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Old 02-12-2012, 12:57 PM
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Picked up this LE trade-in on GB last week for $370. Aside from an abundant of carbon deposits, holster wear,scuffs, some pitting forward of the grip panels and beat up grips, I think it turned out fairly nice. Amazing what some sandpaper , file, and 30 minuets in a blast cabinet will do. Here's a before and after shot.
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Old 02-12-2012, 01:02 PM
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Job well done! Looks great.
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Old 02-12-2012, 01:30 PM
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Nice. I removed the Hoques from my 4566 as it didn't fit me well. Much prefer the straight grips. But to each hand its own preference.
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Old 02-12-2012, 02:26 PM
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Very nice. i did the same thing with one I purchased a while back.
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Old 02-12-2012, 02:45 PM
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Nice job. Does yours still have the little trigger slack spring in there?
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Old 02-12-2012, 05:04 PM
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Wow! She's a beauty!
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Old 02-12-2012, 06:40 PM
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I have two police trade-in 4566s. They were grungy and neglected (as I find most police firearms are). I used the Green Scotch Brite pads and 2400 grit emery paper to 'fix' mine.

After a brief 'delousing', I sprayed the slide and frame down with CLP Break Free. The foamy oil was the perfect vehicle for which to optimize the abrasive qualities of the Scotch Brite pad. After a vigorous going-over the the pad, I washed (yes washed) the slide and the frame off with hot water and Dial Anti-Bacterial (the orange kind) soap. It took the green slurry right off.

After drying the parts on my wife's Egyptian Cotton Terry Cloth Bath Towels :-[ , I did the same procedure with the CLP and the 2400 grit paper.

After I was done, it looked like new: A nice Velvet Hone finish recalling the S&W facotry finish from the NY-1 revolvers.

The 4566 is perhaps the best DA .45 pistol there is. It's still concealable, but is service-sized.

Right now, one of my 4566s is a dedicated rail gun (with a Novak M1913 1911 rail affixed) with a SureFire X300 with a SIG P220 DevGroup switch. The other is a 'slick' pistol without any appendages.

Both of them are wonderfully reliable and accurate weapon in which to stake one's life on.

Congrats on the acquisition on a GREAT pistol.

-Greg Topp
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Old 02-12-2012, 06:43 PM
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I have two police trade-in 4566s. They were grungy and neglected (as I find most police firearms are). I used the Green Scotch Brite pads and 2400 grit emery paper to 'fix' mine.

After a brief 'delousing', I sprayed the slide and frame down with CLP Break Free. The foamy oil was the perfect vehicle for which to optimize the abrasive qualities of the Scotch Brite pad. After a vigorous going-over the the pad, I washed (yes washed) the slide and the frame off with hot water and Dial Anti-Bacterial (the orange kind) soap. It took the green slurry right off.

After drying the parts on my wife's Egyptian Cotton Terry Cloth Bath Towels :-[ , I did the same procedure with the CLP and the 2400 grit paper.

After I was done, it looked like new: A nice Velvet Hone finish recalling the S&W facotry finish from the NY-1 revolvers.

The 4566 is perhaps the best DA .45 pistol there is. It's still concealable, but is service-sized.

Right now, one of my 4566s is a dedicated rail gun (with a Novak M1913 1911 rail affixed) with a SureFire X300 with a SIG P220 DevGroup switch. The other is a 'slick' pistol without any appendages.

As for the grips, I got two new sets of factory straight back grips and sent them to ROBAR for them to stipple. Many who see the guns ask WHERE I got the grips. When I tell them, many say, "WHY didn't I think of that ?" The Hogues are just too much of a good thing IMHO.

Both of them are wonderfully reliable and accurate weapon in which to stake one's life on.

Congrats on the acquisition on a GREAT pistol.

-Greg Topp
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Old 02-12-2012, 07:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redleg10 View Post
Picked up this LE trade-in on GB last week for $370. Aside from an abundant of carbon deposits, holster wear,scuffs, some pitting forward of the grip panels and beat up grips, I think it turned out fairly nice. Amazing what some sandpaper , file, and 30 minuets in a blast cabinet will do. Here's a before and after shot.


That looks great!!! I have a couple of 3rd gens that have minor scratches,handling marks and would like to bead blast them so they look new. Can you tell us exactly what media you used? I know it is hard to tell in pictures but it sure looks like you duplicated the factory finish perfectly.

Thanks
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Old 02-12-2012, 09:47 PM
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That's a pretty amazing transformation. That thing looks brand new! Forgive my ignorance, but what is meant by a blast cabinet?
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Old 02-12-2012, 09:58 PM
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That looks like brand new, nice job.
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Old 02-12-2012, 10:07 PM
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Quote:
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That's a pretty amazing transformation. That thing looks brand new! Forgive my ignorance, but what is meant by a blast cabinet?
he is referring to a media blasting, or "sand blasting" cabinet.

