How to take paint off a stock???-- help!

[fuatos]

Has anyone had any experience taking paint off a FAL stock? Is there an easy way to do this without destroying the stock? I have a painted stock that is starting to flake and would like to restore it to the org. black.

Thanks,

Bryan

[sixplusone]

[ September 04, 2001: Message edited by: sixplusone ]

[recce]

If it were the Brit paint (suncorite)it would take something strong enough that would end up harming the plastic as it is acid resistant.

Have you thought about having it bead blasted? That way it would smooth out any imperfections.

[idsubgun]

If glass beads seem too harsh, try plastic or walnut media. More and more sandblasting business's are offering this type of media.

[kfranz]

Sandpaper????

[W.E.G.]

There was some left on an R1 stock I was working on.

I ran it through the dishwasher with Cascade. The paint didn't come off much in the dishwasher. But when it came out, the paint was really soft. So soft that I could peel it off the stock with my fingernails.

[fuatos]

The dishwasher seems to be one of the best FN FAL tools out there. I'll give it a try and let you know.

Thanks to all who responeded. I was some what hesitant to try sand paper, as I didn't want to scratch the plastic.

fuatos

[RHspen]

Somebody told me to use brake fluid and steel wool. It worked great and I had a nice clean R1 stock. RH

[W.E.G.]

I used fine sandpaper and steel wool on a plastic R1 stock that had a bunch of scrapes on it. I got the scrapes out just fine. But, the process left stock with a dull sheen reminiscent of an AR15 stock.

[sixplusone]

My wife could get into a Group buy on the Dishwasher thingy. (Although I'm totally against putting water on wood except to 'raise the grain')

[W.E.G.]

The dishwasher trick seems harmless enough to me when the subject is plastic.

Be careful with wood. For sure, take it out before the drying cycle. I wouldn't use a diswasher on a stock unless it already looked so bad that there would be little loss if it decided to split. I was sure my R1 stock was trash. The dishwasher trick worked for me.
YMMV.

Handguards are even more fragile, and they often already have hidden cracks which can become WAY UGLY when exposed to hot water immersion.

[fuatos]

My stock is plastic, so I'm not too worried. If the dishwasher doesn't do the trick, I'll try the brake fluid and steel wool. Then if I need to, sand paper.

Thanks,

Bryan

[Batman]

goo-be-gone

[Nik]

I used Bix spray on paint stripper from Home Depot to remove the paint from some R-1 plastic handguards. Worked great and did not soften the plastic. Best of all, it comes off with water.

[medicmike]

I used regular aircraft paint stripper on my R1 kit. Didn't hurt the plastic a bit.

[Derby FALs]

Try a blow dryer to heat it up and see if it will peel off.