DIY Barrel polishing write-up

[rogerxd45]

well due to receiving several PMs asking questions about how i polished my barrel i decided to do a write-up on the process. Keep in mind that my barrel was already polished so with this write up i am just going through the procedures I went through when i originally went through

ok this is the set up i used to polish my barrel.
1. dremel with felt wheel
2. heavy metal polish-green (medium) their web site is down but a search on google will give you several places you can purchase it from

oh and i didnt do it this time but putting foam ear plugs in the ends of the barrel prevent the polishing compund from getting on the inside and makes clean up easier. if you do get some in its not a big deal just run a wet oil/solvent patch through


first thing you need to do is shake the container really well usually takes about 20 seconds the first time or after it has been sitting for a while.
i start with the flat portion of the barrel and do all three flat sides before i move onto the round part of the barrel



Make sure you put the dremel on low. If you dont it will pretty much blow all the polishing compound off



like it shows in the picture you want to "push " the puddle at an upward angle. Make sure you have th wheel spinning in the right direction (this case counter clock-wise) if it isn't you want be able to "push" the puddle uphill, it will just spray it out the back




well now you should be done with the chamber area of the barrel which IMO is the easy part. the barrel is alot tougher since you cant have a puddle of the polishing compound to push around. Instead you need to put a small puddle on your working surface and dip your finger in it and spread it out on the barrel.




the barrel should look like this after you spread it out




so just like before you want to push the compound up hill, even though its just a thin layer it does speed things up if you push it up since the higher up you go the bigger the puddle will be. But it wont be like on the flat portion



after your first pass with the wheel the barrel will have a dull matte look to it. you can see a little bit of the puddle i am talking about



this picture shows the difference between the hazy part and what the final finish will look like




here is the barrel after i got most of the hazy stuff off



and here is the barrel after I finished buffing the hazy stuff off. make sure you hold the barrel with a clean cloth or towel or you will get it all dirty since your hands get really dirty doing this. i used playing cards to show how shiny it is




and of course here is the barrel in my xd45 service



and here is my bi-tone 40 service. now this barrel isnt as shiny since i have shot about 500 rounds so in this picture it needs a little touch up which only takes a couple minutes and only needs to be done about every 500 rounds







well there you go. i hope i didn't forget anything but if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

and if anyone has anything to add PLEASE do

[2001Stroke]

Great write-up and pics. It looks pretty easy. About how long did it take you?

[Broadside]

Looks awesome & great write up..... Do you put a varnish or something to protect the mirror finish? How hard is it to keep the shine looking that good?

[rogerxd45]

i dont put anything on it. the polish i use has some protectants in it. oil doesnt stick to it very well at all it kinda beads up and even with that it doesnt scratch too bad. the scratches are a lot less noticable then with the black barrel. all it needs is a little touch up now and then. if your really anal you could do a touch up every time you cleaned it and then the touch up would most likely only take 1 min since there wouldnt be many scratches.

well the first time i did it, it took a while since it was my first try at polishing anything. but now that i dont have to figure out the best way to do things i bet i could get it dont in about 45 min give or take 15 min. but the first time i did it i didnt do it all at once so its hard to say how long it took. i did it over like a 3 day period but i would say about 2 hours total

[dreydin]

thanks for the writeup, roger!


1) i read somewhere that you cant use oil on it(in terms of being a protectant) bc it comes off. instead, you use something else that sticks to it better... i forgot what it was. anyone know?

2) i guess you have to get a dremel for this, unless you wanna use a rag and spend countless hours on it, right? is it even possible through that route?

3) is sand paper a good alternative? or is it bad for the finish? ie. more prone to rust. can this be the case with a dremel as well?

[blaze870]

sticky?

[doglb]

I agree the write up is awesome!
Sticky it!!

[dreydin]

rogerxd45 for President!

[Jameson]

Thank you very much for the write up, I'm going to give this a try. If worse comes to worse I have to buy a new custom barrel (oh noes)

[cookieXD40]

+1000000 sticky this one kerm

good stuff i'm gonna try it