How do i get factory blueing off my barrel then polish?

[atraain]

Underneath is my barrel, how can I remove the factory blueing, then polish to a chrome to mirror finish? I think the barrel is stainless steel. I am a beginner, and am looking for help. Thanks in advanced.

BEFORE:

AFTER

JUST THE TIP

 

[arjay]

Why do you think it's stainless?Im just asking because if its carbon steel it's gonna be a pain without a finish on it.

 

[JNewell]

Leave it alone. Polishing involves removing more than just the surface finish, and if you remove more than a little you'll affect lockup and/or service life.

 

[hardknoxni69a]

If you like I could do the polishing for you check my thread amazing deals and looks amazing

 

[atraain]

Why do you think it's stainless?Im just asking because if its carbon steel it's gonna be a pain without a finish on it.

on the S&W site it says that the slide and barrel are stainless steel. and they are both finished in black. So what does this mean for me? it will be easy or harder?

 

[atraain]

Leave it alone. Polishing involves removing more than just the surface finish, and if you remove more than a little you'll affect lockup and/or service life.

even if i use bluing remover does this still cause damage to my barrel?

 

[gm272gs]

Leave it alone. Polishing involves removing more than just the surface finish, and if you remove more than a little you'll affect lockup and/or service life.

What?

Uh, no. You won't.

 

[gm272gs]

even if i use bluing remover does this still cause damage to my barrel?

No. It will just remove the bluing.

 

[BJoe]

I did this on a CZ P-01 with SemiChrome. Looks AMAZING but took days and finally gave up before I got the finish I wanted. Contact member hardknoxni69a about HIM doing it. It is just a hair thick finish that will cause NO problems if removed, but does look great. Good luck.

Bob

 

[atraain]

No. It will just remove the bluing.

sounds like u know what ur talking about, so to get this job done i need to buy bluing remover, 2000 grit sandpaper and mothers mag & aluminum polishing and i can achieve a chrome finish?

steps (correct me if im wrong)

1. blueing remover
2. sand it down 2000 grit
3. polish it

 

[Bonecarver]

Hi guys I have been lurking about here for a few days just reading, not much to add of any value so I just kept reading. I did buy an M&P 40 last Friday and went back Saturday and got a 9C to go with it.
I had a friend that made the mistake of putting his cylinder from a pistol in his ultrasonic case cleaner. Which promptly removed most of the bluing from it. Might be something to try..

 

[Tinn-Can]

Hi guys I have been lurking about here for a few days just reading, not much to add of any value so I just kept reading. I did buy an M&P 40 last Friday and went back Saturday and got a 9C to go with it.
I had a friend that made the mistake of putting his cylinder from a pistol in his ultrasonic case cleaner. Which promptly removed most of the bluing from it. Might be something to try..

Was he using vinegar as a cleaner? Ultrasonic should not damage the finish by itself...

 

[Jyezahn]

The absolute easiest way to polish your barrel is to get a Dremel, use the Scotch-brite type bit, then polish with metal polish and the polishing wheel. This will NOT mess up your breach lock-up, nor will you damage your barrel. The vinegar soak does not help enough to warrant the trouble. It will only make your fingers black. If you don't have or want to use a Dremel, you can use sand paper. Start with 400 grit, move to 600, and then fine wet sand, and finally polish.

 

[atraain]

The absolute easiest way to polish your barrel is to get a Dremel, use the Scotch-brite type bit, then polish with metal polish and the polishing wheel. This will NOT mess up your breach lock-up, nor will you damage your barrel. The vinegar soak does not help enough to warrant the trouble. It will only make your fingers black. If you don't have or want to use a Dremel, you can use sand paper. Start with 400 grit, move to 600, and then fine wet sand, and finally polish.

nice pics man, vinegar is acidic which means that this will eat at the metal, are u saying this is not true?

"The vinegar soak does not help enough to warrant the trouble." does this mean that the vinegar will not damage my barrel?

Can you tell me if these steps are the right ones?

1. soak in vinegar (3hours)
2. sand down with vinegar still on it with 2000 grit
3. polish with mothers mag & aluminum

i just dont wanna mess anything up, as this is my first firearm

 

[Jyezahn]

I'm saying that I started with the vinegar soak, and it just made things messy and didn't really do enough to warrant the time spent soaking. Yes, it softened up the black, but only enough to get it all over my hands and then I still had to use the dremel. I have since used the dremel solely on other parts with quicker results.

You can follow the steps that you posted, and it will work too. It won't mess up your barrel. You may have trouble getting into the sharp angles, but otherwise, it's just a messier way to accomplish the same end result.

 

[atraain]

I'm saying that I started with the vinegar soak, and it just made things messy and didn't really do enough to warrant the time spent soaking. Yes, it softened up the black, but only enough to get it all over my hands and then I still had to use the dremel. I have since used the dremel solely on other parts with quicker results.

You can follow the steps that you posted, and it will work too. It won't mess up your barrel. You may have trouble getting into the sharp angles, but otherwise, it's just a messier way to accomplish the same end result.

thanks for the info...

did u also do the same thing for your extractor, take down lever, and slide stop, or were those purchased in a stainless steel finish?

