I have a new 629 and the right side of the frame has an area where the finish is somewhat less desirable. It looks as if the factory "finished it" opposite the gran of the metal and it "appears" scratched (not sure if that's the proper description but that's how it looks). I'm sure this can all be made better in some way but I didn't want to try anything without asking here. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

If it were my gun and the appearance bothered me, I'd put a little Mother's polish on it (it's for mag wheels). Trouble is it may put a little shine on it -- so to balance out the rest of the gun -- I have to polish a lot more of the gun than was scratched. That's the dilemma. I usually go for it!

It does look a little funky....like somebody took a pencil eraser and marked it up? The problem with this finish is that once you start to clean it up....you may as well get ready to polish the entire gun like Ashlander said.

That is odd what is going on there. I would be interested to see what you come up with to make it all better. I am not real crazy about buffing a stainless gun to a chrome like finish as I think it will show scuff marks more than the less shiny finish it has on it now from the factory.

__________________
44 Garrett Defender Ammo 4 me.

Actually light scuffs buff right out.

It would probably buff right out, but if it were mine, and I just bought it new it would bug the crud out of me and I'd probably send it back to Smith and have them "fix it" - making it all match - under warranty.

JMHO...

__________________
But then, what do I know?

+1 what M3Stuart said. Although, I don't think the finish is technically covered under warranty. It wouldn't hurt to call S&W.

I should have added that I already tried Mother's Mag and hand polished it. It shined it up but its still there as seen in the photo. When y'all talk about buffing it, are you talking about using an electric buffer?

No, Just a lot of hand rubbing

I've got an odd spot in one of my stainless guns (686) and I polish all of mine. It never did go away, and the metal just looks a little different. The gun shoots fine and I just quit worrying about it over time. Have no idea the cause.

By the way, I love the mirror finish and am working on my stainless S&W's. May even do a GP100 that way and polish it to a high shine. Just a personal preference thing, but I love the way it looks.

Best of luck, B

I've given all of my stainless revolvers a high polish except for one, my new 625 JM. That bead blasted finish does grow on you after a bit and for some reason it's a bit like Teflon in that it's been very easy to clean. However, as I've already found out it will show rub marks quite quickly, so at some point it'll probably get a full polish.

One advantage to a full polish is that any marks from use can be polished out with a bit of hand rubbing.

My preference for doing this is the polish I used to used to clean up my boat (now sold). That is 3M Finesse+it. A rather expensive but superb quality automotive and marine finish polish. It started out with my model 67-1. When I first got it I would give it a going over with the polish after every range outing. After about a year and a half of doing this it started to look like it had been chromed. It looked so good that since then every stainless revolver up to the 625 has recieved a full polish out of the box.

Tips for speeding up the process. Start with a good wet sanding with 1500 grit sandpaper backed up with a tongue depressor or popcycle stick to keep from rounding over the edges of any stampings. Next, wet sand it with 2000 grit to refine the finish. Then start hand rubbing it with a premium grade polishing compound. It'll take some time, and re-sanding to remove any deep scratches from the factory finish but the end result is a good looking barbeque gun. Once you have everything but the crevices polished up it's time to get the nook and crannies. For that I use 1/8 inch diameter bamboo skewers form a grocery store. Break them into about 1 1/2 inch lengths, chick them up in a Dremel, and use those skewers and a tiny bit of polish to get into the tiny crevices. BTW, I also use the skewers to do the detailing around any laser engraving which will come off quickly if you sand and polish them. Personally, I really wish that S&W would stop with those laser etchings, especially the logo, because it takes forever to get a decent looking polish in these areas.