Any suggestions on what is the best material or media for polishing S&W stainless revolvers, to cover blemishes but keep the original S&W look? (That look is best described as mildly and uniformly and lightly scratched!).

I don't want to turn the revolver surface into a super-shiny, glossy finish. Yet almost any type of mild abrasive leaves its own specific scratch marks. Any suggestions on what works?

Thanks!

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S&W Rover

I used a 3" wire brush wheel on a drill press to buff out the scratches on my 686 cover plate. You need to be careful not to over do things, but I did find the above process quite controllable. Just be sure to stay AWAY from the edges, as it is really easy to take off too much on those edges.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.


Removing Rt. Plate on S&W686 for Buffing
BEFORE


AFTER

For stainless S&Ws finished the way they were during the 1970 and 1980s most people use fine grades of Scotch Brite pads from Hardware stores or suppliers for the auto body repair business. These are not the green grocery store dish washing pads! Grey pads are about right, white too fine. Do not use a circular motion. Work parallel to the factory "scratches." During the 1990s S&W's finishing process changed to tumbling. Tumbled stainless looks frosted and doesn't have the fine scratches like sand paper leaves.

Just like with reblued S&Ws, sooner or later Collectors will be unwilling to pay full price for stainless that does not appear to have its original surface. I will pay more for a stainless S&W that shows a little wear than one I can spot any sign of home resurfacing or polishing on.

There are threads in the S&Wsmithing forum with more details.

Many pros use Scotchbrite synthetic pads.
These are similar to the green pot scrubber pads found in the grocery.

Buy them in various grits at automotive supply houses. They sell them for use in car painting.

Just use a pads nearest the original grained finish on the gun to rub the light scratches out and at least blend in the deeper scratches.
Finish by "stroking" the pad in the same direction the original grain runs.
Stroking the pad prevents the tiny circular scratches where you reversed direction with the pad.

Things NOT recommended are steel wool, or the above mentioned wire wheel brushing UNLESS the wheel is made of stainless steel.
Even then, one slip will do irreparable damage to sharp edges or defined areas.
Using steel wool, wire wheels, or bead blasting stainless in a blast set up that's been used to blast carbon steel will allow tiny particles of carbon steel to embed into the stainless.
Later, the carbon steel particles will rust, ruing the surface.

I once had a customer who blasted an aluminum frame in a garage bead blaster that was used for car parts.
He was astounded when his aluminum frame began to rust.

The top of revolver frames and barrels are bead blasted. The only way to restore that area is re-bead blasting but you have to mask the metal off to keep the blast off the grained areas.
One way to partially repair scratches on the bead blasted areas is to put a piece of wet -or dry sand cloth over the scratch and give the cloth a couple of whacks with a small plastic hammer.
LIFT the cloth off the metal and move a fresh piece of cloth over the scratch and repeat the hammer blows.
This will not remove the scratches but will help blend them in with the bead blasting.

Wow. Thanks for inputs. I used a Scotch-Brite pad (green) but left a bunch of lines; spent a couple of hours finger-rubbing in non-circular patterns with various rubbing compounds to get back to "normal," or 99% of normal. Just a tad too shiny, though.

I wonder if S&W will refinish a SS revolver?

Anyway, obvious point is to be delicate and avoid using any media that is too hard and can make marks that are too deep to be able to rub out.

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S&W Rover

You didn't use the grocery store Scotch Brites did you?

If it's a little too shiny now, you can slightly dull it using a Scotch gray or white pad; start with white (always begin with the least aggressive material on these jobs) and move to gray only if you need to. I find Norton scouring pads to be excellent, too -- same color variations.

Yes, S&W can polish stainless to a mirror finish, a brushed lustre, or matte bead blast it.

The best way to date is a 3M metal finishing pad ,it is reddish brown.This will put a nice deep scratch on the surface.The gun will have an almost frosted finish at this point that you may actually prefer.To bring it to factory finish from this point you need to use Flitz metal polish to soften the look.If you can't find Flitz for some reason,you can get the same results using fine steel wool.I have done many stainless Smith &Wesson over the years,and was taught this method from a refinisher.

