Bibbety bobbety boo...It now looks old but once was new :)

Over the last several weeks a mate of mine has been doing some paint work for me; It's not your typical run of the mill painting though, he's been cerakoting one of my rifles. Cerakote is a polymer-ceramic coating that get's sprayed onto metals and plastics and then baked to a super-hard coating. It improves abrasion, corrosion and impact resistance so is widely used in the military and other environments and industries where a hard-wearing finish is advantageous. The main reason I have had it done to this rifle is that the rifle gets reasonably abused by the user (me) and I wanted some of the protective qualities of the cerakote to help with it's longevity.

I finally got the gun back [in about 68 pieces] and went to work putting it together which took a little longer than expected. I had planned to take it to the cattle farm I shoot on and grab some pictures of it out in the field however ran out of light so I took some today in my back yard. I'll get some better ones next week at the farm however for those who have been waiting for a look at the rifle here's a few now. You'll note I have not got the scope or any optics mounted as yet...A work in progress at the moment as I don't want to mount my Kahles 624i on it. I'm still deliberating choices for the scope; Maybe a second Kahles624i I suppose.

Before...

After...

You'll note that it looks worn and damaged which is exactly what I wanted it to look like. I asked my mate to make it looked f^cked up and although he did I would have liked it a little more so. Oh well, I'll have to add the additional "character" through use. I'm very happy with the end result and happier that I got it back together with no parts left over. I have test-fired it also [with two rounds] and it goes bang so that's a good thing. Oh, you may also notice the folding stock hinge is still black. I did this intentionally as I plan to buy a new [after-market] barrel shroud which I will leave black. That way I can swap it out if required and the black shroud, hinge, but pad and scope will balance out. That's the idea anyway.

I understand that it might not be everyone's choice of design, in fact, I have a mate who hates it although he appreciates the work that's involved. He's more of a one-colour sort of guy and to be honest I have been until now also. This is the first time I've had a rifle cerakoted more than one colour and also made to look old and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. I am building up a 22LR trainer-rifle which I am hoping to put a distressed Australian flag design onto. We'll see. All I know is that it is unlikely the rifle will stay in it's factory colour.

So, there you have it, for those who have messaged me with their interest in the final product...Here it is. I'm happy with it and am looking forward to taking the rifle out and getting some more images out in the field as well as sending some lead downrange.

[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default -]