Polishing SS Revolvers?

[The Rabbi]

I will be getting my first stainless revolver, a Model 65 3" shortly, insh'alla. I have noticed that the finish tends towards a dull grey. Has anyone polished their gun to a high polish? What were the results?
I am intending to make this my "BBQ gun" so looks are important.

 

[R.H. Lee]

Check into some stuff called Sheila Shine. It's for SS. If you don't like the high gloss, you can always dull it again with a Scotchbrite pad.

 

[Ala Dan]

Two other options are Simichrome and Flitz Metal Polish.

The first can be bought at any automotive store, as bikers use it
to polish the chrome on their bikes. Also, its available from The
Western Wood Doctor for slightly over $6 a tube. And the beauty
is, this tube will last 5 years (or more) because its kind'a like the
old Bryl-Cream; " a little dab will do ya".

The other can be found at most well stocked gun shops.
We sell it, but I'm not exactly sure of the price? Plus the fact,
I use Simichrome on all of my stainless firearms.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Hhhhmmmm

Here's a few of mine....

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[R.H. Lee]

So Jeff, please explain how you got them to look like that.

 

[The Rabbi]

Ditto that.

The Python is, AFAIK, nickel, so it looks like that naturally (mine does anyway). But the others??

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Pythons are (were) available in bright polished stainless (the term Python Elite comes to mind) but in my experience nickel guns always looked much better. Please tell us how you got your stainless guns to look so good!

I have a new Ruger Vaquero in Ruger's bright stainless finish that need a polishing job like this. Ruger's ideal of polish and my ideal of polish are two completely different things, it seems.

Edited to add: Just checked the Colt webpage and Pythons are indeed currently offered in stainless, but the polish job doesn't look as good as the pictures above.

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Thanks

Thanks for thinking the Python is a fake and that it's really nickel.
Sorry to say that I don't own any nickel guns at this time.
I'll bet you your choice of any gun I own against any one you own that the Python in the above pic is Stainless.

The pics don't do them justice either.

I've been working with Mothers Mag Wheel polish (the paste not liquid).
By the way, no machines were used on any of the guns pictured. All were done by hand. Also no animals were harmed during the photos.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Thanks for letting us know.

I've been working with Mothers Mag Wheel polish (the paste not liquid).

No kidding. I have some of that. Didn't occur to me to give it a try.

FWIW, I had no doubt your Python was stainless. One dead giveaway with nickel finishes in comparison with stainless is that the nickel finish, over time, takes on an almost yellowish color. Most of the time this will show up in pictures quite readily. My dad once had a six inch nickel Python. Man, that gun was gorgeous. Polish was so high luster that every single hint of a fingerprint was obvious. My dad constantly worried about rust. He finally sold it to a collector for twice what he paid for it (he had it about 10 years). Given the choice between the two, I'd probably opt for the stainless.

BTW, that Mountain Gun looks really nice. Is that one of the limited first runs? I like the .500 as well.

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Thanks

Thanks.

Actually the Mountain gun just plain came out sweet looking.
If you notice, there's NO markings on either side of the gun. I also accented the high edge of Trigger and outter high edge of the Hammer to give it a little bit more polish. The gun looks very clean and Ssssmmmooooth that way.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Here's the flip side

Here's the flip side of the 629...

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[Standing Wolf]

I polished my pre-agreement Smith & Wesson model 60 to a high, bright shine, only to discover it showed scratches if I so much as breathed on it.

Now all my stainless steel guns are bead-blasted.

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Hey Wolf

Hey Wolf,

Send me your address.
I need to know where to send the breath mints...

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[ff19106]

polishing stainless

Use Blue Magic Polish,You can find it at auto parts stores.

Relatively cheap and with some elbow grease or a dremel tool the finish comes out as good as a nickel plating job!

 

[deercop]

At the risk of showing my ignorance, how did you get the markings off the Mountain Gun? I have a 629 MG myself, and I would LOVE to get it to look like yours. BEAUTIFUL!!!!

 

[shermacman]

You could try my method, my S&W .357 in stainless is beautifully coated in: fingerprints, burnt gun powder, partially burnt gun powder, dust, grease, dog hair and several unidentified substances. Gives the gun that "authentic" look that is so treasured!

 

[deercop]

shermacman,

At least you can't be accused of having a "pimp gun"!

 

[Thumper]

Holy crud, Kwazy...those are gorgeous.

