Tin of 'paint'

[mrclark303]

My penath worth .. 21 years as a refinisher, quite a bit of experience of refinishing firearms over the last five years.


Careful strip, thorough preparation, 800 wet or dry, then red scotchbrite to get into all the edges.

Then clean with a good quality degreaser and mask off as required, I use good quality spray can primer and paint (Kent industries products), used sparingly, just enough to cover, flash off with a heat gun, gentle key with scotchbrite, blow off and a few coats of Matt black, again just enough to cover, flashed off between coats with the heat gun.

Leave overnight, then gently polish with a microfiber cloth to the correct satin finish.

The main points are really careful and presise preparation and don't use too much paint and primer, do it right and it will look great and really last on live Firearms and deacs .. too much paint and it won't dry property or last.

[Flying10uk]

Do you know what the name is of a modern equivalent of Suncorite is, please, or a good alternative?

[ragtop]

Been doing a bit of cleaning today. Quite dirty, been using 4x2 with Youngs .303 and some very fine wire wool and am quite pleased with it. Yes it is very worn but clean and worn with no surface but it kind of looks good as it is in a way so may not refinish it after all. The wood was as black as coal but after cleaning with meths and wire wool ithrn brywaxing it all looks like walnut again and have uncovered the stacked rifle marks of BSA along with a number of inspectors stamps in various places.

Britplummer- the finish does have quite a brown hue to it albeit worn.

My gun numbers are:

Enfield Mk1 1940 D8956
Inglis Mk1m 1941 N2790
Enfield Mk3 1949 LB38428

The paint probably is Suncorite, must say though after copious stirring and shaking it does reconstitute to a workable covering, finish is more like phosphate rather than the satin effect of suncorite almost like brunofix (if that's how it's spelt) the nearest I have seen to it was on a No4T..

[ragtop]

Ah sorry- missed Peters earlier note about not baking it, that's correct I just agitated it to a reasonable consistency, brush painted it on then let it dry in the sun. Must say though, our oven is not big enough for a Bren body with a barrel attached and besides anything else Mrs. Ragtop would have had a fair bit to say about putting guns in her new oven let alone sticking the house out. With varous militaria around the house and a Land Rover in the garage I really do no need to be uspsetting the apple cart.

[Peter Laidler]

If sunkorite is new - or at least fully and PROPERLY mixed - you can have it decanted into aerosol cans by the paint mixers who do this sort of thing. But DO NOT leave the plastic spray head on the can unless it has been cleaned and pricked clear. Or just ask the canner for a few spare spray heads

[mrclark303]

Good point Peter, I have had Olive Drab in cans before, so Suncorite (or a single pack equivalent) should't be an issue too.

It would certainly be more usable for most people in this format and applied finely atomised it would work extremely well.

[30Three]

in reply to post 10

It is an unfortunate fact that these days. Stupid people get better service from the courts! those that work for an honest living often get shafted!
The richer they are, the richer they become! just because they can afford better lawyers.
I've been in the motor trade for over 35 years; it's getting ridiculous; to the point that we cannot actually offer the real customer service as we did in the old days.

Stupidity is part of the evolutionary process of natural selection!

[David TS]

One of these days I'll take you on a nostalgic memorable journey through a huge Base Workshop Armourers and A-vehicle (tank) shop F-10. H&S was in its infancy in the late 70's or so and the uncovered trichlorethylene vapour tank would swallow a complete Merlin/Meteor engine PLUS my complete MGB GT V8 front crossmember. and rear axle. And the paint bays stretched for 40 yards - including the sunkorite bays that sprayed and baked said crossmember and axle. We didn't need to wash our hands..........we just dipped them in the tricho tank. I suppose our one concession was that we opened the windows. And so far as I know, we're all still here complete with all of our marbles........ It's all about ........ just thinking of the word.........

Peter

I worked in several car bodyshops in the late 60's and early 70's. Apart from running a big paraffin space heater in the workshop in winter with fumes around (and getting the last out of the acetylene bottles in winter by aiming the space heater at them ) , there was always a 10 or 15 gallon drum of cellulose gun wash open (and we all smoked in those days).

We inevitably got paint on our hands one way or the other, so yep, we just dunked them in the gun wash drum to wash them.

And yes, I am still here too..........

[Flying10uk]

Are you prepared to personally indemnify other Forum members when they offer advice to others then? If you are, no one needs to worry about including sensible safety precautions in their Posts.

[Peter Laidler]

My will to live is going decreasing by the day chaps............ But in the meantime I've got a good idea. Why don't you let us old and bold, been there, done it, got the 'T' shirt and still alive to tell the tale blokes just get on with dishing out our words of unwise or bad wisdom instead of fretting about us and our pending litigation doom.