Removing paint off shotgun?

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Muddydogs

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Anyone found a good way to remove paint off gun metal and plastic, Benelli Nova shotgun in particular? I think the paint is older Krylon spray paint which was put on around 15 years ago.

About the only thing I have found that will touch it is carb cleaner but even then I had to rub the paint with a rag, carb cleaner evaporates so fast I'm only getting a very small area at a time. Goof Off Heavy duty won't touch it, none of the gun cleaning products work and acetone just brings out the shine.

Carb cleaner is kind of toxic and its to cold to spend hours outside cleaning a 1/2 inch at a time, already have a headache from using the stuff in my reloading area. The Nova has a bunch off small areas which are going to take forever to do with the carb cleaner.

I might try the Goof Off pro but I'm not sure its any better then the Heavy Duty.

Any ideas?
 
Any paint remover should take that stuff off.
Caution paint remover will damage any plastic parts, so keep it off
of any plastic stuff.
 
Muddydogs said:
Anyone found a good way to remove paint off gun metal and plastic, Benelli Nova shotgun in particular? I think the paint is older Krylon spray paint which was put on around 15 years ago.

About the only thing I have found that will touch it is carb cleaner but even then I had to rub the paint with a rag, carb cleaner evaporates so fast I'm only getting a very small area at a time. Goof Off Heavy duty won't touch it, none of the gun cleaning products work and acetone just brings out the shine.

Carb cleaner is kind of toxic and its to cold to spend hours outside cleaning a 1/2 inch at a time, already have a headache from using the stuff in my reloading area. The Nova has a bunch off small areas which are going to take forever to do with the carb cleaner.

I might try the Goof Off pro but I'm not sure its any better then the Heavy Duty.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Lacquer thinner (faster but use ventilation), mineral spirits (odorless) slower and may need a soak--not particularly toxic , etc. will do most paints. MEK is the king of paint removing including epoxy but that stuff aint good for you and you MUST use protective gear and have significant ventillation (http://www.jasco-help.com/product/premium-paint-epoxy-remover). Are you dismounting the barrel/action from the stock and how much surface do you want stripped? Bead blasting and other mechanical means will also remove paint but may leave a scarred surface.

My personal preference is SOYGEL which is made from soybean oil, odorless, about as non-toxic apart from drinking it as you can get, and thick as molasses. It works slow but even gets polyurethane to bubble up and be able to remove. Great for removing paint or stain from wood stocks as it does not remove natural wood oils. However, I doubt it would work on epoxy paint.
 
The best paint remover is based on the solvent dinethylformamide. Look for that at the paint store as a component in a paint remover formulation.
 
Well Goof Off got it done with a lot of soaking and scrubbing with a stiff nylon brush. I had the barrel, plastic stock and forend which I set in a tube and sprayed with Goof Off. I would take a piece out and scrub on it for a while then reapply Goof Off and take out another piece to scrub on. Took about 5 cycles of Goof Off and scrubing to get the paint off. In the end I used a little carb cleaner here or there to get stubborn spots. When clean I hoses the parts down with Gun Scrubber then aerosol Rem oil. Tomorrow I'll go over each part to make sure its clean, clean the rest of the parts and put it back together.
 
The anti graffiti spray works well for me. Spray it on an wipe off with cloth. Read the instructions first. I have cleaned one Bubba paint job off a high Leupold scope and metal of Savage 110 rifle. Also, have done odds and ends from the hand of Bubba. Some people can break the point off an anvil.
 
Mowgli Terry said:
The anti graffiti spray works well for me. Spray it on an wipe off with cloth. Read the instructions first. I have cleaned one Bubba paint job off a high Leupold scope and metal of Savage 110 rifle. Also, have done odds and ends from the hand of Bubba. Some people can break the point off an anvil.
Click to expand...
Brands? and where to acquire please? Always looking for a better tool.
 
If you have acquired a firearm that some one has painted. Once you get that paint off , I'd look real close for something else wrong. If some one painted a firearm then who knows what else they might have done to it.
 
OK, The graffiti remover is Goof Off. The instructions do say this spray may be harmful to some plastics. There is a long list of products where spray can be used safely. I just sprayed some on a Savage Tupperware stock. If something goes wrong such will be reported in a post. This product is sold in Ace Hardware locally.
 
