Thanks Everyone for your advice in my prior post.

I bought a PPT L/E consignment 686 with alot
of holster dings and scuff marks.

Per advice I purchased some 'Wenol' metal polish
at my local neighborhood hardware store.

Works great!

*There are still a few areas I need to work on,
but I just had to show the improvement with
just a light application.

Here are some pics of the before and after.
586L-Frame

DLC’s S&W 686 with detailed scratches.
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DLC’s S&W 686 L-Frame – Polished.
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x

That's very nice. I bought one that looked about the same. After polishing and putting wood on it -

Wow! That really dresses it up nicely, 586L-Frame! It looks great!

686's polish up so great and I think it makes them look awesome.

Looks great! I just gave my "new" 586 a going over with Flitz.
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"You're messin' up my Zen"

Yes it does! That is a beauty!!!!
Where is that drooling smilie thingy?

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Very good job, looks great. I love a shinny 686.

Beautiful revolvers guys!

I did the same thing to my 629 Classic. I'm a car guy so I used Mothers Billet Polish.

Hi:
WOW!!
Looks like a new revolver.
Jimmy

Tempset 455, when you polished the 629 did you cover the lazer etching or do anything special to prevent it from wearing off by polishing or were you able to just polish over it?

586......

now that your 686 is all polished....when are you going to take it to the range and get it dirty?

did you check to see if your 686 "no dash" had a "M" engraved by the model number, to show that it had been modified by smith & wesson?

generations 686 "no dash" & 686-1 had a problem with cylinder binding and were recalled by S&W for modification. if yours has not yet been modified, S&W will take care of it for you .

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There's nowt so queer as folk

Hi vytoland,
I'm retired, so I'll be taking my 686 to
the range on Tuesday with my 586's and my 66-2.

I bought my two 586 no dash new in 1981
and 82. I never had a problem with them so
I did not send them into S&W for the mod.

My 686 no dash has the 'M' stamp in the
frame lug.

I enjoy shooting all my firearms.
And I also enjoy polishing and oiling them
as well.

Nothing wrong in keeping them maintained
and pretty.

586L-Frame

DLC’s S&W Mdl 66-2.
[IMG:left] [/IMG]

DLC’s 586 L-Frame 4”.
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DLC’s No dash 586 L-Frame 6” & 4” Distinguished Combat Magnums.
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DLC’s S&W 686 L-Frame – Polished.
[IMG:left] [/IMG]

x

Every revolver in every picture in this part of the Forum is beautiful. Just starting my "collection" of firearms and I seem to be really drawn to 3&4 in S&W revolvers. My first weapon (after the "Police Action" as they called it then, was a Colt 38 Det.Special. Loved that weapon.

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4th SQD 7th CAVALRY

Polished right over it. No problems.

I've been using Flitz "rifle/gun wax" on all my Smiths recently. Nothing shines up like a Smith or vintage Colt.

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Jim

I am so glad to see this post, I was starting to think that I was the only one who couldn't resist polishing a stainless steel revolver. First it was my model 67, now it's my brand new 620 that I picked up on tax day. Didn't even make one month before the urge to polish hit.

I carried a 686-7 shot 4" revolver for a bit a few years back, and it got scuffed up from the holster. I had a friend bead-blast it, and it looks great. When (if) I can figure out how to post a picture, I'll post one.

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Slow down and look around... you'll be suprised at what you've been missing.

OK, I'm learning a lot on this forum. I just bought a highly engraved 29-2 in blue, and was advised to wax it. Looks like Renaissance is highly recommended. Also looks like Wenol is preferred for stainless. My question....how do I take good care of my nickel guns? Thanks for all replies and ideas.
paperboy98

I did this one with Scotchbrite and Simichrome.

What kind of scotch bright? Do they make different grades? Certain type of Simichrome? How did you avoid getting lines that looked "to brushed" in one direction? I've always prefered the factory brushed look though it could use some touching up once in a while. This looks like an awesome way to do it.

I use Flitz on my nickel pieces as well.
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"You're messin' up my Zen"

Love that polished stainless steel!! This Model 66-4 was a career LEO gun..IE: rough!! I started with 400 grit wet/dry, up through 800, 1000, 1500, and ended with mothers mag polish on old cutup shop rags.. (Still need to work on the cylinder some, got in a hurry toward the end, dont ya know..)

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Mick

Maybe someone here can tell me what if anything I did wrong in polishing an X frame sometime back?

