Repairing damage to Beretta's finish?

ScottRiqui · July 18, 2012, 09:16 PM

I bought a used Beretta 84BB. The overall condition is great, particularly the finish. The only blemish is that it appears the gun was dropped at one point, "smooshing" the lines in the back of the grip and scraping off a section of the bluing:

I was thinking of using a small triangular file to "re-cut" the affected areas of the grooves and then hitting it with some cold blue. The repair doesn't have to be perfect - I just don't want the dinged-up section to stand out as much as it does.

Does this sound workable, or am I asking for trouble?

Bill DeShivs · July 18, 2012, 09:31 PM

That's not bluing-it's anodizing. The frame is aluminum.
You can probably touch it up with gloss paint after you straighten out the grooves.

ScottRiqui · July 18, 2012, 09:37 PM

And THIS is why I wanted to ask here before I got started - thanks, Bill!

Creeper · July 18, 2012, 09:37 PM

The file as you mentioned, plus a bit of 600 wet/dry on a square dowel to smooth things out... then some Birchwood Casey "aluminum black" or maybe their general purpose touch-up pen.

It's aluminum, so don't forget to frequently clean the chips out of the file with a wire brush.

Cheers,
C

dahermit · July 18, 2012, 11:38 PM

Filing will remove the metal. You might want to try reforming the ridges with a small triangular punch by working the metal back where it was, before filing.

ScottRiqui · July 18, 2012, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Filing will remove the metal. You might want to try reforming the ridges with a small triangular punch by working the metal back where it was, before filing.

Did I mention that they called me "Shakes the Clown" during flight school?

Honestly, I'll probably have better luck with just re-cutting the damaged parts of the grooves and leaving the flattened portions as-is, or possibly even flattening all of the ridge ends to make them uniform before re-finishing it.

Creeper · July 18, 2012, 11:53 PM

Quote:

or possibly even flattening all of the ridge ends to make them uniform before re-finishing it.

As it's not a custom or collector grade gun... chances are, I'd do the same thing. Mini-bobtail?

wyop · July 19, 2012, 08:32 AM

I'm with dahermit. When I see a ding/dent/divot in gun metal like that, I first try to put the metal back where it came from.

Once you hit it with a file, it's gone forever.

If the attempts to move the metal back don't succeed, then I start to filing/polishing it out.

July 18, 2012, 09:16 PM	#1
ScottRiqui Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 2,905	Repairing damage to Beretta's finish? I bought a used Beretta 84BB. The overall condition is great, particularly the finish. The only blemish is that it appears the gun was dropped at one point, "smooshing" the lines in the back of the grip and scraping off a section of the bluing: I was thinking of using a small triangular file to "re-cut" the affected areas of the grooves and then hitting it with some cold blue. The repair doesn't have to be perfect - I just don't want the dinged-up section to stand out as much as it does. Does this sound workable, or am I asking for trouble? Last edited by ScottRiqui; July 18, 2012 at 09:39 PM.

July 18, 2012, 09:31 PM	#2
Bill DeShivs Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2006 Posts: 10,981	That's not bluing-it's anodizing. The frame is aluminum. You can probably touch it up with gloss paint after you straighten out the grooves. __________________ Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler www.billdeshivs.com

July 18, 2012, 09:37 PM	#4
Creeper Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: Woooooshington Posts: 1,797	The file as you mentioned, plus a bit of 600 wet/dry on a square dowel to smooth things out... then some Birchwood Casey "aluminum black" or maybe their general purpose touch-up pen. It's aluminum, so don't forget to frequently clean the chips out of the file with a wire brush. Cheers, C __________________ Shoulder Drive Nicholson Club

July 18, 2012, 11:38 PM	#5
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	Filing will remove the metal. You might want to try reforming the ridges with a small triangular punch by working the metal back where it was, before filing.

July 19, 2012, 08:32 AM	#8
wyop Senior Member Join Date: July 15, 2012 Location: Wonderful, Windy Wyoming Posts: 133	I'm with dahermit. When I see a ding/dent/divot in gun metal like that, I first try to put the metal back where it came from. Once you hit it with a file, it's gone forever. If the attempts to move the metal back don't succeed, then I start to filing/polishing it out.