Polished my model 44, did I ruin the finish...

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Paul R Zartman

Paul R Zartman

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I will start this out by saying, I dont care for matte SS finish. So after reading all the polishing threads here and on the internet, I gathered up this equipment and got started.
20200516_084249.jpg
Took about a hour on the vise with a drill, then about a 1/2 hour doing spots with a rag, then about another half hour cleaning up residue. I could easily control the process with the drill and buffer, unlike using a dremel and high speed pads. It did a great job getting into the crevices too. I did not want a mirror or nickel looking finish.
Before pic...
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After pics...
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So....I was at one of the LGS yesterday and just in conversation told the owner I would like to know the current retail of my gun, light use and has been polished, showed him a pic of it prior to polishing, didn't have a new one yet. He said it was only worth 50 to 70 percent of retail because i ruined the factory finish :what::what:did i ruin it??? What say you all... i did alot of research prior to polishing, best thread on THR, Stainless S&W: Passivation and Polishing (really should be pinned up somewhere, nice read)MODS...
DID I RUIN IT...:cuss: I know the Taurus haters will tell me I can't ruin a POS gun, the rest of you please chime in, especially dealers...
 
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No major collector or otherwise value to begin with other than what it originally was. No real price premiums to speak of regarding that model.

The value was not affected at all. Neither higher nor lower. The average buyer of that gun would most likely not be able to even know nor understand the original condition of it.

There are Taurus revolvers out there that are collector items, mainly the rarer chamberings and especially those chamberings in the UltraLite or Titanium frames. Such items would be the various 44 Special and 41 Mag options and my personal favorite, the Taurus 445 UL in 45 Colt.

That particular fellow you were talking to was most likely speaking in generalities. In general, a VINTAGE revolver of prominent noteworthiness would be more valuable with its original finish.

If your particular revolver gains some sort of status in the coming years then yes, MAYBE it could be worth less because of the finish alteration.
 
No you didn't ruin it. The LGS would only give you 5o% as that is all they will ever give you even if it was new in the box!

You don't like Matte so you made it how you like it. If you sell it, someone else may like the shine as well

Not like it is a rare collector SW registered Magnum or similar,
 
Paul R. Zartman

I may be in the minority here but I think it looks alright. I have polished several of my stainless guns and they vary in brightness and the amount of shine they have. The shiniest is the Ruger Vaquero; many polishing sessions with Mother's Mag Polish. Definitely has that nickel plating/mirror polish look to it. Second one up, also Mother's Mag Polish, is the S&W Model 649. Not as much polishing on this one but still kind of on the shiny side. Last one is the S&W Model 686 which was polished mainly with Flitz. Not too bright but still an improvement over the original matte stainless finish.

And no, I don't think you ruined your Taurus with your polishing job.
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I wouldn’t say you ruined any value, and not just because it’s a Taurus. Polishing a Ruger or new Smith wouldn’t ruin the value either since they’re not considered collectors items in the first place. Still going to be worth at least the same as any used revolver of the same model.
 
You didn't "ruin" it but what you did will have an effect on resale. Because you can't just polish off a bead blasted finish with a buffer chucked in a drill press. It's actually quite difficult to polish out a beaded finish and do it right. Easy to tell the "polish" is uneven and done on a completely assembled gun. I know you say you researched it a lot but you really went about it the wrong way. I certainly wouldn't buy a used gun that had been done that way and would be worried about what surprises were on the inside. The good news is that a bead blasted finish is cheap and easy to redo.
 
Paul R Zartman, I think it looks very nice polished. I think GunnyUSMC is right. A dealer might use the polishing as an excuse to lower his cost to acquire it then turn around and use the polishing as a bonus to make a sale.

I think it looks very nice.

I would respectfully ask that if your display mat is an American flag that you utilize something else and perhaps display the flag in another fashion, if it was your intention to “display” it in your post pictures. Thank you.
 
General Geoff said:
It does look a bit uneven around protrusions like the cylinder latch. It could be improved upon but as a working gun, I don't think it's lost any value compared to original finish.
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Oh yes, I have some spots to improve upon with some hand buffing while watching tv or something, but it's a good start and will never go back to that bead blast finish, that just looks undone from the factory to me.
 
Pat Riot said:
Paul R Zartman, I think it looks very nice polished. I think GunnyUSMC is right. A dealer might use the polishing as an excuse to lower his cost to acquire it then turn around and use the polishing as a bonus to make a sale.

I think it looks very nice.

I would respectfully ask that if your display mat is an American flag that you utilize something else and perhaps display the flag in another fashion, if it was your intention to “display” it in your post pictures. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Thanks, it's not a full american flag, was sold as a small table covering, but I understand and respect your concern. No disrespect here to the Red White and Blue. :thumbup:
 
"Is it the original factory finish?" is of critical importance to a collector rating a collectible.

"How does it group? Do the grips fit your hand? Does it point well? Do YOU like how it looks?" are questions I ask.
 
Paul R Zartman said:
Oh yes, I have some spots to improve upon with some hand buffing while watching tv or something, but it's a good start and will never go back to that bead blast finish, that just looks undone from the factory to me.
Click to expand...


A better way and you still can. Would have saved a lot of "polishing" Is to use 320, 400, 600 wet dry sandpaper (or the equivalent in the 3M pads) Sand the finish with those and THEN use you Mothers polish. I have "fixed" a lot of SS handguns that had dings and scratches. Sometime it takes a coarser grit in the 200"s to get out deep scratches
Clean the gun off with brake cleaner to get the Mothers residue off and then sand (one direction), It will get rid of those uneven parts.

Edit: I do not know if you did, but take the cylinder out of the gun a also the thumb latch release.
 
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Some people like shiny, some people don't. Those who don't won't like what you did. Those who do...well you get the idea. (smile)

Dave
 
Yes you ruined it. I can't see how you can possibly live with it. It might not even fire now. Everytime you look at it you will cringe and feel embarrassed. But fear not, I have a solution for you. As soon all this Kungflu is over enough for me to travel I have to travel to Florida to visit my daughter. I could meet up with you somewhere and for just 50% of what the gun shop guy would give you, I'll take it off your hands. I'm not picky about payment, I'll take cash or a personal check. That way you won't have to feel so bad.
 
sabbfan said:
I wouldn’t say you ruined any value, and not just because it’s a Taurus. Polishing a Ruger or new Smith wouldn’t ruin the value either since they’re not considered collectors items in the first place. Still going to be worth at least the same as any used revolver of the same model.
Click to expand...

That’s not accurate. A home polishing job is going to hurt the resale value of any gun. It’s just a common Taurus, though, so it’s not like there was much resale or trade value there to begin with.
 
Rule3 said:
A better way and you still can. Would have saved a lot of "polishing" Is to use 320, 400, 600 wet dry sandpaper (or the equivalent in the 3M pads) Sand the finish with those and THEN use you Mothers polish. I have "fixed" a lot of SS handguns that had dings and scratches. Sometime it takes a coarser grit in the 200"s to get out deep scratches
Clean the gun off with brake cleaner to get the Mothers residue off and then sand (one direction), It will get rid of those uneven parts.

Edit: I do not know if you did, but take the cylinder out of the gun a also the thumb latch release.
Click to expand...
Yes I did, thanks
 
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