Hi everyone,

I have a question (actually a bunch of them). I really want to polish and wax my Smiths. Two blued, and one nickel. I'm mostly concerned with the nickel one because the blued ones look great.

On my nickel Chief, I can see light swirls in the finish if I look at it in the right light. If polished and waxed, will it remove those? They aren't scratches, just looks like it's been carried a lot.

Also, how do I do it? I have looked up online, and it gets me nowhere. The last forum I looked on it got to the point of people arguing over whether all polish has abrasives or not, and the "true" definition of the word polish. I don't care about that ****, I just would like to know from people who know, how do I do it without ruining the gun? Is there a good chance I could ruin it? How do I remove the swirls and make the nickel shiny again? I've heard Flitz, but people just say to use it, they don't say HOW to use it. I'm guessing you don't scrub it down like you're cleaning a frying pan with an SOS pad, but some detail would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

If they are really light scratches a lead way cloth will cut the surface, it's not as abrasive as Mothers. Mothers is good for a little more aggressive polishing.

Yeah I don't even think they are scratches, but they probably are but extremely minor ones of so. If you don't mind me asking, what is a lead way cloth?

You think he blue ones look great? Wait till you wax em. I have used Mothers mag & aluminum polish for years. Go lightly with it, but it will make that nickel sparkle. I use Minwax paste polishing wax on blue, nickle and wood. Soft cloth wax on, wax off. Easy!

old 1911 fan

Have you tried just waxing the nickel gun with a good polish such as Renaissance Wax and see how it looks? Or I have heard people post about using Johnson wax (I use Ren wax personally). You can try buffing out the gun with either Flitz or Simichrome polish; both are very mild and unless you have gorilla hands and strength and the finish on your gun isn't about shot already they should minimize any swirl marks. I've used them both and both work about equally well. I have a 40+ year old 27-2 I bought new when I turned 18 and I used the Simichrome polish on it and it helped. As for applying it, you can use a cotton rag and rub or if you have plenty of experience using a dremel tool, you can use a felt wheel with Flitz or Simichrome and use it very lightly on low speed to very gently polish on your gun. I say this with a lot of hesitation as you can also screw things up badly if you aren't used to using dremel tools. If you don't have the experience using a dremel, then stick to hand polishing as I would hate to have you screw up your fine revolver. I used a dremel on the nickel 27 and it came out great and it saved a lot of time and wear and tear on my hands, but I also have quite a bit of experience with using dremel tools for cutting and polishing.

If you are going to do it, I would use simichrome polish. Very mild but effective. That is what the Harley guys use for polishing engine cases. A little trick, forget using a rag, use very thin leather like thin suede or a golf glove. It does not wear through. I would do it by hand. Having no experience myself, Nickel, polish, and dremel tool in the same sentence scares me. If the blue is fine, I would not touch it

That's a good suggestion, Narragansett, about the leather. It makes sense and unless you are real experienced with a dremel, you can cause massive damage in a hurry. And do not even try any of these products on a blue gun as you will remove the blue finish with those polishes. Simichrome or Flitz on nickel only.

I agree with leaving the blued guns alone, aside from a nice coating of Renaissance Wax (which will help keep that shiny finish shiny).

All nickel guns with even minimal handling will show fine scratches and swirls in the right light, sometimes directly from the factory box. I would use Renaissance Pre-Lim with a soft cloth followed by Wax on a nickel gun as you describe yours; there are more degraded nickel finishes that may need a heavier abrasive to restore to shiny, but note when you polish a nickel gun that black stuff on the cloth is the plating, and short of redoing the finish there is no putting it back on the gun.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Wenol in the blue tube is the best product I have ever used on both nickel and blue handguns. Use very sparingly and cautiously for great results. Preserve the finish and shine with a coat or two of Renaissance Wax.

Bill

I second the Renaissance Wax - best product ever. You’ll likely only find it online.

As for application, use your finger to apply a very light coat, let dry for a few minutes and buff out with a quality micro fiber cloth. Awesome results!


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Mark

Yes, this! I've had success with a soft old t-shirt on blue guns. The nickel finish is a bit more finicky, and the micro fiber cloth does a great job.

I have also had great success with Flitz to remove the lights swirls you're talking about on nickel revolvers. Gentle rubbing in a small area at a time and then clean thoroughly with the micro fiber cloth before applying the Ren Wax.

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

The cloth is best used when cut into small pieces instead of getting the whole cloth black.
Never use on blued guns.

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I would be super cautious using Flitz or other polish on the blue ones. Blue is easily removed.

The nickel will take polishing better, but you can still wear through it, especially if thin to begin with. FYI, it's really hard to get scratches out of nickel because you simply can't remove enough material via just hand polishing to eliminate the scratches. It will make them look better but most likely won't make them disappear.

As to the "how", rub some polish on the gun and buff it in with a cotton patch then eventually wipe off. Then repeat. Not too hard.

********Disclaimer, Comments pertain to nickel finish only.**********
I recently purchased a M19-3 with some of the issues you mention about the light swirling surface wear and being the meticulous fool I am I went about trying to make his old revolver look new and in the end decided to just accept it for what it is and be happy to own it. I went down the same rabbit hole on Utube and the Forum and decided to use a light layer of FLITZ spread on a small square of a LEAD AWAY CLOTH 1"X 1". I then massaged the entire surface and came up with a slightly improved appearance. I then tried REN WAX over the cleaned surfaced, didn't care for it and re cleaned with denatured alcohol and ended with a single coat of FLITZ before I decided to accept it for what it is. I should mention this is only my second experience with a nickel revolver. Enjoy it. I should note the Flitz on the Lead away cloth worked well to clean away a heavy lead build up on the cylinder but still go lightly to start off or get aggressive on the grip frame to experiment. The M10 was in considerably better condition than the M19. Both have one coat of Flitz and were hand polished.

