Do stainless revolvers show holster wear?

[Spade5]

I am just curious if a stainless revolver will show signs of holster wear.

It isn't important but just wondering if it can be polished out.

Wear on a blued gun seems to add character to me.

 

[Analogkid]

Yes they can. It just shows as a dulled finish in the area the holster rode on the finish.

I purchased a used charter arms in stainless, one of the old Bridgeports that was polished stainless. It had a ton of honest holster wear from years of carrying.

I buffed it back to luster in a few hours with buffing compound and soft cloths.
Could not tell what was worn after the buff job.

 

[bannockburn]

Stainless is easy to clean up and polish. For light jobs, like scuff marks and scratches, I use Flitz. For a much more bright polished look I use Mother's Mag Polish. With a little elbow grease and a cotton cloth you can get a polish that resembles the mirror-like appearance of nickel plating.

 

[BCRider]

It depends on the sheen of the finish on the gun. If it's one of the bead blasted dull look guns then it's likely the holster wear would show up as shinier spots. If it's a gun which was dolled up with Flitz or Mother's Mag polish until it gleams like a newly minted coin then it would likely get dull spots from the wear. If it's a stock S&W or Ruger brushed finish from the wire wheel they use you might not notice anything at all or perhaps it'll show as a difference in the wear pattern from that of the brushing.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Some Mothers mag wheel polish will take it right out.

But it'll show, but it's honest wear and the sign of a good gun that's gave use.

 

[Coltdriver]

I once bought a Century Canadian Police import Ruger GP100 in stainless.

When I got it the thing was scary uneven with holster wear. Came with a holster too.

I broke out a tube of Flitz and with nothing more than hand polishing and in less than 30 minutes it looked like a piece of beautiful chrome with no trace of wear at all.

As noted above the surface finish would dictate what you could bring the piece back to but the smooth stainless of the Ruger came back looking really nice.

 

[sgt127]

Wear generally shows up as shiny spots on a stainless gun. A grey Scotchbrite pad is very close to the original brushed finish on a Smith revolver. Brush in one direction with the original "grain".

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Sure it can, if you carry it enough. I just polish it out with Mother's Mag Polish. I like shiny guns though.

 

[Hardtarget]

BCRider (post 4) described my carry exactly. It has those very shiney lines and small areas on a bead blasted gun.
I like 'em...took several years of daily carry to get that "look".

Mark

 

[Spade5]

Thanks for the info

Thanks to everyone. That is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[INMY01TA]

Wear generally shows up as shiny spots on a stainless gun. A grey Scotchbrite pad is very close to the original brushed finish on a Smith revolver. Brush in one direction with the original "grain".

This. I messed up part of the finish on my new S&W 686 and tried to polish it with fine sandpaper, just made it worse. I was all ready to send it back to S&W when their customer service told me to try the scotch brite pad. Worked perfectly.

 

[Drail]

It will work on a brushed stainless gun. If your gun is bead blasted the only fix is to reblast it. Any gun will show holster wear. The only solution is to stop worrying about it - or keep it in the safe.

 

[PJSprog]

It will work on a brushed stainless gun. If your gun is bead blasted the only fix is to reblast it. Any gun will show holster wear. The only solution is to stop worrying about it - or keep it in the safe.

What he said ^^^.

While there's nothing like a brand new stainless gun, there's also nothing like a well-worn used one either.

 

[340PD]

Guns are tools or safe queens. I consider holster wear on any of my guns to be "character marks" and prove to me I am using it as it was designed.