Questions: Coating a pitted barrel

[Eric]

I recently came into posession of a very worn Italian Carcano carbine in 6.5. The bore, bolt, and action are great, but the stock (while it fits tightly) has seen better days, and the outer surface of the barrel shows obvious rust damage and lots of pitting. I traded another forum member for this rifle, knowingly, but I traded things I was looking to give away anyway, and figured I could use a good refurb project to keep my hands busy while sitting in front of the TV. (I'll post some pictures later)

I do not, repeat, DO NOT care about keeping this old rifle original, nor do I want to put much money in it. I'm probably going to turn this old beater into my truck gun, so as long as it can put some lead downrange it will serve the purpose I have in mind for it.

That said, I think I want to fill in some of the pitting and paint the barrel. I think I'd heard someone say (at some point in my life) that you can scour out the pitting and fill it in with epoxy? Is that anywhere near true? Also, do they make cheap spray on epoxy paint that would be safe and functional on the gun? Spray duracoat? I'm looking for cheap, easy, and functional, NOT pretty.

Any advice you can offer is appreciated. As I said, I'll post some "before" pictures when I get home, and keep up with them as I go.

 

[mr ed]

I've done it with JB weld and sanded it smooth then kryloned with semi flat black and it looked decent. there may be better paints but on a $50 clunker
.22 is held up good.

 

[Eric]

I've done it with JB weld and sanded it smooth then kryloned with semi flat black and it looked decent. there may be better paints but on a $50 clunker
.22 is held up good.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. Did you rough up the metal before applying the paint?

 

[Honeybee]

degrease the gun first, then wash it down with Phosphoric acid, that will etch the metal and make it stable (not rust) then wash it down well with water and dry with a hair dryer. All that before you fill the pits and sand.

 

[willystruck]

Why not sand blast it to blend the pits in with the rest of the barrel then do a parkerized finish. It will hold up great and look pretty good also.

 

[mr ed]

just sanded with about 220 grit emory cloth. then rinsed everything with alcohol then let air dry. after the paint dried so you could handle it I put it under a couple bright lamps to heat it up and sort of cure it.

 

[Honeybee]

degrease the gun first, then wash it down with Phosphoric acid, that will etch the metal and make it stable (not rust) then wash it down well with water and dry with a hair dryer. All that before you fill the pits and sand.

 

[okie98]

Gee, I learn a lot on this site.