I rounded out my CS stable today. Finished it up with a trade at the local gunshow. Had a spare Nitron P238 that was un-needed and traded it with a $50 bill for this CS45 with box and 3 mags. Gun has a few scratches and not as clean as I would have liked it but this is the first CS45 I have run across at any gunshow within a hundred miles or any gunshop.
Now for the question of the day. The frame of the CS models appear to be a glass beaded finished. Being I have a blast cabinet that we use for cleaning alum and brass marine parts, thinking of stripping the frame, taping off all except the worn smooth areas, then hitting those areas with the glass shot for that brushed finish again. Any ideas before I get too deep into this thing?

S&W aluminum frames are anodized, any bead blasting will remove this.

These areas are worn so there is no anodizing left and above the grip where the web of your hand would rest is some staining like maybe sweat may have got to it. The finish is competely gone there. Thinking about trying that area first to see how it looks since it can't do any worse. I'm talking about lightly brushing it with the gun to get the unpolished finish look.

captken,
The factory will reanodize your lower for $135 plus shipping. You'll also have the pleasure of a factory finish.

Nice set of guns you got there!

Just finished field stripping and it appears the damage is more in the take down lever area. Why do people think they need to pry the pin out with screwdrivers. So there is some light scratches under the lever and boy was the gun dirty. Got some wear in the frame where the lower rear of the barrel under the ramp rocks when the slide comes back. Doesn't appear to be enough to effect performance. I lit off a couple of rounds behind the shed and everything appears ok. I think I might let it ride a bit and think about having S&W refinish the frame.
Funny, when I was dickering with the saleman, I asked if it had both mags? I was figuring when I opened the box one would be missing and I could get him down lower. To my surprise, there was 3 in the box. Well there went the idea of getting the price lower.
If I remove the slide and grips, would I need a FFL to handle shipping the frame?

The frame IS the gun, has the serial number.

__________________
Sure you did

If shipping direct to an FFL and back to original owner you do not need to send it through anyone else. However it needs to be sent overnight via UPS or FedEx. No USPS for handguns.
S&W web page on returns

I am jealous. I have a CS45 and I want more. If I could find 10 more, I would buy them. And a person could carry multiples of these and be very comfortable.

__________________
smile a lot it costs nothing…