there is a local powder coat place with a bead blasting cabinet that said they will do it for a dollar a minute to my satisfaction, but I've cooled off on this, it was a bit of an overreaction Ill admit, but I bought the gun used and pristine the old comes with 49 rounds deal. but for those of you with advice thank you, for those with sarcasm thanks for that too, a little levity helps to put little things in perspective.
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I fear I've ruined my new smith and wesson
- Thread starter 11mm
- Start date
Dragline45
New member
there is a local powder coat place with a bead blasting cabinet that said they will do it for a dollar a minute to my satisfaction
Since I can be OCD myself I say go for it and ease your mind, even blasting the whole gun won't take very long at all, at a dollar a minute I cant see it costing more than $10. Since there is no guarantee that the blasted cylinder will match the factory finish of the frame perfectly you could have the whole gun blasted for one uniform finish. Make sure to plug all the chambers as well as the barrel on both ends, you could either go to a hardware store and get some rubber stoppers of the correct size or try some earplugs.
Ask them what grit bead blast media they are using. 120 grit or slightly higher achieves a nice satin finish, the 80 grit blast media you often see will produce a duller gray finish. If they don't have 120 grit you can pick it up at Harbor Freight or I think even Home Depot.
You will want to make sure to detail strip the revolver before blasting, you will also want to spray the crap out of it with compressed air to make sure you git rid of any traces of blast media left over before reassembling. Detail stripping a S&W revolver is really simple, I can point you to a couple good videos on youtube to follow if you want.
RevolverRover
Inactive
It is not too difficult to get the cylinder re-blasted.
I sent one back to S&W (after removing it from the frame) a couple of years ago and they re-beaded it for a reasonable cost.
As for the powder rings on the front of cylinders, I have good luck getting them off with a bronze brush (looks like a large toothbrush) from Lowe's (cost about $3) and BreakFree. The bronze brush generally does not mark stainless steel.
Scotchbrite pads come in several levels of coarseness; the green should not be used on stainless guns -- it was meant for scrubbing floors.
Green - Coarse (available in Wal-Mart)
Gray - Medium (available in NAPA Autoparts)
White - Fine (available in NAPA Autoparts)
I used gray then white, followed by persistent rubbing with Flitz Polish (a tube is around $8 on Amazon and lasts forever) to recover some scratches on a stainless Model 60. There is danger in over-polishing and making it too shiny, and you definitely want to avoid using a power tool to do any buffing! And you have to be careful not to smooth out the markings or edges. This applies to a regular stainless gun, not one that has been bead-blasted. The regular stainless has a sort of "grain" to it that apparently comes from tumbling the gun during finishing at the factory. It is hard to get that back after over-polishing, but my Model 60 looks very good now -- much better than it did before. (The cylinder and barrel have "grain" lines that are more linear and can often be brought back to looking good by using the lighter scotchbrite pads, gray or white, lightly in one direction).
Back to bead-blasting: I'd send it out, probably to S&W, if I could not find a good (probably cheaper) local expert.
I sent one back to S&W (after removing it from the frame) a couple of years ago and they re-beaded it for a reasonable cost.
As for the powder rings on the front of cylinders, I have good luck getting them off with a bronze brush (looks like a large toothbrush) from Lowe's (cost about $3) and BreakFree. The bronze brush generally does not mark stainless steel.
Scotchbrite pads come in several levels of coarseness; the green should not be used on stainless guns -- it was meant for scrubbing floors.
Green - Coarse (available in Wal-Mart)
Gray - Medium (available in NAPA Autoparts)
White - Fine (available in NAPA Autoparts)
I used gray then white, followed by persistent rubbing with Flitz Polish (a tube is around $8 on Amazon and lasts forever) to recover some scratches on a stainless Model 60. There is danger in over-polishing and making it too shiny, and you definitely want to avoid using a power tool to do any buffing! And you have to be careful not to smooth out the markings or edges. This applies to a regular stainless gun, not one that has been bead-blasted. The regular stainless has a sort of "grain" to it that apparently comes from tumbling the gun during finishing at the factory. It is hard to get that back after over-polishing, but my Model 60 looks very good now -- much better than it did before. (The cylinder and barrel have "grain" lines that are more linear and can often be brought back to looking good by using the lighter scotchbrite pads, gray or white, lightly in one direction).
Back to bead-blasting: I'd send it out, probably to S&W, if I could not find a good (probably cheaper) local expert.
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OP, just shoot the gun and it will wear in eventually.
If the finish now really bothers you, show it to a good Smith and they will likely be able to do something that will make you feel better about it.
You have a superb gun there. If you shoot it and use it eventually the finish will wear and weather in no matter what unless you turn it into a safe queen.
My $.015.
If the finish now really bothers you, show it to a good Smith and they will likely be able to do something that will make you feel better about it.
You have a superb gun there. If you shoot it and use it eventually the finish will wear and weather in no matter what unless you turn it into a safe queen.
My $.015.
but I've cooled off on this, it was a bit of an overreaction Ill admit, but I bought the gun used and pristine the old comes with 49 rounds deal. but for those of you with advice thank you, for those with sarcasm thanks for that too, a little levity helps to put little things in perspective.
Oh, we don't mean to rag on you too hard. I was in a near panic myself the first time I scratched a new gun. I suspect most of the others were the same way. It's part of the process.
The very first Jeep I ever bought, back when Jeeps were more for going off road than to the grocery store, the old fellow who ran the dealership came out to thank me and say good-bye, and gave me some good advice.
"Now you take it down the road here, and there's a dirt road. Go down that dirt road, RIGHT NOW, and get it over with. It only hurts once."
I saw a video the other day. Fellow was throwing a brand new rifle onto the rocky ground over and over and over to prove how tough the rifle was. I'm not going to do that, I don't care how tough it is. I've got well worn guns that I won't even lay on the desk beside me unless I put a rag under them. Just the way I am. But if one does get scratched, or shows holster wear, or carbon rings, well, that's just the way it is.
Enjoy your gun. I want one of those myself.