870 Taking Shape

[houser52]

Over the last week or so I've been putting together my 870. It started out as a Remington Compact with wooden stocks. I've deep cleaned it, added the ShurShot stocks, Williams Universal sights and sponge camo painted it. I've also got some Hevi-13 #7, HW#7 and a couple chokes to try. I'm just waiting on a shorter rear blade to get here from Williams then I'll be ready to try it out.
After starting out with a 12 gauge 50 years ago, I'm looking forward to using a 20 gauge this year. It should be fun.

[jordanz7935]

 :icon_thumright:Looking good! That paint job turned out really good. Hopefully i can find a shurshot before season gets here.

[houser52]

:icon_thumright:Looking good! That paint job turned out really good. Hopefully i can find a shurshot before season gets here.

Thanks. That's the third gun that I have sponge painted. I think this one has turned out the best so far as far as the colors. I had it out yesterday and set it against several trees in the woods and it was hard to pick out even at 20 steps away.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the ShurShot but after I put the Williams sight on there, it made all the difference in the world. Now my head and cheek sits perfectly on the stock when aligning the sights.

[owlhoot]

That is a really neat paintjob

[340_Dart]

Looks awesome! Care to enlighten us on your painting techniques? Paint used? Thanks!

[houser52]

Looks awesome! Care to enlighten us on your painting techniques? Paint used? Thanks!

The last few times I've camo'd my guns I applied the camo pattern directly to the gun's finish. The reason being that whenever I tried applying a base coat first, the paint always remained tacky.

With that said, I start with a clean gun and use acetone to degrease everywhere the paint will be applied. I have had the best results with Kylon Camouflage paints. I tape off parts that I dont want the paint i.e., butt pad, etc.
The paint is applied one color at a time with different pieces of sea sponge that you can pick up at the hardware or Walmart in the paint section. I just cut the sponge to the size I want to use. Spray the paint onto a plastic plate, lid or whatever, then dab the sponge into the paint and lightly dab the sponge onto the gun. You can keep doing this with different colors until you get the camo pattern that you like.
The Krylon dries pretty fast to the touch and different colors can be applied over each other after they are dry.
After its finished, some guys go over the whole thing with a matte clear coat. I tried clear coating one time and it didn't work out, left it tacky. Now I just leave it uncoated. If it gets scuffed I can just go over the scuff mark with another bit of paint.

I've carried my muzzle loader and 12 gauge 870 for a few years now and they don't show any signs of wear.

I know there are other techniques out there but this has worked very well for me.

[surehuntsalot]

one sharp looking turkey gun 

[longislandloco]

Nice work!

[eorlando]

Very nice. I will be setting up a 20 ga this off season. I can only hope mine turns out as good as yours.

[houser52]

Thanks guys.

I got to shoot it earlier this week. I installed the shorter rear sight blade which made a big difference in adjustability.

I tried the SSX and Titewad chokes, HW#7 and Hevi #7 shot.  I had the best results using the SSX choke and Hevi#7 shot. There wasn't a lot of difference in the patterns between the two chokes and shot @ 40 yards. I would feel confident using either combination to hunt with however, the Hevi#7 and SSX was just a little better.

I don't have my notes with me but both patterns were even and the pellet counts were in the 160-170 range in 10" @40 yards. The last couple shots put 33-35 pellets in the head/neck area of a turkey head target @ 40 yards. The shot shot pattern on the 20 yard target was still open enough for a little wiggle room just in case I can't hold steady on the target.

I can't wait for April 11th.

[strutstopper]

Nice work!