Paint a scope ?

[jedman]

   Has anyone painted the exterior of a scope and had it hold up well ?
 I have a gloss black scope that I would like to paint to somewhat match the parkerized finish of the rifle it will be mounted on.
  That shiney finish on the aluminum tube looks like it would be hard to get paint to adhere well to it.
Is there a primer or surface preparation that has worked good for you ?    Thanks,   Jed

[Brithunter]

Instead of ruining a good scope why not just buy a new matt finish scope?

You won't have to worry about it flaking off nor getting over spray on the lenses. Personally I find this worry about a bit of shine amusing  and I reeally do prefer a nice deep Gloss blue/black on my rifles if the scope has the same finish all well and good but scope makers seem to have dropped this finish from a lot of their production. I see it as a cost cutting excercise cleverly marketed as a desirable feature to reduce glare and reflections  .

Good luck with your plan.

[diggler1833]

Cerakote/Gunkote holds up real well.  Duracoat pretty well too.  If you want it to last I'd suggest the Cerakote/Gunkote route from a professional.  If you want cheap you can always say it with Krylon or Alumihyde (better).  Acetone is a great way to ensure that there aren't any oils left on the scope that will affect paint sticking.