Alright gents, and ladies,

For removing paint from metal, use a product for cleaning hardened paint brushes. Our company has one specially formulated by our solvent supplier. It will remove any coating down to bare metal. The "evil" methylchloride is the base ingredient in good paint removers. All will damage plastic and rubber.

Aircraft remover is good too. The soylent gel also works and wont harm plastics, but it's slow as molasses in nome.

For graffiti removers, the brand 'This stuff works' has three: a general purpose good for most surfaces, a masonry version, and a plastic version. Multi-Master will work great on the metal surfaces. Plasti-Master for the plastic bits.

Using straight solvents is more dangerous and costly. They evaporate too fast, and are highly flammable. MEK, acetone, etc are hot enough to work. Paint thinner (mineral spirits, vmp napatha) will just make an oily mess. Lacquer thinner comes in a multitude of strengths, and is good for light overspray.

Goof off is good, but not as strong as a paint remover because its formulated to work on surfaces ranging from steel and concrete to finished wood and carpet.

As said above, always use proper personal protection equipment; including respirator, gloves, and glasses. Always shut off any pilot lights and don't use any electric motor that isn't explosion proof. Have adequate ventilation, without the use of fans (electric motor spark). I prefer to do it in the driveway.

-- The above comes from working at my family owned and operated paint store for 15 years.
 
I painted my contender carbine plastic stock set w spray paint. Then did a few coats of matte clear.
Later I decided I wanted it back to original color and used acetone and paper towels.
No damage to stock.
Did it to an 870 stock set when I made the pattern too busy.
No damage.
Got a beater 1100 and spray painted the receiver, clear coated it. Looked good for 2 yrs.
Took that off w acetone and redid w heat cure Gunkote from Brownells.
Thats been on now 5 yrs and looks like new.

I'd rather use acetone and take off spray paint, than mess with a rig that's been camo taped for a while. What a mess that stuff is!
 
I only have one painted stock now, and am too lazy to mess with paint removal. The colored spray paint is easier to remove than the matte clear on top.View attachment 816533

I have done 3 shotguns w the Gunkote matte black and while not perfect.....it's pretty decent. Think 35 bucks for little spray can. Degreased, surface slightly roughed, painted and heat cured.........it works well IMHO.

My 1100 SP was parkerized, bought used and had some stain in it.......so just made it all black and it looks like a new gun.
 
BTW, painted shotguns to me says "turkey or waterfowl" rig.
Might be some rust under the paint.
I got an 870 Express Supermag that was heavily camo taped. Did not know what lay underneath.
Shop got it, cut me a deal.
Got tape off, lots of residue..........gunscrubber made it a real mess.
Eventually got it all off and the gun under the goop was.........like new.
Took a chance and spent 2 hrs of work cleaning it.
Like new gun, $215.
I still have it.
 
So a painted gun to me says it MIGHT have a surface finish issue.
Guaranteed a bit of a mess to clean up though ;)
I'm too lazy to deal with such messes anymore.
 
Bubba work: There's a difference here. The paint I was removing was slathered on in thick layers. This slathering included the big ticket Leupold scope and knockoff Chinese "Harris" type bipod. The gun, a Remington 700 heavy barrel, is headed my way. Those guns in the pictures are a work of art. From now on it's gonna be into the garbage with Bubba painted stuff. There has to be some real compelling reason to keep it. There has to be a compelling reason to get it in the first place.
 
My first attempt at sponge painting. Which was later removed w acetone.
The matte clear is some tough stuff! Takes a few paper towels LOL.

I have a factory camo synth set on my 1100 SP. Hate it. Wish it was just black (but the camo came w swivel stud in buttstock).
Proly just get a black forend used, and an 870 buttstock (w vented pad)......like on my Supermag turkey gun. Swap em.

Guess what I'm saying is that I fell into the paint fad for a bit, and finally got out of it.
Have pretty much gone anti camo.
My recurves the last 3, have all been just black. My fave compound was bronze riser w black limbs ( a hunting target color).

I just got a new wool red plaid hunting coat yesterday...............

View attachment 816556
 
Bubba stuff..............seen it. On some $$$ rigs too.
It'd be pretty funny if it wasn't so sad.
 
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