polished barrel: home job

[Krackels]

Originally Posted by rogerxd45

here is mine done with "heavy metal polish"

I'm guessing the top is a .45 and the bottom a 9mm?

Really quite a difference in barrel thickness. Thanks for the picture.

[g29cc]

Originally Posted by Diverdown

Hello all,

I found that heavy metal polish-green (medium) is pretty much order on line only- same with Flitz , is there something that works in the same fashion as this does or? I want to be able to go down to home depot or a auto parts store and just buy what is needed, I hate waiting for sucha simple task.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Noel

Casewell.com I think it is. You can order alot from there. But for a quick polishing, Mothers aluminum mag white paste is good.

White is a very minimal material removing compound. Red is pretty close to it as well. Blue is a non removing compound ( in other words it wont remove material, but only color it, its is the very last step in any polishing ).

Buffs and compounds and the technique is where the awesome polish jobs come from. You can screw up a part using buffing wheels and too much heavy compounds, using a dremmel with a heavy compound is risky too. As its such a small turning radius that you might get waves with it if you dont move it fast enough.

But anyways, that all for another day.

To answer the question about rust. I have polished entire guns and havent had a problem. Your normal gun will rust just as bad as it would if you didnt take care of it. Coatings are great for what they are. But still leave a gun in salt water and not clean it and your running the risk. I know all the hype on this and that, I work with metal as a machinist and metal finisher everyday. I am not a master guru by any means. But I do know that anything if properly taken care of ( key element there ), will last a long time.

So here is another picture ( slide serrations in back were not polished so they have the rough grip but dont reflect well and look black when they arent in reality )......

[g29cc]

Can I say I told ya so !!! LOL

[HntnFsh]

I sent an email to SA last night.Got a prompt reply this morning.More great service from them huh.

Heres the scoop on the warranty if you polish parts of your pistol.They actually went into more detail than I expected.Sounds great to me.

Good morning Rick,

Depending on the level of polishing, ie if you only worked on externals, or did you start milling on ramps, chambers, ect., you are probably okay in as much as if you only polished the finish off, then the warranty should still be in effect for the mechanical aspects of the firearm, but not cosmetic; but our armorers would have to make that ultimate decision. If you did “machine” internals you may have voided the warranty on the parts affected only, but if it is a pretty clean job, the armorers may just look past it. Really depends on what you polished and how clean of a job it was.

Thank you and have a great day,

Justin Petrick
Springfield Inc.
Customer Service Representive
1-800-680-6866


From: Rick
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 8:45 AM
To: Justin Petrick
Subject: Sales Email - Sent: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:18:06 -0700 - Warranty


I was curious about the warranty on my Springfield XD .40 I would like to polish the barrel and possibly slide and other parts.But dont want to void my warranty.Would my pistol still be covered if I didnt alter anything other than doing the polish job. Thank you, Rick

[rogerxd45]

Originally Posted by Krackels

I'm guessing the top is a .45 and the bottom a 9mm?

Really quite a difference in barrel thickness. Thanks for the picture.

nope both are 45

[Diverdown]

Originally Posted by xd_john

Flitz is very common in boating stores -- I'm not sure if you have Boaters World or West Marine in your area, but boating supply places always have it.

I used Eastwood polishing compounds on mine -- the white and the red rouge. Probably not exactly the right setup for this, but it went fast and came out nice.

Thanks, I do have a boaters world and will look for both Flitz or Eastwood there, thanks again.

signed- Impatient one

[g29cc]

Cool beans on the warranty then.

[BuckRivet]

Originally Posted by rogerxd45

here is mine done with "heavy metal polish"

Roger i couldnt help but notice the loaded chamber indicator is up but the striker indicator is not showing. i'm new to these xd's but how does that happen. sorry if its a stupid question.

[Carnivorous]

Originally Posted by BuckRivet

Roger i couldnt help but notice the loaded chamber indicator is up but the striker indicator is not showing. i'm new to these xd's but how does that happen. sorry if its a stupid question.

Snap Cap. Mine looked the exact same after dry-firing.

[Raptor1956]

The only concern I have with polishing is if it removed enough material that things got a bit slopy and accuracy sufferred. Any idea how much difference in fit before and after?


Thanks,

Brian