I had a beautiful S&W 2 5/8 inch 44 magnum with fixed sights and chamfoured cylinder that was built for Camfour Dist. It was polished into an almost chrome finish with white corian grips and the pride of my collection. My ex wife stole it and wants to sell it back to me for $1500. Thethought of that makes me want to throw up daily. I have 8 more identical to those that are not polished. Can someone teach me how to highly poilish a S&W to a chrome like finish. I will travel and pay whatever it takes to learn this. I don't have a lot of money but can travel. I know this skill is dwindling and I want to keep it up. If you read this, please help me. Please. I live in NC and will drive my old truck almost anywhere. Please help me.

1. Report that gun stolen.

2. Go to Auto Zone or similar and get some 600, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper.

3. Get some flitz or similar polishing compounds

4. Google

Any tips on polishing stainless steel? - TheFiringLine Forums

How to Polish Stainless Steel - Monsterguide.net

Accept that it takes time but many areas will be mindless.

I'm barely half an idiot, and I turned this -



into this



With nothing but 600-1500 grit. That is carbon steel, but the same principle. I wasn't trying to polish it for final presentation, I just wanted it to be flawless when the finish was applied.

And the results of a combined 140 hours -



5. Once you have a new pride and joy, show it to the ex and tell her to pound sand. Then call one of those "report a stolen gun" numbers

Get a tube of "Semichrome" polish at any hardware or motorcycle shop. Polish till you get the look you want - works fantastic. You won't be disappointed.

__________________
Martin Co,FLA(finally made it)

Tell you what. Send me two of the eight you have. I will hand polish one like chrome - and keep the other in trade!

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

That advice of getting using proceeding grades of wet sandpapers is spot on. I've polished many sets of stainless steel headers for show cars and the final finish is completely dependent on how well the prep work was done. Once you get to the 2000 grit getting a mirror final finish will be easy.

Tips. Back up the sandpaper with small pieces of wood, tongue depressor or something similar is ideal. Backing with wood is critical around any stampings or screw holes so you don't cause any "dishing". Change the sandpaper frequently, the chrome content in stainelss steel is VERY wearing on any abrasive. I would also suggest that you do the sideplate with it installed and tight in the frame, it will keep you from rounding over the parting line.

Now, a couple of things that can speed up the polishing.

One is Diamond Lapping Compound. Applied to a felt wheel it cuts much faster than simple auto polish, however it's expensive, however a syringe I purchased about 12 years ago is just now starting to run empty. It only takes a very tiny dab on the wheel to polish a moderate area. Just make sure to be extremely careful around any laser etching or stamps. Also, if you smell the wheel burning, it's time for a new one, try and stretch it and the wheel will fly apart. Best way to avoid burning your felt is to take it slow and use light pressure. You can purchase diamond lapping compound at MSC Industrial Supply or Production Tool Supply, both of which are online. BTW, get the finest grit offered. I'll also tell you that the lapping compound will leave a scratch pattern that looks a bit like a haze with the light and a certain angle. To get rid of this you'll still have to do the final polish by hand using a fine polish.

For the final polish I like to use 3M Finessite auto polish. Also not cheap, it's 50 bucks a quart and can be found at any automotive paint supply center and some marine supply shops, works great on polishing fibreglass or anything else that needs a polish.

Final tip for getting into small crevices and working around details such as the S&W logo. This one is dirt cheap. Hit a grocery store and pick up a package of 1/8 inch diameter bamboo skewers. Bamboo will retain the diamond lapping compound and the Finessite. So you have a polishing tool that you can shape to a needle point and get into a tiny crevice. It's also easy to control around intricate details such as the logo.

Finally, concerning the logo and the barrel markings. I've intentionally "underdone" these areas on my revolvers and it's only noticeable if you use a magnifying glass. IMO that's much better that removing part of the logo because you were trying for perfection.

Final note, and Final Polish, should only be done by hand. Doing this will allow you to even out any "patchyness" due to using power tools like a Dremel. The good news is that this step can be spread out over a longer period of time, just spend an hour hand polishing the gun after each cleaning.