This is an enclosed space, generally a little cabinet with glass type windows, into which you can place objects (generally metal parts) and reach in with rubber gloves, and manipulate a high pressure tool that directs pressurized air and some type of abrasive media. Usually, tiny glass beads, sand, or other products that have finer or larger grit sizes and more or less aggressive abrasive properties.

What you are trying to do is to gently take off (or sometimes aggressively take off) whatever is on the outer surfaces (like rust, coatings, paint, etc) to get it down to either bare metal or another desired surface.
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Old 02-13-2012, 07:51 AM
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I used Extra fine 13T size 13 Zero glass beads, shot at approx 60 PSI. The media looks like powder sugar and gives a beautiful finish. Blast cabinet and media ran about $110.
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Old 02-13-2012, 11:33 AM
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Thanks for the info regarding the blast cabinet. Just one other question and forgive my ignorance with these questions.

How far down do you have to strip the gun to bead blast a gun or does that depend on how much of the gun is being blasted? Can you simply field strip it and do the inside and outside (did you do the outside only here?) or do you have to take it completely apart when you do this. I'm just wondering about the problem of media getting deep into the internals.
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Old 02-13-2012, 12:13 PM
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That looks great!
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Old 02-13-2012, 12:15 PM
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Boy, that looks nice. I would have thought the Scotchbrite would have put scratches on the metal surfaces. I look forward to a range report.
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Old 02-13-2012, 10:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by indymike View Post

How far down do you have to strip the gun to bead blast a gun or does that depend on how much of the gun is being blasted? Can you simply field strip it and do the inside and outside (did you do the outside only here?) or do you have to take it completely apart when you do this. I'm just wondering about the problem of media getting deep into the internals.
You need to disassemble the entire gun. The media is so fine that it will get into every nook and cranny. You can tape up or use putty to cover blued parts i.e. front sight since the the media will remove the bluing quickly. I blast all visible parts plus slide and frame interior. Here is a close up photo.
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Old 02-14-2012, 12:45 AM
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Very nice looking pistola...
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Old 02-14-2012, 11:06 PM
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Really nice looking 4566! These stainless 3rd gens clean up great.
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Old 02-16-2012, 02:33 PM
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I just bought a 4506 and am following this thread closely. I don't have a blast cabinet so I am very interested in how you would do this with only Emery paper and a Scotchbrite pad.
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Old 02-16-2012, 03:44 PM
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damn near perfect....
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Old 02-16-2012, 08:55 PM
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I love the end result, I bought my sons a 5906 each and may have to give them the same treatment.
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Old 02-16-2012, 09:40 PM
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Great job on the 4566. I've got a 4566TSW that could use the same treatment
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Old 02-22-2012, 04:00 PM
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redleg10,

I was finally able to post pics of my 4566s. As I stated earlier, I had purchased two (2) 4566s that were Atlanta-area guns.

They were NASTY when I opened them up. For me, that's half the fun. I took them completely apart and 'de-loused' their insides.

At any rate, here's what they look like now. One of them wears a Novak Stainless M1913 rail for the 1911. They mate up perfectly. The X300 has the SIG P220/226 DevGroup switch mated to it for an exact fit with the frame cutout.

Both of them were fitted with Ed Brown Competition safeties, S&W bobbed (6906) hammers and new Trijicon sights. All in all, I'm VERY pleased with them.

As many have stated, the 3rd Gens DO clean up nicely. Many of them benefit from a going over with a green/red Scotch Brite pad or a gentle silica bead blast.

Enjoy your 4566. They are one of the best autos S&W has come out with. Best Regards.





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Old 02-22-2012, 05:52 PM
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gtoppcop, the Novak rail on your 4566 looks 100 times better than the MIM one S&W put on the 4566TSW. Did Novak do the machine work?

Last edited by novalty; 02-22-2012 at 05:56 PM.
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Old 02-22-2012, 11:32 PM
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Novalty,

No. The Novak rail mates perfectly with the dust cover contours of the 45XX-series pistols. My SoCal gunsmith installed it using 10-40 screws (it comes with 8-40 screws) dipped in RED Lock-Tite and knifemaker's epoxy bewteen the dustcover and the rail for a permanent fit.

I like it because you have more flexibility on mounting options. I like the SureFire stuff, so the X300 gets the nod.

As for my 4003TSW, I'm having him remove about 1/32-inch from the forward-most mounting channel in order to fit the X300.

It should turn out fine. I do wish S&W would've thought about the TSW rail a little more. Good system, just could've used a little more fore thought.

-Greg Topp
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Old 02-23-2012, 11:19 PM
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gtoppcop,

Nice job, that rail is Sweet. Did you do the stippling on the grips?

Stay tuned for more, I just picked up a 4586 on GB and can see that its going to need a make over also. Pics to follow.
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1911, 4506, 4566, 5906, 6906, gunsmith, lock, novak, scotchbrite, sig arms, surefire, trijicon

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