No-No's When Polishing with Mother's

[derfarhar333]

Any areas I should avoid altogether when going over my 686+ with Mother's Mag Polish and a microfiber towel? I know for sure to avoid the top strap or the glare will wash out the sights. Any other areas? Around the bore it is also matte finished like the top strap is. Is that area good to go too? Any input would be appreciated. I've read some posts I found on Google ad well as some I found via the search function.

Thanks,

Derek

 

[TAROMAN]

You're good to go.
Just be sure to clean well afterwards.
Deep scratches will need to be worked out with very fine grades of wet/dry sandpaper first, however.
Here's my 681 after some Mother's love:

 

[derfarhar333]

Nice. Looks good taroman. I went ahead and stated last night. I've probably done 7 passes or so. What about the cylinder? Did you polish where the cartridges are inserted or where the cylinder meets the barrel? Did you leave the front of the barrel alone or polish it too?

 

[TAROMAN]

I did not polish the ends of the cylinder.
Or the barrel crown, either.

 

[derfarhar333]

Alright I'll let them be then. Thanks for the help. It already looks loads better than the factory finish in my opinion.

 

[bcarpenterjr]

I'm getting ready to begin polishing my S&W 686+ 4" ... I just got the firearm yesterday and am already obsessing over how beautiful some of the revolvers are I've seen on here. The guy at my local store recommended Flitz but it seems the majority of folks here prefer the Mothers.

I think I will do the first several passes with Mothers and then finish (all by hand) with the Flitz. Is this a good idea? Does the Flitz have even smaller particles inside, because I'm told it takes longer than Mothers?

Any other advice? I will post soon! By the way, this is my first S&W and I'm a proud owner!

 

[dant]

think you have that backwards, finish with the Mothers and a micro fiber clothe, the Flitz ,semi chrome and others are more aggressive ( abrasive) MAAS is another "fine" one but hard to find.........nothing wrong with polishing the front of the cylinder as it will be easier to clean when it gets 'fouled' up.....no need to polish inside of the cylinder frame window,waste of time.

 

[regalsc]

For your consideration I have used liguid flitz to polish stainless guns.

 

[DWalt]

So why does the Flitz box say it's "non-abrasive?"

 

[chief38]

Kind of like when people say Stainless Steel won't rust.

Abrasiveness is all subjective I suppose. The grit is so fine I guess they consider it "non abrasive". ANY polishing compound has to have some small amount of abrasiveness or it would work very well, but I guess it contains so little they can get away with the term on their package.

 

[deanodog]

I polished this 625 straight out of the box before it was even fired since I hate a matte finish on a gun. I did not want a mirror finish so I stopped when the matte finish was gone. I did not do the top section.

 

[raylan007]

Try Flitz Polish in the tube

People seem to never differentiate when speaking about FLITZ. I can only speak for the variety that comes in the tube, is called FLITZ POLISH and is light blue in color. I will say it is very easy to apply, start with a thin coating, I use a barrel cleaning patch. The M63 shown had a lot of dull areas from holster wear so I used a small patch of "Lead Away Cloth" and wiped down the entire gun lightly. This may have some effect on how the Flitz looks so user beware. Experiment where you can. My understanding of Mothers is that it was originally formulated to appeal to all the "Hot Car Types" to refurbish their mag wheels which defiantly would take a minute layer of the finish off the magnesium. How else would you attain the finish look of a glossy nature?
The Lead Away Cloth is basically doing the same thing, just look at the color of the patch after a few light passes it will be black. I use this method in lieu of starting with 4000 grit wet dry sand paper with gun oil and working down to 2000 grit. If you are not a fan of traditional satin stainless looking like nickle as I am then be careful if you use the Lead Away cloth and start by using minimal pressure. I have now tried it on 3 revolvers that I had not a lot to loose with and am very happy with the results. The photos make the end result look more glossy than they actually are. Good Luck
The 2nd photo is a M67 that was nice but became a lot nicer after the method mentioned above and very easy.