Want to polish

[Hal]

I have a Ruger Mark II "slabside".
I thought it would look neat to take the slabsides (the flats on the barrel) up to a mirror finish.

While it does look great - it was a huge mistake. Every little nub of dust puts a scratch on it that looks like the San Andreas fault. .

If you are still interested in moving ahead with this:
- Go to an NAPA dealer.
- Ask for a wet/dry assortment.

You start with the lowest grit number - #800 and sand it going up by one number until you get to #3000

I see you can get an assortment from Amazon now. I don't think Amazon wasn't around when I did my Ruger.
#1 to anyone else here that mentioned power tools and guns don't belong in the same room. Usually bad things happen when they are.

 

[doubleh]

#1 to anyone else here that mentioned power tools and guns don't belong in the same room. Usually bad things happen when they ar

That depends entirely on the skill of the user. Just because some are klutzy doesn't mean everyone is.

 

[CraigC]

Flitz is abrasive. No matter what it says in the marketing, a substance can't do what it does without being abrasive. I've taken stainless bolts from the file to a 400grit finish to a mirror polish with Flitz. It's abrasive.

Polishing is only going to make the fine scratches worse.

It also takes more than a rag and a tube of Flitz to properly polish a firearm. I'd suggest leaving it alone.

 

[DR505]

I went the other direction on my Vaquero. The Vaquero shown here had that bright stainless polish from the Ruger factory. Hated it...looked like chrome. So I had it bead blasted and like it so much better now.

 

[Paul R Zartman]

Ok...ill weigh in on this Flitz stuff, I buff with actual compounds and then use Flitz and others (Mothers) as a final pass, usually high speed final pass. I have multiple buffing wheels for the compounds but with Mothers or Flitz, (I consider them both as very similar) I use a foam pad attached to a drill... not rocket science... just polishing I still believe that whether your gun is stock blasted or polished, the same scratches or rubs show up just as visible, just easier to polish it out with Flitz or Mothers than reblast the gun with some special silicone sand i know i don't have, or want to use...

 

[CraigC]

I went the other direction on my Vaquero. The Vaquero shown here had that bright stainless polish from the Ruger factory. Hated it...looked like chrome. So I had it bead blasted and like it so much better now.

View attachment 1097136

Is that Jim Stroh's work?

 

[DR505]

Is that Jim Stroh's work?

Alan Harton down in Houston did this. Hamilton Bowen was too busy so recommended Mr. Harton. Started life as a bright stainless .40 S&W Vaquero...now it is a 10mm with adjustable sights and a bead blast finish.

 

[CraigC]

Alan Harton down in Houston did this. Hamilton Bowen was too busy so recommended Mr. Harton. Started life as a bright stainless .40 S&W Vaquero...now it is a 10mm with adjustable sights and a bead blast finish.

That's cool! Alan does fine work.

I wish they'd do a mid-frame in one of the .40's, so I can have it rechambered to .38-40 and save a bunch of money.

 

[Speedo66]

I went the other direction, my stainless S&W 65 came pretty scratched up as a police turn in. A gray Scotch-brite pad was a good match to the S&W finish, and I restored it back to the original.

 

[eddiememphis]

If you are still interested in moving ahead with this:
- Go to an NAPA dealer.
- Ask for a wet/dry assortment.

You start with the lowest grit number - #800 and sand it going up by one number until you get to #3000

#1 to anyone else here that mentioned power tools and guns don't belong in the same room. Usually bad things happen when they are.

Hal is correct. Always sand before polishing.

However, using power is not a bad thing as long as you pay attention.

It is like any finishing project. The more time spent in prep, the better the finish whether painting or polishing.

Plus, it is fun.





Take a $200 piece of junk, give it some paint and a polish. No, none of it is perfect, but it is a lot better now. It's unique and there is the pride of craftsmanship... as much as can be had on a Bersa.

 

[Nasty Canasta]

I have a couple of shiny stainless steel guns & some satin/matte finish ones too-I do like a nice SS gun.

 

[sgt127]

Top is my wallet badge. And below, my breast badge. I polished my breast badge several times a week. First with Flitz and then with Mothers Billet Polish. (Sadly, no longer made. It was the least abrasive). And, a microfiber rag. Both my Officer badge and Sergeants badge look and feel like river rocks. Smooth.


All metal polishes are abrasive. When the rag turns black, that’s not dirt coming off. It’s metal being removed.

 

[wcwhitey]

I went the other direction, my stainless S&W 65 came pretty scratched up as a police turn in. A gray Scotch-brite pad was a good match to the S&W finish, and I restored it back to the original.View attachment 1097359

Looks great, I like the matte finish as well. A good option. Bottom line, stainless is great in that you have many options in keeping it looking new. All of them require elbow grease occasionally.

 

[RA40]

On another forum a member there took a beaten revolver to the buffer wheel. It rounded all the crisp lines out.

The factory finish on the revolvers I have is ok. there are cross marks from the job they do in giving them a light finish as they do not maintain an uniform direction. It would be hard to do that anyhow. I had the gunsmith give them a glass bead finish. Now it's uniform and when I rub through the finish after a spell cleaning them of the residue with the lead remover cloth and such, he'll re-blast it for $X. Other than that a spray and bake job.

 

[JohnKSa]

I polished one of my guns many years ago. It looked great until I used it the first time. Then it looked worse than it had before I polished it because all the tiny scratches that the brushed finish had hidden initially now showed up very clearly. Since I didn't want to polish my guns every time I used them and since I didn't want to stop using them, I stopped polishing them.

 

[Odd Job]

I went the other direction on my Vaquero. The Vaquero shown here had that bright stainless polish from the Ruger factory. Hated it...looked like chrome. So I had it bead blasted and like it so much better now.

Those look stunning!