Check back regularly as we add more items were working on, from guns to cars, trucks, tractors and more! We will try to post it here.

A Mosin Nagant that was in shambles and far from original. We sent the barrel out to be threaded so we could get a little crazy with the accessories that can be added on. While it was apart the barrel and trigger guard got Cerakoted in sniper gray, the bolt Cerakoted in midnight bronze.

Since this platform has tons of aftermarket support we took full advantage of the upgrades. This rifle now has a Timney drop in trigger, a Boyd’s hardwood classic rifle style stock in Forest Camo and an AIM Sports rear sight scope mount.

We’re working on options for optics at the moment since the bolt will require the optic to sit more forward than a traditional scope. One possibility is a scout scope but for now we are glad to have this back in working order and it turned out nice.

Cub Cadet into speed demon… we shall see…

We have a boring old lawn mower that has served its purpose but has since had some issues and its owner gave up trying to keep it mowing. We are going to try to document this project every step of the way once we get started. Maybe it just ends up as scrap at the end of the day but were hoping to make something fun to race around in.

Stay tuned!

The Boyds Upgrade

After the little Mosin experiment went well we decided we wanted to get another Boyds stock and upgrade something else. They have a MASSIVE list of platforms they support along with a bunch of color combinations and stock configurations which makes it difficult to pick a firearm to dress up. We recently had the Ruger 10/22 Talo USA shooting edition pass through the shop which gave us an idea… lets upgrade a 10/22! The 10/22 is a great platform, Ruger builds them in every combination you can imagine and if that’s not enough there’s plenty of people out there providing upgrades.

^{The Inspiration}

Now the 2024 USA shooting edition that we had (pictured above) is far from the standard 10/22 and is equipped with a heavy threaded barrel and gorgeous one of a kind laminate stock. While this rifle is a collectors piece direct from Ruger, we decided we could take a base model 10/22 and make something fun and unique as well.

What did we start with? A plain run of the mill Ruger 10/22 Model 31114 that comes standard with a black synthetic stock, blued barrel and a 10 round magazine. Ruger has been including their scope rail mount in the box with the 10/22 as well but we ended up tossing it to the side with the other factory parts.

^{How it began}

So we had an idea of what we were looking for and we had the rifle to start with. We went straight to Boyds to see what they had available. We ended up with the Spike Camp stock in Royal Jacaranda color scheme. This isn’t the boldest color scheme they offer but it definitely has a pop to it.

We had a stock picked out and on order but we still needed to through in a few more goodies. Toss in a factory Ruger BX-25 magazine and a Weaver scope rail for a little more flexibility over the standard Ruger scope rail mount.

On to optics… we have been watching Primary Arms as they continually roll out more and more. They have a large offering at this point from a basic hunting style scope to the full blown, nothing spared, illuminated reticle optics. Given this is just a base model 10/22 we opted for a more basic scope from Primary Arms, the ACSS-22LR, no need to go overboard. For mounting the scope we chose the Primary Arms medium height 1″ tactical rings.

First impressions on the setup from Primary Arms? Well is has a great feel to it, just looking through the scope the optics are crisp and clear. Looks like a very well constructed piece at a very fair price. We haven’t gone to the range to really put it to the test but first impressions are good. The mounting rings are very well built, the scope isn’t going anywhere that’s for sure. The only downfall to the rings is that they state they fit a Weaver rail system but the bolts in the rings were a little too thick for the Weaver rail we ordered. What was out of tolerance, the rail or the rings? Who knows we got it figured out with a little work on those bolts in the rings.

Needless to say we are stoked with how this upgrade turned out. The stock has a great feel to it with gorgeous colors and finish on it. The optics and mount sit just right and look like they will be a great combination with this gun. We will absolutely be headed back to Boyds for the next stock upgrade we need. The sky is the limit with the combinations they offer and you will not be disappointed.

While we are not a stocking dealer for the Primary Arms optics we definitely will be recommending them in the future. The quality and value they offer seems to be a great solution when looking for an optic.

Any questions or comments send us a line!

Cerakote Ventures

After having the Mosin Nagant sent out for a cerakote treatment we decided to get a starter kit for ourselves. We opted for the H-series oven cure kit which comes with 3 tested bottles of color, a spray gun and a graduated cylinder to for mixing for $179.95 + tax and shipping. This isn’t a bad price to get started but it’s just the tip of the iceberg so don’t dive right in without making sure you have the rest of the tools needed. We gambled on the colors but also ordered a few sample color swatches for future reference.

You can get air cure cerakote but it isn’t quite as durable as the oven cured versions. So the first big investment is an oven or some other creative way to get parts to temperature for curing. You do NOT want to use your kitchen oven and definitely not a gas kitchen oven, you need an electric oven if this is the route you wish to go.

This so happens to be the route we took. Cruise Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist if you dare and see if you can find a working electric oven. We were able to snag a working unit for $50 and yanked the stove top burners out as we only want the oven portion for curing parts.

The Prep

The cerakote kit comes with instructions on proper application if you care to read them or you can just have at it and see what happens. We do a little bit of both, read some until it gets boring then figure the rest out. The first step in the process after you’ve picked your project is to get the parts prepped for coating. We skipped the part where it tells you to document the item and the disassembly etc. If we can’t figure out how to re-assemble then it wasn’t meant to be!

So typically cerakote is used in firearms which as you may or may not know firearms usually get lubricated or see some type of oil at some point in life. So the first step is to de-grease the items which the recommended method is to soak in acetone. Now if you are coating parts that may be damaged by acetone then there are other methods that can be used but we started with metal so into the acetone bath with the parts.

We used a drywall mud tray to hold everything and covered with foil to help with evaporation loss. There are nifty trays that the cerakote store sells but they are pricey and we’re just playing around right now.

After a good soak of at least 1 hour the next step is to sand blast the parts to provide an even surface for the coating to adhere. We have a Harbor Freight sand blast cabinet which is finicky and needs to be cleaned out and the light repaired, the list goes on so we hit up Amazon for another solution. We found a cheap $30 self contained sand blast gun and a 10 pound bottle of sand for $10. We didn’t have a lot or parts or anything large so we grabbed a clear storage tote and made a makeshift blast cabinet.

While a new blast cabinet would be nice, this little setup worked well for a small batch of parts. So if you have small projects that would benefit from sandblasting pick up one of these guns, it would not be great for large items. After the acetone bath during sand blasting it is important not to touch the parts with bare hands as you will get skin oils on the parts. If the parts get contaminated it could have adverse effects on the coating adhesion.

After everything is de-greased, blasted, nice and pretty with an even surface, there is another step before you can coat. Off gassing! For this step they recommend an hour in the over at 150 degrees to help get any residual acetone gassed off of the parts. This step also will let any hidden oils warm up and flow out of the parts. Any residual hidden oils will show as darker spots on the metal. At this point if you find oils back to the acetone bath. Repeat the bath, sand blasting if needed and off gassing process until oil free. Don’t mind our racking system. It was a fast, dirty, not a great welding job with some scrap metal to get something “functional” to hang parts from. Hey it worked and until it stops working we will use it!

Coming soon… the coating

As this project gets under way will will update more so stay tuned!