Handgun finish question?????

[timmyjimmy5150]

I have a handgun that has a brushed chrome finish on it.....
If I wanted to get a Bright chrome finish on it, could this be done through polishing? Or, would the gun have to be stripped and refinished again?

tim

 

[mainmech48]

The surface prep of the base is perhaps the single greatest determining factor here. Bead blasted or "brushed" surface = matte; polished = shiney.

Additional polishing to the plated surface will shine it up some, but at the expense of removing a good deal of the protection for the base metal. Most modern plating is only a couple of mils thick. Any significant thinning of that will reduce its effectiveness to some degree.

If you want a smooth, bright, shiney finish you'll have to have the piece stripped, polished and replated.

 

[HSMITH]

Brushed is about as shiny as chrome will get. At least with good hard chrome. Nickle will get mirror shiny if you like, but isn't anywhere near as durable.

Can you post a pic? Brushed chrome is very shiny, you might have a satin finish.