I used Simichrome which I've always understood is a good polish. The gun came out nice and shiny but afterward it was a PITA to keep looking nice.

When I'd clean it after a range trip it always looked smeared. Took a good bit of work to keep it looking nice.

No longer have that one, one that replaced it just received a very light polish to remove tiny production scratches and is easy to keep looking nice. Comments?

By the way, lots of handsome guns in this thread. Don

Have y'all noticed that polishing ones prized possessions is always a favorite pastime of us guys??

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Forum consigliere

Try using Flitz or Renaissance wax after polishing. Some people say car wax is also good.

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No. Not me. I'm in my prime.

I started by polishing my 4046 then i moved on to my 686 and now i'm thinking of buying a friends c/s model 60 just so i can do it to that one to.I started with 800 gr sandpaper then 1,000 gr then i used my dremmel tool with mothers mag wheel polish.

My latest acquisition was previously polished by a professional metal smith. It's a 686-1, and I've done a little action work to it; 13# trigger return spring, and reduced power mainspring, plus some crocus polishing to inner surfaces. Also replaced the rear sight blade with a new W/O .146".

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It is....what it is!

I purchased this .357 Magnum 4" model 13-3 (1983 vintage) in nickel at a gun show last year for $325 OTD. It came wearing Pachmyer rubbers.

The following two pix show it in the condition it was in just as I bought it:





I did a total disassembly to inspect all parts, cleaned each part, oiled each part:



Then I hand polished the entire exterior of the gun with Maas metal polish followed by a hand rubbed coat of Johnson's paste wax. reassembled it with excellent condition K frame target grips.

Here is the result - I think that I may have enhanced the value of this gun quite a bit:





RonJon

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Stand behind our troops!

RonJon I would say you could make up to a $150 on her, very good work. I think goodyears make them look cheap, I have some that I put goodyears on to shoot then go back to the wood.

My sheriffs office has always prohibited nickel guns. When I was hired in 1981, my very first sergeant, who was a shooter, carried a Ruger Security Six with his nickname as the serial number. It was stainless steel and he had polished it up so nicely it would almost blind you in the sunlight!

I liked the effect, so I spent a few evenings in front of the tube with my Model 60 and some Happich's Semichrome paste. Soon, it gleamed like my sergeant's Ruger. The next time I qualified with it, our grouchy old armorer/firearms instructor at first tried to tell me it was nickel and I couldn't use it. I had to point out the model number on the frame to convince him it was stainless and not plated.

For some reason, pulling the armorer's chain was a popular sport in the department. When more deputies found out polished stainless guns irritated him, it began a minor craze. Within a month, my entire shift (big deal, four of us!) had polished, stainless S&W revolvers on our Sam Browne's, three Model 66's, a Model 67 and 2 Model 60's for back-ups. I think our sergeant, who wasn't much of a talker, took pleasure that we had taken upon ourselves to follow his example, both in polishing our guns and irritating the armorer!

The 4 inch Model 66 I bought just to polish and carry is long gone.

Then there was the Model 10 I had brass plated for funerals and other 'Class A uniform' occasions, so it would match my shiney badge, nameplate, lanyard chain, brass belt buckle, snaps and cartridges in the belt loops! THAT really pissed the old armorer off!

Can someone please discuss which kind of scotch bright pad to use to polish a revolver? I don't want a mirror finish, more like a matte type finish if possible.

Scotch Bright. When you polish, you cover the object with fine micro-scratches. The finer the scratches, the shinier the pistol.

Scotch Bright is tougher than it looks. A new "coarse" pad will leave visible scratches on your revolver. Buy the finest, softest pad you can find. Better yet, look in your kitchen sink and use one that is almost worn out - they get softer with use. A worn soft pad will take off less, leave finer lines, and give you a better look revolver. More of a "satin" finish than a bright polish. But the coarse pads leave deep scratches and a poor finish. Not good. Don't ask me how I know. (But they do come out with more work.)

Well I might as well throw in a pic of my 66-4, used Mothers California Gold.

I've polish a few S&W
66

67

686

64

629

A little Turttle Wax on the old DW M-15 shooter.


This one is still NIB and I have as yet to do anything to her. Been trying to decide if I should order new Barrel Shroud for tapping for scope or just tap the original. Decissions, decissions.



For your intertainment.

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Cranky Old Retired USN Guy

I have used Flitz on my Rugers, but have not used it on my Smith's as some of them have lettering that is laser etched and I have heard that polish can remove the etching.