Stripping the blueing off a S&W 5904? Stupid question...

[Ari]

Hello All,
I was wondering how bad it would be to sand the blueing off of my Smith & Wesson 5904? I picked it up cheap, but there is a half inch section underneath the barrel where it appeared a laser was once mounted and wore into the blueing. Well anyhow, the gun finish is pretty bad all around, it's basically worn all over the place, which is why I picked it up for cheap. How bad would it be to simply sand it down with hi-grit sandpaper and after wards spray a high temp no gloss clear coat over? Or would spraying it be necessary? Or am I going about it all wrong?? It's basically a beater gun that I don't want to throw too much more money on. My buddy needed some cash so I picked it up from him cheap. I hardly use it, let alone remember I even have it sometimes. I was just looking at it and the ol' rat wheel started spinning. Please don't stone me to death for asking, I really don't have a clue.
Thanks.

 

[stans]

The 5904 has an aluminum receiver and I would counsel against sanding the anodized finish. This anodizing gives the frame its hard surface, removing it leaves a softer surface. You can give the whole gun a good cleaning, remove all the oil with acetone, let it dry completely, then give it a GunKote finish.

 

[Ari]

Thanks...

Where do I get Gunkote? Anything else I need to know, or is it simply acetone, let dry and spray? Thanks again!

 

[stans]

Here is a link directly to KG coatings. http://www.kgcoatings.com/

They have comprehensive instructions for applying Gun Kote. I have found that you can get by with just cleaning the gun in acetone, heat the metal (after the acetone is completely evaporated), apply the Gun Kote, then bake. The K-Phos is supposed to greatly improve the durability of Gun Kote. This product was not available when I first used Gun Kote. The guns that I coated about 10 years ago show wear around the sharp edges, a few scratches, no rust.

 

[Jim K]

"It's a beater gun"
"picked it up cheap"
"don't want to throw too much money"

Easy answer. Leave it alone; if it gets dropped or something, you don't have to worry about it.

Please don't stone me to death.

Jim

 

[Badger Arms]

I agree with Jim wholeheartedly. Leave the poor thing alone. The only thing a cheap refinish would do to the value of the gun is lower it. If the gun works and you're using it as a beater, leave it be.