I have a 60, 66, and 67. What is the best, proper way to restore normal wear on a SS gun? What is the sequence to either sandpaper out some light scratches then polish it up nice and bright? I've searched around but not found any good advice about this.
How to polish a SS finish?
- Thread starter Oro
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Jackal
Member
Flitz and fine steel wool are your friends when polishing stainless. I have witnessed this used on a Ruger GP101 and it turned out a mirror reflective finish.
1 old 0311
member
I have polished 10-15 pistols. Flitz, semichrome, or Mothers Mag Wheel polish will do. Mothers seems to give the best results. Can of Mothers, clean rag, and 1-2 hours it will shine like a mirror.
Flitz will bring that finish back to better than new. But you will have some sore fingers by the time you are done. This is a good thing to do while watching TV, have plenty of clean rags, old socks work real well. Post some before and after pics so you can make others a believer too!!
Mr.Revolverguy
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Mothers mag polish. Used it on a 686+ and was amazed. Plus when fired at the range now it takes very little wiping to clean the external.
If you are using steel wool, don't go down from 000 or 0000. Even 000 will leave telltale scratches.
Flitz is good for polishing without scratching.
My suggestion is that you try on a unseen part of the gun first, like under the grips to make sure you are getting what you want.
Flitz is good for polishing without scratching.
My suggestion is that you try on a unseen part of the gun first, like under the grips to make sure you are getting what you want.
I used Mother Mag polish and plenty of elbow grease, NO power tools on my Anaconda. It took several nights watching TV to polish it up a little at a time but I think it cam eout pretty well. I would NEVER use steel wool on a pistol as it tends to put the micro sized peices of steel into the stainless and and can cause it to rust. Maybe an ultra fine scotchbrite pad to work out any minor surface scratches but I ONLY used the Mothers Mag Polish. Here are a few pics of my Anaconda. Let me know what you think. Click on the pics for more views
I agree with Jetman regarding steel wool. Aircraft mechanics avoid steel wool for the same reason. Truly nasty scratches can be worked with steel wool but follow-up with blue or white 3M pads. A final rub with any good metal creme will work. I prefer Flitz but Mother's works too -- although I believe it's optimized for aluminum.
More is possible, using polishing "clays" available from Brownell's but that world is best left to custom gunsmiths. Keep things simple!
More is possible, using polishing "clays" available from Brownell's but that world is best left to custom gunsmiths. Keep things simple!
ArchAngelCD
Member.
hankdatank1362
Member
Do you have to detail strip the revolver? (I'm new to revolvers, and am not comfortable doing anything like that. Hell, I can't even figure out how to take the cylinder off my taurus SS mod 85, if it's possible.)
ArchAngelCD
Member.
You should take the grips off before you give it a good rubbing but other than that nothing really needs to be taken off.
Ala Dan
Member in memoriam
One Word
Simichrome
As sold in most automotive supply houses, for 'bout $6.00 a tube~! Or
available on-line from The Western Wood Doctor~!
Caution: Its like Bryl-Cream, " a little dab will do ya". In most cases, a
tube will last 5-10 years with normal use. Virtually, NO elbow grease is
required when using this polish; and the end result will be simply amazing.
Simichrome
As sold in most automotive supply houses, for 'bout $6.00 a tube~! Or
available on-line from The Western Wood Doctor~!
Caution: Its like Bryl-Cream, " a little dab will do ya". In most cases, a
tube will last 5-10 years with normal use. Virtually, NO elbow grease is
required when using this polish; and the end result will be simply amazing.
I didn't field strip my gun. I only removed the grips when I did my Anaconda. Just take your time and go over it over and over and before you know it, you'll have a SHINY pistol. Sometimes it's tough getting in the tight nooks and crannies. You don't have to rub HARD to do a good job. Just rub it in areas until you get a black residue on your cloth and then wipe it down, and start again with a clean section of the same rag. Old t-shirts do a good job as well as old socks or towels. I used a pop-sicle stick begind the rag to get into corners and tight areas. Kamerer, my Anaconda looked very similar to yours before starting, and it makes a HUGE difference when you're done. I put on a coat of gun wax when finished, and it stays a little shinier and it doesn't show fingerprints quite so bad. I'm not much of a photographer, and it really looks much better in person than those pics.
Deanimator
Member
Mother's Mag Wheel polish seems to be very popular on the S&W forum. There are plenty of pictures of the results.
Finger
Member
I caried a Model 64 in my early cop days. We used a compound in a tube called Semichrome. It would make the gum shine like glass.
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