Facelifts for My Two Favorite Hunting Handguns

Hey guys,

This project has been a LOOONG time coming. It all started in ’94 when I bought my first Remington XP-100. It was rechambered to 22 Rem BR by Clarence Hammonds and fitted w/ a black McMillan synthetic stock. I always wanted to repaint the stock black and gold in honor of our local high school (the "Lumberjacks"), but never got around to it. Three years ago I had a second XP built by Mr. Hammonds, this one in 6 BR. He sold me a used stock that was bright red. I knew I'd repaint it someday. Both guns are wonderfully accurate and are used mainly on prairie dog hunts.

This spring I decided it was time for the "BR twins" to have a facelift. I swapped out the black stock on the 22 BR for a gray stock I obtained from a different XP. Consequently, both BR's would have the same style of stock. Unfortunately, Fed Ex badly damaged the base of the grip of the new stock, nearly breaking it off. Using a liberal amount of 2 part epoxy, I was able to repair it, although cosmetically it wasn’t pretty. I stayed w/ the “Black & Gold Lumberjacks” theme for the 22 BR. Sadly, a few years ago the local high schools consolidated so the Lumberjacks no longer exist. The consolidated school is the “Purple and Silver Knights”. The decision was made to redo the 6 BR into a Knight.

I used Aluma Hyde II “Matte Black” spray paint from Brownell’s to paint the stock, barrel, trigger, rear bolt, scope base and action on the 22 BR. After a few wks of curing, I applied gold and then white Krylon “Marbelizing” spray paint to the stock. followed by Aluma Hyde II matte clear coat for protection. The marbelizing paint is really difficult to control, but w/ practice and patience, it turned out well. I’m pleased with the final look on both stocks.

On the 6 BR, I used a dark purple spray paint from Lowe’s on the trigger, action, rear of the bolt and stock. I left the barrel and the majority of the bolt the existing stainless steel finish. I used the same marbelizing paint on the stock, but in silver and black. The final coat for this stock was Krylon matte clear coat.

I hope the finishes hold up well. I applied Aluma Hyde II to an XP barrel and action 3 years ago and it has been pretty durable. The purple is already wearing some on the safety, but it’ll be easy to touch it up as needed.

After all the work, I was relieved to see both guns still shoot well.

Sadly, I've never had a talent for coming up with nicknames. Consequently, now's your chance to give me some suggestions. I've considered "Black Death", "The Knight of Death", "Purple Death," etc. but I'm open to suggestions.

Before pic of 22 BR stock (w/ 260 Rem barrel)

Before pic of 6 BR

After pic, 6 BR on top and 22 BR on bottom.


22 BR at 100 yds

6 BR at 100 yds