The genre of "Battlefield Pick-up" has been around for a while now and I have been meaning to write a post about it, but am just now getting around to it.
The idea is similar to the "antiquing" of a guns finish, which I covered back in 2015, see it here.
We'll start by showing you some real "battle-hardened" rifles or at least I think they are real....
This treatment is most often given to Kalashnikov variant rifles, but also to the SKS, Mosin-Nagant and even M-16A1 & clones.
Here are some home built units, although some of them I am not quite sure.....
Furniture is usually the first step for creating the battlefield look, occasionally you can find furniture that was actually used in battle, like this set, supposedly from the Balkan War
Bonus points for units with authentic "trench art" or "foxhole carvings"
These ones have had repairs made to them, which makes them look that much more authentic
Notches in the stock (for confirmed kills) adds to the mystique...
These owners used wire and "Paki tape" to make what look like make-shift repairs
The accoutrements can also be important, check out the ersatz sling...
This guy went full Mujahideen with his AK variant, even adding an anti-Soviet button, "Paki tape", masonry rope and some Afghani writing (Arabic, Farsi??), see the details here
The use of shemaghs is also prevalent
I wont go into the details on how the worn look is achieved, but I will tell you that it ranges from light scuffing with sandpaper, scotch-brite or steel wool to covering with acid, exposing to rain and also dragging down a gravel road behind a truck.
Others use a cold blue on the bare steel and purposely screw up the process, giving the look of an aged finish.
Of course you could take your firearm to a professional Cerakote applier and have them paint it to look old...check out the one below....never seen iron oxide (rust) on aluminum before...
Here are a few more I found:
Most of the pictures above were found freely on the world wide web and are used for education and entertainment under the guidelines of Fair Use, per Title 17 of the U.S. Code. Where possible the source has been credited.
If you own the copyright to any of these images and wish them to be credited or removed, please contact me immediately.