Refinishing questions

[KevinCH]

I have a question or 2 concerning refinishing.

I am not questioning the merits of refinishing - there are plenty of discussion posts in the forum concerning "to refinish or not to refinish" & I've read a bunch of them! I've made no decisions yet; my gun collection is primarily made up of shooters & all of my S&W guns to date are just that.

My questions concern the S&W factory SS refinishing. I have (3) SS guns I'm considering sending into S&W for work, & might consider having refinished at the same time.

One is a recently acquired 645. It's in nice shape for a shooter; I'd like to send it in & have all the springs replaced (if available) & also have the trigger tuned. The finish is OK but it has a lot of light scratches on it. I've started to remove them myself with some light wet sanding.

The other 2 are both 686 revolvers, both bone stock: a 6" & a 4". Both have DIY polished finishes; I'm considering sending both back to S&W for trigger tuning.

My questions: has anyone here had a SS gun refinished at S&W with either the service to restore the factory satin finish, or refinish to a high polish? Again, we are talking SS, not a blued gun. If so, can you tell me how it came out or can you post some pics? I used the search function & was able to locate pictures of blue refinishes done by S&W, and SS refinishes done by owners, but couldn't find pics of any S&W SS refinish jobs other than bead blasting of which I'm not a complete fan of.

Input is appreciated - thanks!

 

[dant]

re finish SS

that is a question you have to ask the factory, and what options as well as cost they charge...I recall it used to be around $75 and they ONLY offered their standard, 'matte' (polished) ...now they offer many models that are a "matte" but BEADED finish,soooooo, now there is a choice??? as to "high polish" I'd bet they will not, but you must ask...any shop that specializes in 'refinish/restorations' can do the final finish you want, must ask around, see examples and get "time/cost" estimates..........

 

[tlay]

If you want a really shiny finish you can do it yourself. Use some 400 grit wet/dry emerycloth and use it on the scratches and dings. Try to level out with the surrounding area. Don't get into the logo or writing. Now use some Flitz or similar metal polish and work until you have a shiny serface. Make sure you have removed the grips. After you are done use a good wax because the SS finish is NOT rustproof. I know because I had a model 60 rust under the grips.