My barrel is scratched, any way to buff it out? Polished Stainless Steel Ruger Revlvr

[songsofreedom]

Hey Guys, can you help me out? I scratched the bottom of the barrel of my 5.5" stainless gloss steel Ruger Old Army Revolver. I don't know how, I think it was when I took the base pin off when the barrel was still hot, I think it was much softer then? Is there a way to buff this out? Should I send it back to ruger to do this? Will they? Or can any gunsmith take care of this? I am freaking out, because my gun is so beautiful, but its scratched at the bottom of the barrel now

 

[PotatoJudge]

It's probably something you can take care of with 800-2000 grit sandpaper and some Flitz or Mothers Mag Polish.

How deep is the scratch?

 

[CWL]

You need to relax. Seriously.

It's only a gun. And, no, the steel was not softer because it was hot.

If you feel the need to buff out a scratch, you can use very fine grit sandpapers that are meant for car paintwork. Go to your hardware store and get some -1000 -1200 -2000 -4000 grit emory paper depending on the polish of your gun. These will polish the metal out to mirror finish if you know what you're doing.

You can also use a buffing wheel and jewlers rouge to polish it.

In both cases, you need to be careful to not do more damage than you are trying to repair.

If it were me, I'd leave it alone and chalk it up to ownership.

 

[carpenter]

If you intend to use the gun, it will get scratched. Stainless scratches easily. Sure, you can send it to Ruger and pay to have it buffed out. But if you ever use the gun again, it's going to get scratched.

Stainless works like that.

I know of cases where guys kept buffing and buffing and finally destroyed the tolerances of their stainless guns because they took so much metal off.

Get used to usage marks and don't worry about it. It's a working gun. Not a safe queen.

 

[songsofreedom]

Thanks, guys, you are right. I just thought I made a huge mistake, but if it is going to get scratched, then so be it. It will definitely not be a safe queen, but rather, my workhorse. It just hurts to know the scratch is there, because I'll be the only one who knows about it, its like seeing a scratch on your kid, it makes you cringe, you know? Thanks.

 

[Sunray]

Buff it out with jeweller's rouge and a cloth wheel in a bench grinder. Sandpaper will just scratch it more.

 

[lee n. field]

It will definitely not be a safe queen, but rather, my workhorse.

That being the case, it'll inevitably pick up more signs of honest use.

 

[Arch]

Get it hard chromed. 75 rockwell hardness will minimize the scratching.

 

[Walkalong]

That is just "character". Honest wear is no big deal. Damage is another story.

 

[Jim Watson]

The thing is, you get to sanding, polishing, buffing and whatall, the trick will not be to get out the scratch, it will be to keep the same surface finish AROUND the scratch. What grit did Ruger finsh to? I dunno, do you?
Most folks rub them out too hard and too fine, leaving a shiny patch on the rather dull sanded, brushed, or beaded factory texture.

 

[sfhogman]

A well-used green Scotch-Brite pad- the kind you probably have in your kitchen- should work fine. Just apply gently and take your time.

Jeff

 

[PotatoJudge]

Well, he says it's "gloss stainless." Most can't tell the difference between two levels of polish.

 

[sansone]

jim got it perfectly.. sure the scratch can be removed, it takes more time to match the surface texture. I sandblast satin finishes, scotchpad shinier ones, some require buffing w/paste wax. all depends on the surrounding area

 

[gezzer]

For get about it. Shoot it as it was intended for it. Using it will get it marked who cares.

All stainless handguns can be refinished to factory condition or better easily.

Remember it is not a collector gun that has to be untouched, unmarked, un-shot, and kept in the back of the safe. I own none of these as I MUST shoot and use them as was intended by the maker.

 

[songsofreedom]

Thanks Guys, I will just use it and if it bothers me that much, I'll just get a safe queen to guard the safe, ha ha..

 

[.cheese.]

songsofreedom - I know sometimes scratches can bother you. We can all be obsessive like that when we care about stuff. It's not necessarily a bad thing to care about your stuff, but when we let it bother us so much it is. Here's some examples.

I have a really expensive keyboard that got scratched when I moved my studio once (my other hobby), and the studio looked so nice that I really wanted that scratch fixed, so I ordered a replacement end-piece (where it was scratched deeply) to take care of it. I had to actually take the keyboard to a specialist to put that end-piece on because I didn't want to void the warranty by opening up the keyboard. Cost me in total about 100 bucks to fix the scratch which is ridiculous.

I have an expensive pool cue that has a scratch on it and although it got scratched over 3 years ago, I still get ticked when I remember it's there. Funny thing is, half the time it takes a minute to find the scratch as it's so minor.

Sometimes when we baby stuff, we invest too much time and effort into worrying about it.

Guns are a special case though. I understand that every last one of my guns are going to get scratched and such from use so when I got into guns, I just made a deal with myself that I was going to concentrate on making sure the guns function perfectly, and not that they look perfect, as the former is much more important.

Don't let the barrel get to you. The bottom line is that once you start seriously using stuff, it will get cosmetically flawed eventually.

 

[svtruth]

Iirc

there is a thread here about removing all of the lawyer language from a ss Ruger.
Good luck.

 

[Im283]

I am glad my SP-101 was used. I hate stuff that mars my brand new gun or whatever kind of item it may be. with it already used it came with some character marks and i do not have to worry if I add to it.

 

[HiWayMan]

That scratch just makes all the others it will aquire easier to handle. I think I'm just going to kick every new gun I buy across the pavement. That way I won't care if it gets another scratch.

 

[Anna's Dad]

Its like the first ding in a new car. Sure it stinks, but the 2nd one won't bother you nearly as much!

 

[Lonestar49]

They're working guns

...

Exactly right above, the first cut is the deepest.. lol

Then, after some 20,000 rounds, send it out for new springs, recoil spring, whatever it may need, and have the frame and slide re-done in the same colors, or by then you may have a new look you're after, and it can be yours.

Then you start over again, and the same will hold true, the first cut/scratch is the deepest..


LS

 

[blitzer0101]

After 35 years of owning many firearms, swapping and trading them I have gotten over the obsessive compulsive thing a a perfect finish. If it rusts I buff it out with some stainless steel wool and a little Breakfree, hit it with degreaser and a touch of cold blue and let it go at that.

The Stainless guns I leave scratched and just clean them well, not using the same bore brush, mops or swabs used in my carbon steel guns, the Stainless guns will rust if a carbon steel particles get on the surface.