Below is my Savage with the old finish, and the old scope. Both had to go! The scope was replaced with a Simmons Aetec 2.8X10 and the finish was redone for a durable hunting finish.
The receiver and barrel were removed from the stock, then the rifle was disassembled, including removing the clip assembly, and completely cleaned with acetone to remove all traces of oil and grime. There were some spots that had some sort of wax build up that had to come off also, but nothing a fingernail couldn't take care of.
Next, I covered all parts that I didn't want painted, with masking tape. This included the trigger assembly and parts of the inside of the receiver to prevent obstruction of the bolt assembly.
I used some 12ga copper wire with the insulation still on to plug into the holes for the scope base. I initially covered these areas entirely with tape but later decided to remove the tape and just plug the holes. The tape left an area too large for the scope base to cover and I didn't want untreated areas open to the elements.
Once it was stripped and cleaned the rifle was now ready to start painting. To prepare the surface for paint I first placed it under a warming lamp, since it was in my garage. Even though southern CA winters are mild by most standards, it was still a bit too cold for painting.
The cans of paint were Rustoleum rust colored primer and 
Rustoleum flat black, bought at the local Home Depot. I placed these in the sink filled with warm water for about 15 minutes before I wanted to paint. This warmed the paint to about 85 degrees, just perfect for painting. After conferring with fellow members on the Graybeards forum about which paint to use, it was recommended and I decided, to use Rustoleum for its rust inhibiting properties. It would do no good to have a nice looking finish on my rifle, only to find out it had rust underneath it.
The receiver/barrel assembly were then placed so that it could be held in place or rotated without touching any painted surfaces, or at least that was my intention.
Then they were sprayed with a coating of Rustoleum rust colored primer and allowed to
dry overnight.
This is a section of the barrel that I primered.
This allowed me a much easier way to handle the project without ruining the newly applied paint. You can see the dramatic reduction in glare. This is what the finish now looks like, but I wasn't done just yet. I still wanted to "cure" the finish to make it as durable as possible. I want this to last years.
I used to make laminated recurve bows as a hobby and had just a couple months before gotten rid of all my bow making equipment, since I hadn't used them in a couple years. One item was a wooden laminating oven. This was a plywood, rectangular box. It's "heating element" was three, 200 watt, light bulbs, set to a timer and thermostat. The timer controlled the total bake time and the thermostat controlled the bake temperature. This was perfect for my "curing", but, like I said, it was gone. Go figure!
After a little brainstorming, with myself, I decided to use the real oven. Luckily for me the assembly fit, once I removed all the cooking racks.
This is how I had to place it in the oven to keep it from touching as few parts of the painted assembly as possible. I started the oven and set it to 180 degrees and closed the door. I let this simmer, oops wrong recipe, bake for three hours. I then turned the oven off and allowed the assembly about 40 minutes to cool.
Sadly, just today, I assembled the rifle and took my final photos of it. The sad part is because I also left my digital camera sitting on top of my sons Jeep just before he drove off to run errands. Someone is enjoying what's left of my $200 digital camera.
This is the barrel section after curing.
An easy do-it-yourself project to make you and your rifle that much less noticeable in the woods.
Update: As of May 18, 2005.
The paint does come off if scratched, but so far it holds up pretty good. At this point
I'm not sure if the baking job helped. I've since heard that Rustoleum paint is fairly
soft, so maybe a harder primer under a harder flat black paint might be the key?
Make sure you plug the chamber and (if bolt gun) the area where the bolt slides with
toilet paper or similar to keep it from getting painted. A brush on oil or similar that
can be wiped off later might work too.