I personally use 400 grit sandpaper for the deeper stuff, 2000 grit for the light scratches, and then get back the factory look with Mother's mag and aluminum polish with a t-shirt and some elbow grease.

Just takes time, but when you do it by hand it is hard to overdo it.

I think there's a serious rusting risk if you use steel wool on stainless, no?

First rule: stay away from power tools.

Second rule: when you use sandpaper back it with a firm flat sanding-block. I like to use one about the size of a pack of Wrigley gum made from a material called Dura Block. It's a rigid foam material that can be cut to size. The backer keeps the flats flat and the edges sharp. Because it gives a little, it works much better than wood.

Amazon.com: Dura Block Scruff Block Hand Sanding DuraBlock: Automotive

Sandpaper of decreasing grit can be used, 220 to 1000, as needed depending on the depth of the scratches and dings. Keep the work surface flooded with WD-40. This keeps the sandpaper clean and floats away the "dust". Wipe down frequently with a scrap of old cotton tee shirt. Finish with 3M gray synthetic wool.

Finally, study the look of a S&W revolver that is in good condition. There is a definite direction, pattern, and grain to the way revolvers are buffed at the factory. The frame, the barrel, and the cylinder are all done in a certain way. It's not hard to duplicate by hand.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I've used steel wool with good results, if you don't mind a rather shiny finish. Go over the gun with a magnet afterwards to remove any little particles of the steel wool that remain on the gun. I had no rust issues whatsoever.

why do you think it would rust.I used Flitz mostly,but have used the SW in a pinch without issues.

You can buy a large stainless washer or bolt to practice/experiment with.
Start with 220 wet or dry and work up.
When I round butted a M67, I used up to 600 grit paper. The result was brighter than the rest of the gun, so I used a white 3M pad, with the "grain", to soften the finish. The result was close enough to the rest of the gun that the difference was not noticeable to me.

Best,
Rick

Have encountered in the Smithing section strong warning against using steel wool on stainless because the steel (carbon) wool particles can embed in the stainless and rust; don't know firsthand, but seems a reasonable possibility.

I suppose anything is possible.Flitz is always the best choice to use to get a uniform softend look.I use to work a couple a nights a week for a LGS who use to also refinish a lot of local PD guns.For the record he use to use the wheel,but taught me the way that was a safe sure bet for the in experienced.

I had a Tanfoglio .45 ACP once. It had a stainless frame and slide, and use to get tiny little rust specs on it all the time. Even though I kept the gun clean and well oiled. I think those guys in Italy at Tanfoglio cut some corners and milled my slide with a tool that embedded tiny, almost microscopic, little carbon steel particles in my .45, and over time they oxidized.

Dissimilar metals will rust galvanically. It's an electrical phenomena that occurs at an atomic level and is impossible to stop. That's why the care and oil I put on the slide made no difference. Every place it rusted left a tiny little pit.

__________________
~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Steel wool is a big "NO" around boats, for the same reason. Rust specs every where.
Boat refinishers use Bronze wool for the polishing. Or, on metal, Flitz or similar.

Best,
Rick

I like the theory of "less can be more." So I start with a lead-away cloth, then, if needed, I apply a small amount of Mothers Mag Polish with my finger, then GENTLY remove with a soft cotton cloth. Have not used it yet, but I understand that Filtz is also good for this.

Don't use steel wool, for the reasons mentioned above - rust. I've refinished a few stainless guns and have had the best results using only Scotch-Brite pads. I start with the green pads, which will leave scratches. This is an important step, as the factory finish has a "brushed" finish, which is in effect light scratches. Use a factory original gun as a template to get the directions of the scratches correct. Once the gun is scuffed up with the green pads, go over it with the white pads. The white pads aren't normally found at your local hardware store. I found them at a machinist supply store. If you can't find the white pads, google search "scotch-brite 7445" and you should find some online.

The last gun I refinished was this model 65 that a previous owner had polished. I didn't care for the polished look and brought it back to the finish seen below with the method mentioned above.