How about detailed "how to?" Or is it just Mother's Mag Polish and a LOT of elbow grease?

What kind of cloth did you use, how much time, any tricks, etc...

 

[Sisco]

I polished my GP100 using a Dremel and semichrome polish. Looked real good but the fingerprints drove me nuts so I bead blasted it.

 

[GUNKWAZY]

Well....

Well,
Everytime I've gotten into this before regarding my methods to polishing. It always starts out nice and ends with some YaHoos telling everyone to just put the guns to some type of buffing wheels and compounds or Dremmel tools.
All my guns are done by hand period. That's my preference.
I've seen the results of people that have polished guns with machines that don't know what they're doing. It's not pretty. They turn out shiney but people tend to round the sharp corners along the frame and also tear into the factory stampings of the guns and destroy a perfectly good gun.
It takes longer to do it the way I do it, but the results are worth it.
This again is my opinion.
My main polish that I use is Mothers Mag Wheel polish. The paste, not the liquid. I also use a soft cotton cloth. Old T-shirts and old used dish towels work well. Generally ones with-out prints. Old cloth diapers work great for final polish and rubbing the gun just to clean it. If they won't scratch your kids A$$, it shouldn't scratch your guns.

Jeff (GUNKWAZY)

 

[only1asterisk]

GUNKWAZY,

How long is "longer"?

David

 

[BluesBear]

I bought a 4" S&W 629-nothing from an Indiana depury sherrff in the mid 90s.

He had carried it a LOT and it showed.

I used Semichrome and Flitz and did it by hand.

Yes it took a while but it not really all that long. And the result was well worth it.

I did it in front of the television. Just light rubbing it all it takes. You pay close attention at first but as you go you get a feel for how hard you need to press and how fast you need to rub.

After 10-15 minutes you can just sit bad and rub, glancing down occasionally to keep an eye on progress.

As I recall it took a couple of hours a night for about 5 or 6 nights.
It was actually quite relaxing.

YMMV

 

[FlyinGN]

I have tried to polish my new Taurus matte finished stainless gun but since it is matt(bead blasted) it will never come up like the guns pictured if done by hand. Its just too 'rough' to be polished by hand to mirror smooth.. now my S&W 686 was NOT matte stainless and it came up like a mirror when done by hand.. So I guess it depends on how the stainless was finished from the factory on wether it can be polished..

Frank

 

[Stainz]

Gunkwazy,

Nice work! I have 'cleaned up' a police trade-in 65-3 with Flitz/Semichrome and elbow grease... even a 6" cotton buffer charged with red & white rouge on the gouges. My first 'attempt' was my 4.6" .45 Colt BHG Vaquero over a year ago. The 'bright' finish was easy to match after I had scratched the barrel up with 320-1,500 grit Si/C w/d paper... removing that Ruger paragraph. I highly reccomend it - a great improvement. I have removed it from all of my SS Rugers now, icluding Vaquero's, BH's, SBH, and RH. The satin finish of the SBH & RH was returned via some maroon ScotchBrite pads. I used a Porter Cable Profile Sander's concave-shaped sanding profile to follow the barrel's curve, but an old-fashioned felt chalkboard eraser works as well. I used WD-40 as a lube... it took hours, of course, but it is worth it. The beginning and end seem to have a deeper 'dot' than the rest of the roll-marked paragraph. Your .44 SRH will look a lot better...

My MG's, a .45 Colt 625 and 1 629, are laser-etched, I assume like your 629MG was. That would make them candidates... my roll-engraved ones would be too much trouble. The Si/C w/d paper can be had at any home-improvement store - an assortment of 320-1,000 is available at Wally World, even. I also like Ace hardware stores - usually very eager to special order goodies for you. I ordered a bottle of Flitz Metal Polish from my local Ace - it is green - like the case tumbler additive they make, unlike the pink-orange color of the previous (several years old) polish. Doesn't work as well, either. Hopefully, Semichrome hasn't changed. Try auto paint and body supply stores for the finer (1,500+) grit papaers.

Stainz

 

[MikeJ]

I polish all of my stainless guns with either Mother's Mag polish or Flitz. Unfortunately I don't have the capability of posting pictures at this time. I prefer to have them polished to the point where they are bright but not like the Colt .38 Supers or bright polished Pythons. I just finished my 3" GP100 two nights ago. I used Flitz and I spent two evenings one hour each while watching TV. This is all it took to achieve the level of shine I wanted.