I want to remove some minor scratches from a stainless steel S&W to touch up an original finish.

I'm thinking eBay would be the place to get the Scotch Brite pads, unless somebody has a better recommended supplier...

I haven't priced shop but almost any auto parts store (Auto Zone, etc) has them.

I use the green ones, found in most kitchens for cleaning. Make all lines front to back, horizontal. Vertical lines don't look good.

For the green ones, any supermarket in the kitchen section; for others, any auto supply store, or even at Walmart in the section where they have auto-body repair stuff, automobile waxes and polishes, etc.

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Pisgah

I've owned several stainless steel Smith and Wesson revolvers over the years, and the absolute best thing I've found for cleaning up the finish, and keeping it looking like factory original is by using Birchwood Casey's Lead Remover and Polishing Cloth! This works wonders for removing the lead flash buildup on the front of the cylinder as well. You wouldn't think so, looking at it, but trust me, this works great!

Birchwood Casey Lead Remover and Polishing Cloth


B/c Lead Remover W/ Cloth 6x9

I've also cut patches out of these to clean barrel and cylinder bores. Talk about getting them clean! And nothing compares for cleaning the end of a cylinder. Just don't use on a blued surface as it will take the bluing off.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Used these on my stainless revolvers for years as well, both inside and out!

Other than online and/or direct from the manufacturer, the best source is your local automotive supply house.

They sell larger pads used in auto painting in various "grits".

Stop ! what do you want to achieve, You says scratches how deep, Use an abrasive pad of any kind will give you that finish. even more scratches, finishes can be Mirror, Satin, Dull,
As a tradesman, that worked with many Types of S/S the grade ( Type ) of S/S goes from High Carbon to Low The lower has more Nickle T-304L t0 316L More carbon T-410 Want to tell the difference put a Magnet to it 304-316 it will not stick, but it will stick to 410 higher carbon which is softer and stretches show up more. The more carbon the easier they rust.
The pads can add scratches that will be harder to remove. Look at S/S powder cleaners that will be safer, just keep in mind the type of finish you want to achieve. Fine is good coarse hard to reverse, Mine I leave to take on a natural patina, never had rust, Good luck sorry for the tech talk.

I my neck of the woods, a dedicated paint store, a Sherwin-Williams store, carries a variety of Scotch Brite pads.

Scotch Brite pads work well to touch up a BRUSHED or SATIN stainless steel finish.

There are 3 basic finishes for a stainless steel S&W revolver.
1. Brushed or Satin. This is this factory original finish for your revolver.
2. Bead blasted or matte, a dull uniform, finish.
3. Polished. Sometimes confused with a nickel finish.



Scotch Brite pads come in different levels of coarseness.
Light Grey, called Ultra Fine Hand Pad - (600-800) 800 grit.
Green, called Light Duty Hand Pad - (600) 600 grit
Maroon pad, called General Purpose Hand Pad - (320-400) - which is very coarse for removing deeper scratches.

Study your revolver finish or the finish of another one and follow the direction of the pattern you see from the factory. STROKE IN ONE DIRECTION ONLY.

Work in a small area with tiny (1" square) piece of pad and stroke in one direction only following the linear polishing direction from the factory. Avoid any surfaces but the brushed stainless surfaces. In your case where the entire side plate seem involved you should remove the side plate screws. Start in the most unobtrusive area first to make sure you get a feel for it and like the result. Go slow, literally pushing the pad fairly slowly, and use a light hand. Start with about a pound of pressure. It doesn't take much. Generally the green pad can be used for all applications varying the pressure dependent upon the degree of the scratch you attempting to fix. I think it looks best to finish off with the light grey pad. You might consider viewing You Tube for examples of how to do it.

Best of luck.

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

Note the fibers in those pads are NOT uniform as if fibers are stuck togeather it will be coarser, And ones you disturb the factory finishes it will look worse, and need to be redone again Leave it alone.

What about one of the creme cleaners like Flitz. A very mild abrasive used with a soft cloth like an old cotton T shirt.

It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If this is a collector piece, go very gently. Any evidence of refinishing or cleaning can drop value significantly. If it's a shooter, then not as much of a concern but then looks don't really affect how a gun shoots. If you are trying to stop whatever rust or corrosion is there from getting worse, then again a gentle surface cleaning and then a coat of Renaissance Wax will help hold the line against further damage.

I had even heard of guys using toothpaste, the old kind not the gel, as a mild abrasive. Plus when you are done, your gun will smell minty fresh.

Perhaps that is where the description of a MINTY condition gun comes from???

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James Redfield
LM #497

Abrasives like metal polishes and toothpaste will make a stainless gun shiny.
It will not match the factory grained finish.

If the metal has a bead blasted finish only a fresh bead blast job will correct problems.

One trick to the Scotchbrite re-surface technique requires fully disassembling the gun.
This is a good idea even if you only use Scotchbrite pads because particles of the pads get into the action easily.
With the gun disassembled, use the Scotchbrite pads to remove scratches and worn areas.
Then mix up a paste of water and Bartender's Friend or ordinary cleansing powder and give the gun a good scrub with the paste and a stiff toothbrush.
This will even out the finish and slightly reduce any residual shine left by the pads.

For very small worn areas or fine scratches on bead blasted areas like the top strap or top of the slide, lay a piece of wet or dry sand cloth over the area and give it sharp taps with a plastic hammer or butt of a plastic screwdriver.
Give it a tap or two, then LIFT the cloth off and move it to a fresh area of the cloth and tap again.
This does an acceptable job of blending in slight damage to bead blasting.

"I had even heard of guys using toothpaste, the old kind not the gel, as a mild abrasive. Plus when you are done, your gun will smell minty fresh."

I had to laugh. Many, many years ago, on a family vacation from California, we traveled through Sparks, Nevada. We stopped at a small gun shop and my father bought a junk quality Winchester 38-55. The finish was blue, originally, but due to poor storage had taken on an overall rust. My father bought this lever action to the wonderment of the family. My mother reminded my father how stupid he was for the remainder of the vacation all the way up and back from Banff/Lake Louise/Crater Lake and other northern locations.

Every night during the two week annual vacation my father would pull out the rusty Winchester and rub tooth paste on it with an old T-shirt. Night after night, it was the same routine. We all knew he'd lost his mind but we wouldn't say a word. My mother would say "John, give it a rest; you bought a piece of junk."

On the way home, we stopped at the same gun shop in Sparks and my father sold-back the lever gun for three times what he paid for it. It looked spectacular. The tooth paste worked. My mother never said a word about my father's guns from then on.

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Mike Maher #283

Love the tooth paste story, also Woodworks supply of New Mexico has the scotchbrite pads in bulk in addition to the green,maroon, and grey there are white pads that have an even finer scratch pattern.