Polishing a stainless 1911....?????

blackdog_507 · October 14, 2010, 09:04 PM

I'm looking a purchasing a stainless Springfield from my local gun dealer. Its a nice piece, a Custom Loaded Mil-Spec version. Good price ($500) but its seen some use. Nothing too major, but some small scratches and general surface wear. I've polished a lot of aluminum and stainless motorcycle parts before, but never on a pistol. Haven't had the kahona's to rip into a $500+ piece of stainless. What I've done before is used auto body sand paper starting with 400 grit and moved all the way down to 2000 grit, then a buffing wheel with some polish on it. I've made some brushed or dull finish stuff turn out fairly well. Anyone ever done anything like this on a pistol? should I attempt? Advice?

AK103K · October 14, 2010, 10:02 PM

I got this one with the polished flats in pretty rough shape. I bead blasted it using glass beads.

Polished stainless to me, seems awfully susceptible to scratches, and easily damaged or marked up, or at least the guns I've had were. The matte finish seems to do a little better, and its easily touched up.

Mosin44az · October 15, 2010, 12:14 AM

Nice job on the beadblast on that Officer's. Looks great.

I have a local gunsmith who does that. Made my old J & G Model 64 look brand new.

He also polished the scratches on the sides of my Colt XSE Commander nicely, pretty much eliminated them. The scratches on the "rougher" finished steel around the trigger area he said he couldn't fix. Maybe bead blasting the whole gun could do that.

AK103K · October 15, 2010, 07:09 AM

Those J&G 64's were a great deal, eh? I got one too. Mines in real good shape with some minor dings. At this point, I'm just going to leave it alone. Im trying to figure out how they got them so clean. Mine was absolutely spotless, and cleaner than a new gun when I got it.

Bead blasting the whole gun makes things simple, and the results are a finish I prefer. I dont know how much work would be involved in blasting the whole gun and then re polishing the flats. I suppose you could mask the areas already polished, but I think the edges might be tough to deal with. I'm sure they probably blast the whole gun and then polish off the flats, getting those nice sharp edges.

October 14, 2010, 09:04 PM	#1
blackdog_507 Member Join Date: March 28, 2009 Posts: 73	Polishing a stainless 1911....????? I'm looking a purchasing a stainless Springfield from my local gun dealer. Its a nice piece, a Custom Loaded Mil-Spec version. Good price ($500) but its seen some use. Nothing too major, but some small scratches and general surface wear. I've polished a lot of aluminum and stainless motorcycle parts before, but never on a pistol. Haven't had the kahona's to rip into a $500+ piece of stainless. What I've done before is used auto body sand paper starting with 400 grit and moved all the way down to 2000 grit, then a buffing wheel with some polish on it. I've made some brushed or dull finish stuff turn out fairly well. Anyone ever done anything like this on a pistol? should I attempt? Advice?

October 14, 2010, 10:02 PM	#2
AK103K Senior Member Join Date: May 1, 2001 Posts: 10,223	I got this one with the polished flats in pretty rough shape. I bead blasted it using glass beads. Polished stainless to me, seems awfully susceptible to scratches, and easily damaged or marked up, or at least the guns I've had were. The matte finish seems to do a little better, and its easily touched up.

October 15, 2010, 12:14 AM	#3
Mosin44az Senior Member Join Date: January 15, 2006 Posts: 2,585	Nice job on the beadblast on that Officer's. Looks great. I have a local gunsmith who does that. Made my old J & G Model 64 look brand new. He also polished the scratches on the sides of my Colt XSE Commander nicely, pretty much eliminated them. The scratches on the "rougher" finished steel around the trigger area he said he couldn't fix. Maybe bead blasting the whole gun could do that.

October 15, 2010, 07:09 AM	#4
AK103K Senior Member Join Date: May 1, 2001 Posts: 10,223	Those J&G 64's were a great deal, eh? I got one too. Mines in real good shape with some minor dings. At this point, I'm just going to leave it alone. Im trying to figure out how they got them so clean. Mine was absolutely spotless, and cleaner than a new gun when I got it. Bead blasting the whole gun makes things simple, and the results are a finish I prefer. I dont know how much work would be involved in blasting the whole gun and then re polishing the flats. I suppose you could mask the areas already polished, but I think the edges might be tough to deal with. I'm sure they probably blast the whole gun and then polish off the flats, getting those nice sharp edges.