DIY Barrel polishing write-up

[rogerxd45]

well you can use sandpaper but ONLY do it in the begining when the barrel is still black and only use 1000+ grit and use light pressure. im probably being overly cautious but i dont think its a good idea to use it too much because you could remove too much metal that could affect the point of impact of the bullet, if you only used it on the flat surfaces on the top and sides i dont think you will have any problems but still take your time and do a little at a time.
you should then follow it with the dremel and polishing compound since thats the only way to get the "mirror" finish and since the polish has protectants it will help prevent rust.

as far as doing it by hand i really dont think it will work. the reason is the first time i did this at the very end i took a micro-fiber cloth and used some of the blue (fine) polish thinking that it would make the barrel even shineier but i was dead wrong. I dont know what the problem was but the finish got alot duller after i did it by hand. so i went back over with the dremel and it turned out perfect

[Carnivorous]

Wait... in your picture, it looks like you also polished the chamber indicator. Is that right, or just a trick of the picture? I'd like to know how you did that, if you did...

[Atom]

Wow! nice post! I am going to add to the vote for a sticky. On a side note, I will have to break out the old dremel this weekend!
Thanks!

[th1npower]

GREAT write-up..

i'm gonna have to shine up my 45 & 40 now.

[rogerxd45]

i havent polished my loaded chamber indicater but that would be really easy to do. i wouldnt have a problem at all with doing sand paper on it. and with polishing it it might help prevent it from getting stuck if alot of crud gets in there which does happen.

just take it out and run all the flat surfaces on 400 grit sandpaper and then do 1000 and then polish it just like the barrel. keep in mind though that being such a small part it will heat up fast.

i think i will do that on my stainless slide but it wont be until i do a detail strip again which will be a month or two (depending on how board i am) but when i do i will add on to this one.

ill tell you one thing though it is really hard takeing pictures while you are polishing something it would have been sooo much easier if someone else took the pics

[rogerxd45]

oh and there is also a guy on here i cant remember his name but he offers barrel polishing for $30 and it looks REALLY good. so if someone knows who im talking about maybe he can add a few things to this thread

[Jameson]

I cant find the polish anywhere! Where did you get yours?

[bigpov]

I did mine a little while ago. Really good write up. Mine took me about 2 hours. I could've probably shaved quite a bit of time with this thread though. Good write up.

[rogerxd45]

Originally Posted by bigpov

I did mine a little while ago. Really good right up. Mine took me about 2 hours. I could've probably shaved quite a bit of time with this thread though. Good write up.

what did you use to polish yours?

and if there was anything you learned what not to do or what worked well please post.
that way we can get as much info into this one thread as possible

[jon45xdtac]

If you haven't had any problems with corosion, what is the longest time that you have let your gun sit in storage before using it again (with the polished barrel). I usually shoot my gun once or twice a month, so a quick 'touch up' polish every month or two wouldn't be a big deal. If for whatever reason my gun was stored for an extended period of time without being used, I'd kind of like to see how long this finish would last without rusting, etc.

Very nice write up.