Looking back on my notes for stainless gun restoration ,steel wool was not used,only the Flitz.My notes on dive watch restoration showed both Flitz or Steel wool.So you and others are correct,and I am in error for confusion the two.

Kernel Crittenden gives good advice when he mentions using a lube like WD40 with the Scotchbrite, and pieces of old cotton T shirt to wipe the buffed area often to observe the results. I have only cleaned up some light scratches on my Model 65-3 and not refinished an entire stainless gun but the gray Scotchbrite did the trick. I used Break Free as a lube, it is like wet sanding with sandpaper. Wipe it clean often, apply a few more drops of lube and rub a little more, paying attention to the "grain" in the existing surface to blend it. I have found that a very light touch did it, it doesn't take much with a gray pad to make scratches coarser than the factory finish and then it won't blend well.

Bought some of the grey Scotchbrite pads at the NAPA store and ordered some 7445 white pads. The grey worked great on my SP101, where the grain is obvious and easy to blend in with; that revolver is very "angular" and blocky, so the light pattern was already there and I easily buffed out some scratches. (Note to self - always use a cloth to rest guns on at the range; never put them directly on the table).

Less luck so far with the 640. Will re-attack with the white pad, trying some of the techniques mentioned, and finish with Flitz. Thanks for all inputs so far.

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S&W Rover

Metal polish, Flitz, Mother's Mag and the rest of them are super fine abrasives. They are too fine to match any surfacing S&W has done on stainless revolvers. Make me the forum hall monitor and I'll send every one of you I catch with metal polish to the the vice principal's office.

The wheel I used was indeed a stainless steel wheel. FWIW, the only reason I chose to use the DP/SS-wheel was that I was ONLY buffing out a flat plate.

I agree with others that on the rest of the gun such a setup would NOT be productive on the entire gun for a number of reasons... compound edges, corners, recessed areas, etc.

Lots of good advice above, but as we all know, in the end YOU own it and if YOU mess it up, the perpetual YOU will probably own it in perpetuity...

My 640 is slowing coming back to reasonable surface condition, with work by the Scotchbrite white pads and flitz. I have a used 60-15 with some marks on the barrel coming in next week from a gun dealer in Texas; couldn't resist it. I am guessing the barrel will be easier to touch up than the side plates of the 640 have been. All in all, I am reasonably happy with a little light refinishing and appreciate the comments by all. If polishing can be avoided at all, that is probably better.

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S&W Rover

I ordered a small tube of Flitz Blue from Amazon - and it arrived within 24 hours. A dab on my finger and a little hand rubbing and the finish on my Mdl 640 looks excellent. The light brush effect of the Scotchbrite pads (grey and white) is essentially gone, but the finish is not too shiny -- although it probably would be if I continued.

In short, then, this is what I have learned, thanks to all of the inputs here, and my practical experience with my Mdl 640: Don't mess with refinishing your SS S&W unless you really need to, and then accept that it is risky. Don't use Scotchbrite green pads - use grey or even white (white being the softest)(grey and white pads available at NAPA). Make strokes with pad in original direction of the "grain" of the SS, and don't rub too hard. Use Flitz to soften the brush marks of the pad. Don't mess with refinishing your SS S&W unless you need to.

__________________
S&W Rover

A caution anyone who refinishes deeply scratched stainless gun with 3M pads only. I don't do this for one reason. There is no practical way to keep the 3M sanding pad ridged. Sanding a deeply scratch gun with a floppy pad (or unbacked sandpaper) runs the risk of rounding the sharp corners, dishing the screw holes, and obliterating inscriptions.

The end result is a gun that has a "melted" look. Some people like that look, but it is a departure from what would be considered "factory", and is a dead giveaway the gun has had a kitchen-table refinish, which could decrease value.

I'm not opposed to using 3M pads. I use the gray and white pad when I refinish my stainless guns. After an hour of sanding with a ridged sanding block, I'll spend five minutes with a 3M pad to put the finishing touches on the gun. They're great for that because 3M pads are pressure sensitive (as another poster has mentioned). You can get a whole lot of variation out of a 3M pad with differing finger pressure.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~