Polishing the feed ramp

[dondavis3]

I have several automatic handguns and I want to polish their feed ramps.

I know how to break each gun down, so that's not the advise I need.

Can anyone tell me what to use and the steps that they take to do a good job of feed ramp polishing?

i.e. do you use a dremel tool or do it by hand - what grain wet / dry sand paper do you use (or do you use wet / dry sand paper at all)

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Ray1970]

I use a dremel tool with some sort of jewelers rouge ( spelling?). Works quite well and goes pretty quickly. I suppose some kind of emery paper would work as well. Maybe start with 400 grit and then 600 and maybe something finer. Maybe 600 is plenty fine. I would keep it lubricated with oil.

 

[shovelwrench]

You guys do know polishing a feedramp can ruin feeding and reliability if done incorrectly right?

 

[oromil]

polishing feed ramp

i'm going to chime in behind shovelwrench advising against
the polish job without experienced guidance.

 

[Old Navy]

You guys do know polishing a feedramp can ruin feeding and reliability if done incorrectly right?

And it won't take but half a minute or less with drimmel and 400 grit paper. For someone with no experience and the feed ramp has no scratches or burs, I would recommend that you not mess with the gun. If scratches & burs present have experienced gun smith do the job.

 

[Center Villian]

Why?

I am curious as to why you feel the need to do it. If your pistol is functioning properly it would not be advised. But if you still want to I would recommend some 600 or 1000 wet dry paper on a dowel. I would also be very careful not to change the angle or width of the ramp. If you have any deep scratches or pits I would go ahead and let a qualified gunsmith handle that. Good luck

Sammy

 

[heysox]

You can take lesson from the Glock crowd and use Flitz or Simichrome polish. Polish only, remove no metal; less is more.

 

[Gunhacker]

All good advice about going about it cautiously... it's all too easy and quick to f'up using a dremel.

An all too common mistake is to try to polish the ramp to a mirror finish and end up deepening the feed ramp, which in effect moves the top of the ramp farther forward into the chamber.

Take too much metal off and you can end with the cartridge case head being unsupported above the feed ramp.

If your goal is to increase the reliability of feeding non round nosed bullets, all I do is "break" the edge at the top of the ramp leading to the chamber, so it's slightly rounded off giving the angular edge of a hollow point bullet (or other similarly shaped bullet), or a case mouth edge nothing to catch on as it makes it's way off the ramp into the chamber.

It doesn't take much to achieve that... Flitz, Maas, Mother's Mag polishing cream, etc. with an old t-shirt and some elbow grease will do it.

As wisely said above... less is more.

 

[357larry]

I have found that most autos with a ramped barrel (such as most S&W's) rarely need any polishing as the feeding is extremely reliable as is.
Now if you are talking about a 1911, that's a different story. I have had success on these by disassembling the weapon and then attaching the barrel back to the frame using the slide stop. Rock the slide to its farthest rearward position and hold it there while you work on the area where the barrel and frame meet.
I do not use a dremel for this kind of work, I do it all by hand. I keep pieces of 1200 and 1500 grit sandpaper around that have been worn down from other projects and use these. As other posters have advised, the idea is to polish the surface, not remove metal. Work slowly and stop frequently to examine your progress.
As previously stated, this is something better left to someone who has experience with it.

 

[shovelwrench]

Now we're getting advice


Simple, if it works as is, Leave It Alone

 

[Joker84]

I used a felt buffing wheel and some kind of green polish that came with my dremel kit and got my feed ramp to a mirror finish without any ill results.

 

[kev74]

Now we're getting advice


Simple, if it works as is, Leave It Alone

So, my 4 1/2 inch angle grinder.... too much or just right?

 

[shawn mccarver]

I have several automatic handguns and I want to polish their feed ramps.

I know how to break each gun down, so that's not the advise I need.

Can anyone tell me what to use and the steps that they take to do a good job of feed ramp polishing?

i.e. do you use a dremel tool or do it by hand - what grain wet / dry sand paper do you use (or do you use wet / dry sand paper at all)

Thanks in advance for your help.

It is not needed unless you are having reliability problems.

If you have to ask how, you are not qualified. You can ruin the pistol beyond repair if you do not do it correctly.

The correct advice is to send each pistol to the factory Performance Center (if S&W) or equivalent if other brands, or to nationally known and top notch pistolsmiths ONLY for this type of work. S&Ws to the Performance Center, 1911s to Springfield Custom Shop, Cylinder and Slide, Novak's or Wilson's or someone of similar reputation.

 

[mlk18]

It doesn't seem like he wants to cut a 5906 down to a 6906 then add a supressor, just polish the feed ramp. A lot of people like to tweak or tinker with their guns, and it seems to me from his post that is all he wants to do. If that is true I think you already got some good advice. Just remember that you cannot un-polish it.

You can take lesson from the Glock crowd and use Flitz or Simichrome polish. Polish only, remove no metal; less is more.

 

[novalty]

I sent my 5906 into S&W last year to have them replace a grip pin, and they did it a quick once over. Noticed when I took it apart they had half polished the feed ramp. Not to say they were sloppy as the gun functions extremely well, but it looks like it took them about 5 seconds. As they is some shine towards the top of the ramp just underneath the barrel, and lower on the ramp it looks like the tool they used just got swirled around a couple times. So it looks partially polished in erratic movements. The gun functions fine, and don't really see a need to touch it up, where the gun functions well.

 

[szuppo]

Using a dremel with the felt and the red polish (jewelers) will hardly remove any machining marks or metal for that matter. It will polish the area and make you feel as if you did something but not do much to make it more functional.
I'd leave it alone if it isn't causing you any issues. If it is, send it off if you are not familiar on how do do it correctly.
No, it isn't a very complex procedure like some would have you think. Yes, you can do it yourself with a little patience and careful use of 800 thru 2000 grit wet / dry, followed by the Dremel polish.
Go slow, check constantly and remove only enough to make it function 100% of the time.

 

[GaryM&P]

Dremel tools are the reason I don't buy used guns.

 

[sjmjax]

I only polish feed ramps on guns with roughly finished feed ramps. I never use power tools like the dremel.

I use fairly soft, die makers stones and draw polish in the direction the bullet feeds. This cuts across the machine tool marks from cutting the ramp and eliminates the roughness with minimal metal removal.


Using a rotary tool may make the surface brighter but doesn't as effectively eliminate the roughness or waviness of the surface. Might get similar results using fine sandpaper wrapped around a properly sized wooden dowel. You draw polish with strokes in the same direction the bullet feeds/case extracts. Not in a rotary or circular motion. That only hides the roughness not eliminates it.

I also never polish to a bright finish. Just use a 320 grit stone and remove the tool marks or roughness. I've never made a problem worse using this approach.

 

[1992mustang]

Agreed, leave it alone. If you must have it shiny, try this. I use 1000 grit wet sandpaper and then finish with Mother's mag polish. Looks nice, but that's about it.

 

[oldRoger]

IMO Best advice repeated many times above is don't.
If you have a cylinder exactly the same diameter as the ramp section when the cylinder is wrapped with 2000 wet-or-dry and are very, very careful you will probably not do much damage. One of the many problems with the Dremel tool wheel is that it is not the same size/shape as the ramp.
You are very likely to change the angle or the radius of the ramp, both very ill advised.
A mirror polish looks nice but really doesn't change the feeding.