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	S&W M10-7 .38 2 inch SN4D72917 1979 010.jpg (68.7 KB, 80 views)
	S&W M10-7 .38 2 inch SN4D72917 1979 014.jpg (88.5 KB, 76 views)

That sounds like a plan. I didn't really think about making the blued ones look even better.

Yeah, I have absolutely no experience using that tool. I'm really worried about ruining a gun so I'll stick with doing it by hand. I've heard to go very lightly even by hand, but I'm still a bit nervous. Both of my Model 36's are from 1971-72 and my 15 is from '77 and I'd greatly hate myself if I were to ruin one of them. I've heard people say to use a microfiber cloth. I have a few. Would one be sufficient per gun as far as polishing goes? Then another to wax?

Yeah, I have no experience using a tool so I'm going to stick with doing it by hand. I'd probably try the nickel first and if all goes well, maybe just wax the blued ones. Up until the other day I hadn't seen any about waxing them. Although I also was not looking into polishing either so that could be why I heard not hi about waxing. Here's one for you, I've never even waxed a car. How does that work? Do you put a little on and just kind of gently buff it onto the gun and leave the wax? I've also heard people say, to polish once and then apply wax when needed and not to keep polishing the gun as it would ruin the gun to polish too much.

Understood. I would probably just wax the blued ones or just leave them be. It all kind of makes me nervous. I really don't want to ruin one. As far as the blued ones go, I don't see swirls in any light. Both of them look as though they were bought and left in the box and never carried and barely fired. I really don't know if I'm even going to bother with polishing. I'm not confident enough that I won't mess it up. Maybe just some wax would be fine.

That sounds like a better plan. I'm really worried about polish.

The Renaissance does wonders for wood stocks too!




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Mark

I take black gloss shoe polish and ren wax, put some of each in a altoids tin, hold a flame under the tin until they melt and then I stir them together.
(They will catch on fire so be careful or just use a heat gun)
The perfect polish for blue guns

NICE looking guns! I especially like that Model 10! I'm not too concerned with the blued ones. As I said they look great already. The nickel one, I just want to get the swirls out, but if I decide not to do this, I'm not unhappy with the gun by any stretch of the imagination. It is a beautiful gun and I am most happy to own it. It's my only nickel DA revolver. I have a nickel SA and a nickel derringer. Now that I think about it, I should practice on one of those first as neither one was very much money or of great quality and neither is a collector's item either. In fact I think that's what I'll do. I'll actually have a practice run (or two). If I mess up, then I won't even bother on the Smith.

NICE! I'll keep that in mind.

If you don't mind me asking, when was your Model 10 produced? I love Model 10 snubs. I love the nickel and blued, RB and SB. I like RB best, but I love the SB's too! The 10's are such awesome guns. I'm guess it was probably and early to mid 70's?

It may be hard to see, this is the beat picture I could get because the focus kept focusing on the reflection of my phone and the ceiling behind me! This is the reason I want to polish it. I'm sure y'all already know what I'm talking about, but I just figured I'd post it in case someone saw it and realized I can't get it out.

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You can try polishing with Flitz or Simichrome if you want, but I don't think that will work all the way out. It might minimize it. But if it were mine, I think I would use a couple of coats of Ren Wax first and see how it comes out before going further and using a polish. It's a well used gun, so let it wear it's battle scars with honor. And I would shoot it a lot too.

MFG DATE ON THE MODEL 10-7 IS 1979. I CHOSE THIS PHOTO BECAUSE MY INEXPENSIVE LITTLE DIGITAL CAMERA INSISTED ON USING THE FLASH WHICH SHOWS EVERY FLAW IN DETAIL, THE NEXT IS ONE WITHOUT THE FLASH ENGAGED. I TRY AND AVOID THE FLASH BUT SOMETIME CONDITIONS DEMANDS IT. I WOULD NEVER SUBMIT A PHOTO AS NO. 1 IF I WAS TRYING TO SELL A GUN AS IT IS NOT A TRUE REPRESENTATION, THE NICKEL FINISH REALLY MAKES THE FLAWS JUMP OUT AT YOU.

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Thanks! I plan on shooting it quite a bit!

I hear ya. I avoid using my flash too because of the same reason. I always make sure the lighting is good and turn the flash off on my phone so it looks much nicer. I agree about if I were trying to sell it, but I do not plan on selling my Smiths, but yes it's not a fair representation. I am leary about buying a gun online if people only put up one picture which happens quite often on some websites, especially when Cabelas is selling one through a third party site. They give two pictures and they try and make it look as nice as possible. When I bought the gun, I bought it online, but the guy selling it had a bunch of pictures and I knew what I was buying when I got it. Besides, it was bought as a carry gun anyways. If it were flawless, I wouldn't want to carry it. I love carrying these old guns because I never see anyone with an old gun like this. At work when people bust out a carry gun, it's usually a Glock or something along those lines. Every may like it, but once I bring mine out, the attention immediately shifts to my gun and everyone is ooooing and aaahhhhing over it. I love it. That is a very nice Model 10 you got there. I really like that thing. I was off on my guess, but it's still in that window that I love. I really like having pinned barrels and when applicable recessed cylinders. One of these days I want one just like your Model 10, both RB and SB.