Polishing gun parts

sewktbk

sewktbk

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hey all,

i just bought my first handgun, a PT1911 in matte stainless. I'd like to give it a little style and have certain parts become shiny : barrel, barrel bushing, trigger, slide catch, hammer, thumb safety, etc.

can i polish those like i would polish anything else?

i'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but i'm new to this, and especially with a first firearm, i want it to look good but not affect functionnality.

any advice?

thanks,
cheers
 
Unless you have experience in polishing metal and know how the parts relate to each other, I would not advise it, learn to shoot the gun first.
 
i do have experience polishing metal...just not for guns.
i have no problem taking the gun appart and reassembling it. i have no problems polishing metal. What i want to know is if there are some things i should know for firearms polishing specifically. Or should i just treat it like it was any other metal object?

Personnally, i don't see how wanting some esthetic done will affect me from learning how to shoot it. they are 2 different things...or are they?

What i think i need is someone who maybe has done it before on guns to let me know of any advice, if need be.
 
"...just treat it like it was any other metal object?..." Hi. Pretty much. Do not polish the top of the slide. Sights will disappear in bright light from the resulting glare. Bright light includes fluorescent.
A light touch with jeweller's rouge and a cloth wheel will do it. Matt SS will likely need the assorted grits though. Princess Auto, if there's one near you, carries the jeweller's rouge. You can buy 3 grits in one package for not a big pile of money. Crappy Tire likely does too. Cheaper in Princess Auto.
Sounds like there's no need to mention eye protection. So I won't. snicker.
Part of doing a trigger job is to polish the mating parts of the hammer, sear and trigger. Just polish. No metal removal. The other part is changing the springs.
 
thanks sunray.

i wasnt planning on polishing the slide at all, i only want to give the gun some shiny highlights, meaning polishing the barrel and controls.

Again thanks a bunch for you advice. very helful.
 
go for it, you won't hurt it at all, since you are already familiar with metals and polishing

enjoy have fun, here is my polishing on my XD, and the last pic is some painting on the slide as well


P1040502.jpg


P1040491.jpg


P1040488.jpg


P1040503.jpg


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P1040603.jpg
 
"...polishing the barrel..." I'd leave the barrel alone. 1911 style pistol barrels are fitted by making the lugs mate exactly with the corresponding lugs on the slide. The fit of the barrel to the bushing is important too. Polishing the chamber area only won't bother anything though.
 
ftaview, thats one ###y XD!

sunray, im beyond appreciative, this is exactly the type of info i was looking for. I'll only polish the chamber section then and won't touch the rest of it.
a big fat cheers to you.
 
No problem, I, err, went a little further. Took the original bluing off with vinegar, then buffed... used a buffing wheel and green compound.

img2010121200249.jpg
 
DUDE

this is insanely beautiful. Minus the custom engraving, it looks like one of those druglord's 1911 they found in Mexico.

i want one!
 
arcaner said:
This is impressive!!! do you kown by any chance if similar result a attainable with a norinco 1911 or do it have to be stainless ?
Click to expand...

That is a Norinco 1911, lol I bought it blued with black grips. I sanded off the norinco logos then buffed :) Thats just plain steel your looking at, no coating. Surprisinly its not rusting, hasent been for months. I think the chinese use special metal or something lol, maybe its stainless? I dont know
 
I bow to your polishing skills !

You have inspired me to do this to my Norc 1911. (It was my first pistol purchase ever)

Could you tell us how long this took to accomplish please ?

Also you mentioned that you removed the Norinco markings on the pistol - how did you do that without damaging the slide ?
 
im kinda thinking about buying another norinco just to do that then *maybe gold plating?* , can you give us more detail about what you did and what part we should what out when polishing ???
 
Well I didnt do it all at once, I polished it, then decided I didnt want the Made in China logo, polished it, then decided I didnt want the Norinco logos and polished it, worked on it whenever I kind of felt like it. I would say you could do it in an evening or weekend if you have the right tools.

I used about 100 grit which was pretty coarse to remove the logos. Thats because I'm impatient though and would advise against that as it can put in deep scratchs which will take more work to get out. Then just work your way up maybe to 600 grit, then buff. Alot of people say you shouldn't buff and should do 2000 grit wet sanding instead, I have no idea how that would turn out though.

As for the buffing I used an old table saw motor and got some $8.00 6" wheels and green compound at Princess Auto. I used vinegar to remove the blueing. The acid in the vinegar eats away at it and turns it into a rust after about 20 minutes then you can use a toothbrush and towel to remove it. Dont sand blast it, I did that and its alot more work after trying to buff it.

And as for the gold plating, I was going to do that but the guys at a shop wanted $800, twice the price as the gun lol. Nickel is about $200. So for now I just left it, I've thought about buying a $500 kit off the internet and doing it myself but thats alot of money for something that I'm not sure would work. Grips I got off of ebay for $40 or so, I think brownells sells them too but they didnt have any in stock last time I checked.
 
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