Polishing up used gun

D

dantm

Inactive
So I bought my first gun on GB -- a used .357 S&W Model 65...

The gun is great and works fantastic but it has a lot of scratches and scuffs on the stainless steel frame and barrel, etc.

What's the best way to recondition this to a better condition -- I don't want to have a mirror shine though; I want to end up with brushed steel as the original...

Thank you!
 
Simichrome is when you're looking for a really smooth, polished 'chrome' look, IMHO.

By hand, your best bet is to try various grits of scotchbrite pads, to determine which best cleans up the damage and leaves an acceptable finish.

Larry
 
What happens if you make a mistake with the pads; can you go from a higher polish (more chrome) back to more brushed??

Thanks!
 
There are a few threads about this subject already. Many people, myself included, use Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish. I had some very good results using it on my mod 64. You can polish the revolver as much or as little as you chose. Just start with a small layer and see how it looks. You can probably buff out the surface scratches, but shining the gun too much might make the larger imperfections stand out more.

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409288
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=411572

My S&W is in the second link.

Best of luck.
 
Semichrome, Mother's, Flitz, etc. are for high polish finishes. Try the grey Scotchbrite pads. Yes, you can go back to a coarser finish from a finer one. Use any of the pads LIGHTLY at first, until you figure out what they will do. It's easy to round sharp edges and screw holes.
 
Nick, scuff, scratch removal...

I'd review some of the posted topics on the forum.
Flitz, Mother's, 800/1000/1200 grit auto body sandpaper, a special aircraft industry material called Micro-mesh(check name).
These products should remove minor nicks, marks & scuffs.

ClydeFrog
 
Is the way to get an original look only through sandblasting? I'm trying to get something as close as possible to the original way that this came in from the factory....
 
The 65 is sand blasted only on the top strap and top of barrel. The rest of the gun is about 400 grit finish from the factory-maybe 600 grit.
 
I use the pads but the result only approximates the original finish. Start with the scratches and get them out first. Then go over the whole piece to get an even finish. You can get it to look even and pretty good using pads, however if you put a factory finish part next to the pad finished part it doesn't quite match. The pad finish looks more polished.

I don't have a bead box so I haven't tried that. It seems to me that would be the way to go for perfection, as that's how the factory does it, I think.
 
I may be wrong on this, but if you want a factory brushed steel look, I think you still need to polish it and then "brush" it using one of a several techniques.
 
I used "flitz" on my ruger sp101 and lots of elbow grease and a dremel with a buffing pad on the lowest speed for the hard to reach spots
 
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