I’ve written articles on doing firearm camo in the past and could probably get away with just posting that one. What would be the fun in that?

Let’s hit a little of the basics. What is the purpose of camouflage? All you are really trying to do is break up the hard image of the chosen object. The concept is the same whether you are dealing with a vehicle, clothing, or a firearm. It really doesn’t get any more basic than that. Just make the hard, sharp angles of the object blend with what’s behind it.

How to accomplish that basic function of camouflage is about 35% camo pattern and 65% color choice. That’s right the colors you pick are the most important aspect of the whole job. If you want to blend in with the high deserts of Central Oregon you don’t pick colors that resemble fall foliage in Minnesota. Then, and only then, do you bother with the pattern. Any pattern that blends different parts together will work. For instance if you are doing a tiger stripe on a gun you want to want to make the stipes continue up through the scope. That means that what ever background the color of that stripe blends with will take multiple portions of the gun with it.

Take a look at this rifle. It wasn’t meant to blend with pavement so it’s easy to see how the different colors are blended into multiple areas of the gun. Now take a look at the same gun in a little different environment.

See how the colors soften the hard images of the gun? At the distance camo becomes effective you would not be able to tell what is the receiver and what is the scope. The bipod is already almost gone as well. This is just one example of how the color choice is so important and it doesn’t matter whether it’s done on a rifle, pistol, knife, or M1 tank the concept of color is the same.

Take a look at my Camo Jobs page for more examples.