My first AR EVER! Work in progress...

It all started with a sketch. An idea for the rifle I wanted to build. For the most part I knew what I wanted and I knew where I was getting the parts from. It was a LONG SLOW process saving the money and ordering from different manufacturers, the wife fought me the whole way, with our first child on the way. Haha. (Attachment 1)

I built my rifle with just the basic parts and just wasn’t quite satisfied. I still had some parts on order…a few bells and whistles, but still wanted something else. I had this PT92 with FDE Hogue rubber grips, and thought, “that looks sexy!” So naturally I thought…lets do a black and tan AR!! (Attachment 2)

The next step was to remove the parts I wanted to coat. Being that I already had the MagPul AFG in FDE I chose to go with Alumahyde II for it’s close color match. I watched a few videos on prep work and coating, did a test run with some Rustoleum spray paint from the garage on a PMAG with great results. I sanded it and degreased it, sprayed it and baked to cure. Overall Id say Im pleased considering the crappy paint I used. (attachment 3)

Here are the parts I want to do in FDE with the Alumahyde II Coyote (excluding my BAD-ASS ambi-safety selector because it hasn’t arrived yet.). So as far as prep work, I sanded them with 600 grit wet-sand paper (excluding the rail), Scrubbed them with a TSP solution used for paint prep, and then scrubbed them with DAWN dish-soap and HOT water. Here they are ready to go. (Attachment 4)

Here you can see the sanding and prep work is evident. I got a nice scuff on all the parts creating enough tooth for the paint to adhere. (Attachment 5)

I will be sure to follow up with more pictures and lessons learned as I make progress on the build. Any thoughts or POV's are welcomed. My Alumahyde arrives tomorrow, so I know what Ill be doing ALL DAY!

 

Basically what Im working with here:

Head Down Billet Upper: NIBX (nickel boron) BCG, GI charging Handle w/ Wilson Combat Tactical Latch, 16” SOCOM profile barrel; chrome lined 1/7” RH twist,

Optic: SightMark Sure-Shot Holographic Reflex sight.

Head Down Billet Lower: BADASS Ambi-safety Selector (short+thin), Giessele 2-stage trigger, KNS anti-walk pins, flared mag-well, MagPul MOE Grip, MagPul BAD lever.

Milspec Buffer Tube, buffer and spring, HDF American Tactical Import Butt-stock with Head down butt-pad.

Troy Alpha Rail 13” Free Floating; Magpul AFG, Troy squid grips.

Tactical Link Z-360 Sling Mount GEN II, Tactical Link stealth bungee Single point sling.

 

Thanks, I think itll be some time before the next one. Likely to continue to play with this one. Different optics and what not for a while. Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back in. Ill post more pics as I make progress. Tomorrow is paint, bake to cure, and reassembly.

 

Good looking rifle. 2 questions, what optic is that? And wheres the rear BUIS? Overall look like a decent build though. Bet it was fun. Im having a blast with this one right now. Im like a kid waiting for christmas for the parts to finish coming in and to get these parts painted, cured and reassembled. Too bad I cant afford to shoot the damn thing. haha. In time I suppose. Im just not one of the guys that had couple thousand rounds put away..So Im SOL right now.

 

haha, yeah i hear ya. Reloading components are scarce right now. I too got my Lee delux turret setup in the shop. Got brass, bullets and powder...no luck on primers yet. And again, I hear ya on the ups truck coming!!! I check the mail and the doorstep about 10 times a day. haha. Nice build though bud. Looks good. I can get PMC XTAC 193 5.56 for about $13/box of 20. So for the time being, Ill suck it up and pay for some ammo to atleast get the virgin rage trip outta the way. And get a good combat zero.

 

Heres all the parts, everything I ordered is here, now Im just gonna start coating the few parts I need to coat, bake to cure, install all my new parts and upgrades, and reassemble the rifle. Ill let it sit in the house for the next two weeks to finish curing, while in the hospital with my wife who is being induced tomorow morning. The in-laws will be here for the next week or two so I figure...let the rifle sit. Then...TO THE RANGE!!

 

Here all the parts to be coated. I degreased again,taped off a few pieces (made in USA) and baked them all to 300 before painting. I hung them in the oven at 170 and pulled one piece at a time, painted it, dusted it, then replaced it into the oven. I repeated this process until all parts were coated and back in the oven. I raised the temp to 300 and they've beenin there about 30 min. Ill check em at the 1 hr mark, and probably every 30 min after that until Im happy enough with the hardness to reassemble the rifle.

 

Here ther are. Coating complete, low just to let those suckers cook!...more when I get it back together!

 

Well...thats all folks! Let me know what you think. Coating is cured..well cured enough to handle it. Ill let it sit another week or so before heading to the range. Overall Im VERY pleased with Brownell's Alumahyde II Coyote. and you can see how well it matches MagPul's FDE. Aside from a slight sheen, ITS PERF! Thanks Brownell's. I do have a hell of a lot of experience in painting M4's. I do it a lot at work. And Im always messing with different patterns on my M4(At WORK) on slow days. But I am truly impressed with this AHII. I baked it for 1 hr at 200, then pulled everything out that wasnt metal, turned it up to 300 for another hour, and it's all hard as ROCK! Well, Ill follow up with how well it hold up after a few stress shoots. Still have to put my AFG on. Im waiting for my Troy TRX Alpha rail attachments to arrive UPS. Then Ill likely Just throw it on W/O paint, and let it be. Well thats it, hoped this helped. Be sure to share your thoughts or any questions...Stay tuned, more to follow.

 

Here a basic before and after. I did a couple pistol grip for fun while i was at it.

 

Well if ur not wanting to go woth duracoat. I would ansolutely recommend AH2. Stuff awesome. And really simple. Wash it spray it bake it reassemble it. Done. Couldnt be happier. I really like all tan. But considering the high quality upper and lower i have..i chose to wait until it gets a little beat up before recoating them.

 

It doesny quite look like it but all the tan IS EXACTLY the same. Maybe its my bad cell phone pic. Or bad lighting. But the stock looks darker in the photo. And so does the afg..it is not thw case however. Everyrhing matches beautifully.

 

Well...you know what they say...an artist is never finished. Haha, but I gotta wrap this one up. My first son was born over the weekend and now freetime will pretty much be next to none for a while, so thats that. Im pretty happy with the turnout of this rifle. I started with an awesome basic platform from Head Down. Both billet upper and lower, SOCOM profile 16" chrome lined 1/7 twist free floating barrel. Nickel boron plated BCG. Giessele trigger. and from there I would say this rifle has come a long ways, especially asthetically. Thanks for following along fellas. Any questions, especially about the coating or prep process using Brownell's Alumahyde II, feel free to throw out. And for all you critics... This stuff is badass, dont knock it until you try it. Couldn't be happier with it's durability or simplicity. And for 12 bucks...cant beat it. Please fellas share your thoughts. Its been fun. Cant wait for the next one!
I will throw up the complete parts list after tonight. Happy shooting boys!