I recently bought a few "finish challenged" blue Smith & Wessons. After standard oil and rag treatments didn't clean them up I took a tube of blue Flitz (what I had) and an old T-shirt and lightly polished them. Yes, I'm sure it took off a little finish. So what? I had nothing to lose. The finishes were pretty much shot anyway.
Model 19 (no dash) before
Same gun after.
Model 15 before
Model 15 after
Not as dramatic in the photo's with the 15 as the 19, but in the real world it was a big difference. Both guns had really fine rust on them, that you really couldn't see, but could feel. The finish felt "dirty" for lack of a better word. There was also dried on grease that wouldn't come off, and a lot of fine scratches on both. The worn areas of the blue had sharp edges that could be felt almost.
It took about an hour to do both, as well as a couple of others I didn't post. Remember you're polishing something. You're not sanding a tabletop. You don't really want to take off anything. Just work slowly and lightly.
I actually did two "coats", then wiped them down with a silicone rag. They all looked a lot better, and feel smooth and slick, but as I said these finishes were pretty much shot anyway, so I really had nothing to lose. I doubt I'll ever need to do it again.
Model 19 (no dash) before
Same gun after.
Model 15 before
Model 15 after
Not as dramatic in the photo's with the 15 as the 19, but in the real world it was a big difference. Both guns had really fine rust on them, that you really couldn't see, but could feel. The finish felt "dirty" for lack of a better word. There was also dried on grease that wouldn't come off, and a lot of fine scratches on both. The worn areas of the blue had sharp edges that could be felt almost.
It took about an hour to do both, as well as a couple of others I didn't post. Remember you're polishing something. You're not sanding a tabletop. You don't really want to take off anything. Just work slowly and lightly.
I actually did two "coats", then wiped them down with a silicone rag. They all looked a lot better, and feel smooth and slick, but as I said these finishes were pretty much shot anyway, so I really had nothing to lose. I doubt I'll ever need to do it again.
