How do you polish rough/gritty top strap on stainless Smith?

There is more to the story than just a matte finish on the topstrap. That gun has been in contact with something that caused serious rusting of the entire gun. (Yes, "stainless" steel can and does rust if it comes into contact with some chemicals or if left in a wet environment with no protection.) That corrosion might be too deep to be easily polished out, but I agree on leaving the top strap and rib alone while the rest of the gun is polished. Then the parts that were matte finished can be done as others suggest, or simply left alone.

Jim
 
I see three pics here but I'm missing signs of "serious rusting of the entire gun". Were some pics removed?

tipoc
 
If it was mine, I would not live with that mess. I would try to find someone to media blast the factory dull finish areas as long as he didn't think it was brain surgery. If that fails (probably) I might polish the side areas ( damaged area), leave the rear sight gutter, and the top of the barrel alone. I love to polish old SS S&Ws.

 
Bill, yes, you are correct, I glanced at it quick and thought it was blue! My bad. Scratch my suggestion to use cold bluing... I dropped my Walter PPK/S ...ONCE (I have used holsters ever since), on asphalt, it slipped out of my waistband getting out of my car. Dinged up the stainless slide and grip. I used 0000 steel wool to buff out the scratches. Not sure this would work on that top strap though. Still looks like a nice carry, tackle box or Truck gun.
 
Polish the gun on a quality buffer, then mask the gun off with duct tape leaving the top strap exposed. Either remove or mask off the sights and then do a light bead blast to the top strap. That's what I'd do. I have a large Baldor buffer and a beadblast cabinet, I've done it before. It's no big deal. I don't know what a 'Smith would charge, but it'd be worth it.
 
I applaud the OP for trying to take a piece of doodoo (prior words censored!) and give it an acceptable appearance. An ugly junker like that is a worthy firearm to practice on.

The rough top strap is an as cast surface. It will need filing, then progressively finer sanding. For a brush look you might stop at 1000. Or continue to 2000 and then buff or polish it out. Heck you can go 8000 grit before moving to the polishing. It looks like it will be very difficult to work some of the little nooks and crannies. It maybe necessary to leave some of that unfinished.

You dont need a buffing wheel, that is quicker for sure but nothing done that cannot be accomplished by hand with more time.

I am disgusted with the crap finish that the industry passes off today. The whole concept of quality vs quantity seems lost on the american consumer.

And the baloney about how this crap is a desirable feature. What a bucket of manure.
 
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Lots of comments and I appreciate the advice.

To clarify just a bit, this was an older Smith I picked up used on gunbroker. Most of the wear on the top strap you see is just from its lifetime of use. I actually only polished one small section near the muzzle. I stopped since I figured there must be a reason why it’s still textured. In case anyone is curious, It would take a few eons to wear away the texturing on the top strap with Mothers Mag.


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Touch it up with cold bluing and shoot it. Forget about it. It's still a S&W!
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Attention to detail was missed. Stainless Steel:confused:

I see three pics here but I'm missing signs of "serious rusting of the entire gun". Were some pics removed?
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The OP never mentioned anything about rust, so I must ask, where did you come up with the serious rusting statement??? Reading comprehension 101;)
 
applaud the OP for trying to take a piece of doodoo (prior words censored!) and give it an acceptable appearance. An ugly junker like that is a worthy firearm to practice on.

The rough top strap is an as cast surface.
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I don't know for sure but it looks like a 3" barrel model. I would love to have it. I realize that those of us who join the S&W fan club via police turn-ins are kind of cheating...too bad.

Since when are S&W frames "cast". No doubt that dull finish is a result of media blasting at the factory.
 
I was looking at the edges of the rib and at other areas that show signs of erosion (rust), not wear or damage. It appears to me that the whole gun was rusted at some point and then cleaned up for sale. It is possible that there has been damage to the internals, but it is more likely that the insides are OK and that cleaning up surface damage will restore the appearance.

Of course, it might be argued that minor and shallow surface damage has no effect on the operation of the gun and that a cleanup might not be worth the effort, but that is a matter to be decided by the owner.

(I once knew a fellow who would never carry a new gun. His view was that a used (but reliable) "beater" was better since if it were damaged or confiscated, less was lost and he would not have the regret of losing a new gun.)

Jim
 
I think any concerns about rusting are due to the camera/picture quality. As far as I can see, there’s no rusting anywhere. And there doesn’t appear to have been any significant polishing or refinishing when I got it. It just looked like it was handled a moderate amount, but not roughly treated. The main reason I’ve been polishing it up is that it has the smoothest trigger (along with my model 10 police trade in) that you can have from a stock revolver. It literally brings a smile to my face when I pull the trigger. It really deserved to be freshened up a bit.


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