Polishing brushed steel 3rd gen. S&W

[Bill Nance]

Just picked up a 4506 the other day. It was a police-issue gun and looked like it got fired for annual qualification and that's it plus never once was cleaned.

After detail stripping it and thoroughly cleaning it it shoots very well.

The only problem is that it has a lot of holster wear. I'd like to polish this stuff out. I tried some brass polish, which helped, but it's not enough.

(It's better than it looks in picture, which was pre-polishing.

Heard something about 1000 grain sandpaper and water, but having never done this I thought I'd ask if anyone has experience with these.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ElizabethNance/SW4506#5297976519578004610

 

[45collector]

can't see the pic.

Thar ya go

 

[dsm]

Looks to me more like a satin finish than brushed.

1000 grit sandpaper and water will give you a mirror finish which I don't think is what you want.

What is the nature of the holster wear? Is the finish worn smooth or is there some kind of gunk or corrosion on the gun? If there is gunk, I would try a solvent as long as the gun is bare metal, lighter fluid or acetone. Keep away from any non-bare-metal parts. For corrosion, try rubbing with gun oil.

If it's just plain worn smooth on a satin finish, I think it will need to be bead-blasted to restore the finish.

 

[Bill Nance]

What is the nature of the holster wear? Is the finish worn smooth or is there some kind of gunk or corrosion on the gun?

You may be right on the finish being satin, I honestly don't know what to call it. As for the wear it's basically abrasions from the holster. Tried solvent and it helped a little, but only a little.

 

[mike93lx]

my stainless S&W 1911 has some sort of a coating on it. If you polish the gun, you'll likely take that coating off, but you'll get the finish uniform. I'll bet it will brighten up quite a bit as well.

 

[Sprocket]

Bill - go over to this site and ask your same question:
http://smith-wessonforum.com

Someone there will be able to help you with your question.

If yours is like mine, you may actually be taking off the finish - think about holster wear, it's worn the finish off.

If you're going for a polished finish then keep using abrasives but if you want to restore the finish, you'll have to add more finish on top of the metal...

Good luck