Making and Installing Decorative Metal Overlays

If you look around, you may have all the materials you need to do some pretty nifty surface overlays on your guns. You’ll find that no extraordinary talent is required’just a little imagination’and the cost is likely to be very low. They say: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Sometimes we can create our own beauty. Several years ago, I went over an old Stevens shotgun. The triggerguard looked very plain and I wondered what I could do to enhance its appearance.

Earlier that day, I had pulled out a junk drawer and found a decorative, old silver spoon that provided the idea and the means for beautifying that trigger guard. I carefully shaped the end of the silver spoon to the configuration of the trigger guard and attached it with a "cold-weld" epoxy. It looked quite attractive and compliments were abundant. Since that time, I’ve done quite a few surface overlays using many different metal designs’s ome for myself and some for others.

These overlays were done on rifle floorplates, the sides of forends, on pistol-grip caps, and other places. All of them turned out nicely and all were done in a matter of minutes’not the hours Right top: Possible overlay designs come in the form of tableware, pins, buttons, cabinet hardware, and other decorative metal objects. Right bottom: This shotgun triggerguard overlay was made by the author from a silver spoon handle. you would have to devote to an engraving job.

I’m not suggesting you start slapping overlays all over your guns. But when you see a place where a surface overlay could enhance the appearance, look around for that special design. It may appear in different forms. I’ve used many kinds of tableware like forks and spoons, for example. These are available in some very attractive designs and materials. They might be silver, silver plated, gold plated, polished stainless steel, or even chrome plated. There are plenty of ready-to-go designs of other kinds too.

Just keep an eye out for things you can use when you wander through garage sales or second-hand stores, and don’t be in a hurry. Having found your special overlay, preparing it and applying it to the gun is fairly simple. Many of the surfaces that lend themselves to an overlay are flat, but you can easily form the piece to lie flat on a curved surface.

(Semper Fi.) Far Most silverware handles are not flat, but they are malleable to some extent. I have used a padded vise to shape and hold the part while preparing it, or padded shaping tools can be made. Here’s where your creativity comes in handy. Consider the length and width of the part being installed, and then lay the overlay or a paper tracing of it on the gun to be sure it is centered and of the correct size and proportion.

If you’re not sure of yourself, have a friend look at the part to get a second opinion. For bonding the overlay to the gun, I use J-B’s Cold Weld epoxy. It comes in a pair of tubes, is mixed 50-50, and cleans up with water. Working time is at least 30 minutes. You might want to roughen the underside of the overlay to give the epoxy a better grip, and be sure that all surfaces are clean and oilfree. Use tape or clamps to ensure the overlay doesn’t move while cleaning up any excess epoxy or while the epoxy is curing.

You probably won’t want to roughen the surface of the gun, which would require refinishing if the overlay was ever removed. Moderate heat can be used to soften the epoxy if you later decide to remove an overlay. This should leave little need for cleanup and no unsightly marks. consider the application of a wellchosen overlay. I believe you’ll like the results and you’ll have some fun in the process.

So the next time you’re looking for a project or away to enhance the appearance of a plain-looking gun, I Binder Ad (p/u from page 18, AGM-June 09)