 

[rwsmith]

My thinking but.....

I really don't think that the barrel is blued at all. It's more than likely has a nitrided finish which is impregnated right into the finish like the Glock factory barrels.

That was my line of thinking but I got curious. Can Stain. Steel be blued? Turns out it can with a complicated 3 hour hot process involving acid and activator bath. I'm not saying it's NOT nitrided, but that it's possible that it is blued.

 

[Robotech]

Melonite

Check the thread HERE.

 

[Bonecarver]

Was he using vinegar as a cleaner? Ultrasonic should not damage the finish by itself...

I had to call him to ask so sorry for the delay, Yes, he said vinegar, dawn dish soap, and water.

 

[JNewell]

What?

Uh, no. You won't.

Depends if he wants to actually polish it, in which case, uh, yeah, he definitely could, depending on what he uses and how long he works at it.

 

[Jyezahn]

thanks for the info...

did u also do the same thing for your extractor, take down lever, and slide stop, or were those purchased in a stainless steel finish?

For those, I used just the Dremel an Scotch-Guard type bit and a little polishing compound on a polishing bit.

 

[gm272gs]

Depends if he wants to actually polish it, in which case, uh, yeah, he definitely could, depending on what he uses and how long he works at it.

When I think "polish" I think cotton wheels on a bench polisher/grinder. First a hard cotton/felt wheel with a bit of jeweler's rouge, and then a rag wheel. I cannot image polishing so much that one could ever affect lockup. It would take years, and cost millions of lives!

 

[Dikinalaska]

Jyezahn has it right. Use the scotchbrite wheels for the dremel to get the finish off than some polishing compound and the polish wheels with a dremel. The safety looks dark in the picture, but it's just glare. I didn't know they made the scotchbrite wheels so I did that step with an actual scotchbrite pad and elbow grease than polishing wheel. Barrel is next when I get home in a couple weeks. If you were going to use the vinegar soak, it's been mentioned on the forums many times that it'd be a good idea to tightly pack both ends of the barrel with cotton balls to keep the vinegar out. Whether or not it would actually effect the barrel on the inside, I don't know, but being the most important part I wouldn't want to find out.

 

[duck32man]

Not sure if it will work on your barrel but I've used EvapoRust to de-blue guns. Soak over night. Fwiw.

 

[markush]

Melonite

Check the thread HERE.

It took 19 posts??

Elbow grease and Mother Mag Polish or Flitz, either will get the Melonite coating off without removing other material effecting dimensions.

Hint; Mothers is a little more aggressive and will save you some time...your call though.

 

[JNewell]

When I think "polish" I think cotton wheels on a bench polisher/grinder. First a hard cotton/felt wheel with a bit of jeweler's rouge, and then a rag wheel. I cannot image polishing so much that one could ever affect lockup. It would take years, and cost millions of lives!

Chalk it up to language? When I think 'polish,' I think of really eliminating all the tooling marks rather than just making the part bright. What you're describing would definitely be hard to make affect lockup, though I'm sure there are some who could manage even that.

 

[atraain]

at this point there is too much info on here that i am lost. Do i use vigegar or not, Markush said no vinegar just start rubbing away with mothers and a rag and the Melonite will come right off? Im doing this by hand, no dremell.

It took 19 posts??

Elbow grease and Mother Mag Polish or Flitz, either will get the Melonite coating off without removing other material effecting dimensions.

Hint; Mothers is a little more aggressive and will save you some time...your call though.

 

[Jyezahn]

at this point there is too much info on here that i am lost. Do i use vigegar or not, Markush said no vinegar just start rubbing away with mothers and a rag and the Melonite will come right off? Im doing this by hand, no dremell.

Just Mother's and a rag is going to be very time consuming. Since you don't have a Dremel, here is what I suggest to make it easier on you:

1. Soak in vinegar for 3-6 hours, use actual Scotch Brite pad to remove as much of the melonite as you can
2. Use some sandpaper (fine grit at this point) to remove the spots you could not get and to even it out
3. Use 1000 grit wet sandpaper to smooth out any lines
4. Use Mother's metal polish or Mag polish and a cloth to finish it up

 

[Tinn-Can]

From what I learned trying to get a little surface rust off an old marlin my grandfather gave me, 00 scotchbrite is not the same as 00 steel wool and will quickly strip off bluing... Then the other bit I found out after trying to sonic clean the bolt and bolt handle is that vinegar will strip a weak blue pretty quickly as well. Also cold bluing is a pain in the butt for larger areas.

 

[atraain]

thanks for all the information

This is what im going to do and i will update this original thread with before and after pictures.

The main thing i wanted to learn was if vinegar was detrimental to my barrel or not, and from what i gathered, it will not damage it if i thoroughly clean it off before polishing it (i am still a little skeptical about it though).

1. Plug both ends of barrel
2. Dip in vinegar for 3-6 hours (depending on how good/bad the black comes off)
3. dry off vinegar with microfiber cloth
4. take scotch bright pad with some mothers and buff out any remaining black off the barrel
5. sand to smooth out imperfections (might sand with mothers)
6. polish the living sh** out of it with dremell equipped with a little felt polishing wheel
7. VOILA!