To Paint or Not. Shotgun

[Pete112288]

So I have been debating on this for a quite a while.
To rattle can paint my old Mossberg or not.
I use mainly for waterfowl and some coyote hunting.
I have debated on getting a new, camo, possibly semi shotgun instead but that would take me a while till its in the budget.
Over all I dont really need anything else. I love this gun, it killed my first deer and a lot of critters since then.
I bought it for $75 or so at a pawn shop, it was in bad shape, A LOT of rust and the whole action was rusted solid and wouldnt even cycle.
I tore it down and took WD40 & steel wool to it all and it has worked flawlessly since then.
There is something to be said for having a gun that you can beat the crap out of without feeling bad, since it will never be in as bad of shape as it was when I got it.
I hunt a lot of waterfowl where I am not overly concealed, just standing under a tree or squatting in tall grass, so having a gun that will blend in better would be nice. It has very little bluing left and some rust spots where the vent rib portion is on the barrel.
I thought about cerakote or having it hydro-dipped. But in all reality, by the time I pay the prices for all that I would rather just keep it a beater and buy a new gun.
So that comes down to my original debate, to paint it or not. Since that is minimal cost.
I hesitate so much because its like a point of no return once I do it. And if I dont end up liking it then I am SOL.
I was thinking about getting a synthetic stock first as well. That way I can hold onto this old wood stock that I did some custom work on myself.
What is everyone's thoughts?
I dont want it to end up being kinda chinsy with a paint job that I cant undo.

[the1rod]

I say no to the spray paint. The wood looks nice and I think it's would look better to fix the rest up and have it looks g nice again. I did a shotgun with kg gun kote, and like the way it turned out,  it was cheep to do and I just got a free oven off of Craigslist to bake it in. 

[Dan-o]

Don't do it.       

[jasnt]

Paint everything but the wood.  If you don’t like it brake cleaner and a rag will strip it quick

[full choke]

It is an old Mossberg. You use it to hunt ducks and coyotes. Paint it.

[AWS]

The picture isn't overly clear but IF that is wood it is incredible figure and I wouldn't paint.  It has enough figure in it to act as camo and I would take the wood off and paint/cerracoat the metal and re-install the wood.

[Pete112288]

The wood stock I custom did myself, partial wood burning, then alternating different stains to go for a camo look. Here is halfway done and complete of the stock when I first did it. It started out as the standard wood with checkered grips from the 70s or 80s. I just know its an older gun.
Granted the stock does not look as good now. Some of the stains have faded some, and the marine varnish I used to finish it at the end has worn through in a spot or two.

[h2ofowlr]

When my BPS was in the similar shape to your gun, I rattle canned it.  I probably would have cerekoted if it had been around during that time.  I would just touch it up as needed.  It was ugly looking, but I sure could kill the birds with it.

[konradcountry]

Check this out
http://www.ktgunsmith.com/DIY_camo.htm

The DIY grassland looks pretty good.

Someone here probably has a 500 stock lying around.

[CaNINE]

I’ve always thought it was cool to have your name embossed on the back of your belt. Having your name on the pump of a shotgun takes cool to a whole other league. 

[Bullkllr]

I have a shotgun that started out in way worse shape metal-wise than what's in those pictures. Weird thing was it shot great. When I couldn't stand to look at it any more I wrapped the whole thing in camo tape. It lasted pretty well for a couple seasons. It had rusted some underneath when I took it off, but I just scrubbed it off again.

Thought about paint, but figured tape was a little less permanent.

[mountainman]

Paint it👍

[wadu1]

I would just get rid of the oil and spray with a matt finish Varathane

[j_h_nimrod]

Paint it, this is not a point of no return, or a Winchester 101.  Easy to strip rattle can paint. I have a M70 in 220 Swift that I used to paint the metal and synthetic stock in winter tones and then strip for non-winter hunting.

To clean up the wood I would strip the previous finish and then finish with 4-5 thin coatings of a spar urethane. 

[Skyvalhunter]

don't paint unless its the stock then get another one when time to sell