How Hard is it to refinish a Bear Magnesium Riser?

[Nala]

Hey all,

Can you all tell me how difficult it is to refinish a Bear TD Magnesium riser?  Has anyone on here done it and would like to share their experience?  After the original finish is removed what would you put back on it to make it look good and last?  I know the collector value would be shot, but I am not worried about that anyway.

Anyone have any advice?

Thanks

Nalajr

[doug77]

You''ll find everything about refinishing in the History & Collecting Forum

doug77

[Orion]

After removing the paint, filing and or sanding down any rough spots and cleaning the riser thoroughly, I used several coats of an automotive primer and followed with several more of color.  Pretty easy.

[frank bullitt]

Larry, I don't think you can ruin the value of a mag handle! No matter what color or type of finsih. If everything is intact and functional, do what you can!

If you have someone local, who powdercoats, that would be my first choice! If you want to diy, Orion's tech would be the way to go.

[koger]

I can give you  a simple solution, have done several of these risers, along with Bear Minutemen, and 76'ers, not to mention compounds with mag/alum risers. I go to a local parts or machinist, pay them $5 and use their bead blaster for 10 minutes to clean all the old paint etc. off. Then I degrease/clean with acetone, get at WalMart, and let dry. Screw a bolt into the stab. holder and wire up a wire hanger of sorts. I wear rubber gloves during the degreasing, and any time after I clean it. I usually use the acetone twice, first time to get any unseen gunk off, second time as a precaution. Then I use Brownell's Aluma Hyde 2, requires no primer, and you can put 2-3 coats on, as long as you do them within 1/2 hour of each other. This is available from a rattle can. One can would do 2-3 bows.This is a slow cure epoxy paint, and will stand up well on abusive use of firearms and harsh chemical solvents used to clean them, much better than any paint that was used when the riser was new, available in several different colors. You will need to let hang4-5 days in a hot area of your  house, needs to be done in a warm area also. If the riser will fit inside your oven, heat to 300 degrees, hang by the afore mentioned hanger, let bake for 30 minutes, take out and let cool over night. Will be tough as nails, unbeilevable. I have been professionally bluing and parkerizing firearms, and knives for over 20 years, this stuff is toughter than either, never had a complaint from a customer. Not too expensive either. Go to Brownells. com or call them on their tech line for help. Pm me if I can help further.

[OkKeith]

Sam,

Do the colors stay pretty much the same after curing with the Brownell's paint?

OkKeith

[koger]

The colors usually darken, just slightly. They have a lot of camo colors, olive drab, coyote brown, etc. Hey Larry, just noticed it was you posting, didnt I rehab a knive for you? Sam.

[OldSkoolArcher]

My first Mag handle was refinished by the previous owner with Brownells alum hyde 2. It was a drab green and was very nice. Since then I have have had a few different mag handles. One finshed with rattle can and two camo dipped by Big Jim. The camo dipping is my first choice. But if I was to do another by hand it would be with the Brownell's product.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I would use Dura Coat firearm finishes, that stuff will stick to anything and I use it for gun refinish projects. I know we aren't supposed to mention that "R" or "G" words on here, but this stuff would work great for a metal riser bow.
It's not a paint, but a resin that gets harder over time and won't come off. In fact, if you want to remove it they recommend sand blasting to get it off or just coat over it with a new color.

It dries very quick and can be handled in 1 hour, then reaches full curing after 24 hours and can be used as normal.

Same prep as Koger described then just follow the instructions that come with the Dura Coat product. It comes in Matte, Gloss, Semi-gloss, and every color imaginable. The kit would be enough to refinish many risers.
If you want something fancy, they even offer some really cool camo kits.

I would recommend getting the Preval sprayer for $10 bucks and it will do at least 3 finish jobs. Very little clean up involved, or if you have an air brush that will work also.

I use it almost exclusively for my refinish jobs and I highly recommend it!

Link-->  http://www.duracoat-firearm-finishes.com/

[Tree Rat]

Bead blast and powder coat. You can usually get a shop to do it for about $30

[Nala]

Koger, yeah you did rehab my knife for me and I still have it close at hand at all times, that one ain't getting away from me again.  That was a great thing you did for me.

As for the riser, it has one of the metal sights on the side of it.  How hard is it to get those off and also the limb brackets that they have?  Would there be any problems taking that stuff off and getting it back on properly?  I'm not sure I would put the sight bracket back on though.

Thanks

Nalajr