper grey metal with a green, brown, black sponge job by my kids. The heat cure and air cure look identical, cannot really see any difference between the scope in air cure vs the rings and rest of the metal in heat cure.

I wore through the Polane on a McMillan faster than I thought I would.

This is black Polane from McM, and I covered it in Krylon. The Polane is clearly a lot tougher than Krylon, but it will still wear through without too much coaxing.

Count on a 10 month turnaround, or more if you have them do a full installation.

More like 3 months.

You will be limited to the standard McMillan Polane colours which has a nice grippy texture but can add other splatter etc on top. Alternatively you can order one unpainted and send it to a Cerakoter like Eddief for painting.

All Edge stocks come with pillars.

The tungsten grey is a great colour for the metalwork. It goes really well with McMillan olive Polane.

the picture in the original post looks like a Bansner paint job to me . I have one done by him that I hunt the piss out of and its 8 years old and its holding up just fine , no chips ,flakes , nada.

Here's an "absolute crap" Zolotone paint job that's held up well for a few years... Has a nice textured grip to it, but a pain to spray: high pressure pot, mucho over spray and a lot of clean up. I mixed a few of colors together and it worked well for me.

Flat black Cerakote
Midnight Purple Cerakote (I love this more and more)
Fine fine rust blue



Alan