polishing a revolver

[HandGunner]

I recently baught a s&w 460 10 inch hunter, The cylinder and parts of the guns trim that is already polished but the machining marks like small lines and some few scratches are still present plus the cylinder burn. My question is mainly for the cylinder face were the burn marks are is that will a polish compound like mothers magic, can it every so slightly change the size of the cylinder? aacan polishing too much possibly make the cylinder ever so slighty shorter? Does polishing remove material either so very little like millionths of inches or can it remove material drastickly to thousands of inches?

Id like to get the polish trim further polished to remove machining marks and get a good mirror like finish as well the cylinder

[harvey lee]

I would ask a gunsmith. Many people have decided to clean up a gun and have destoyed the value of it the way they went about ti.

[Ufatz]

I'd listen to my old pal Harvey here if I was you. Frankly, I am puzzled at WHY you would want to "polish" the piece. Is it blued or nickel plated? Has SOME of it been "polished" already as you seem to indicate? And it there are scratches and "marks" on it now perhaps they are the result of the prior owner "buffing and polishing".

Please do yourself a favor and go to a gunsmith or at least to a gun shop and tell somebody what you are thinking of doing.

You're welcome.

[HandGunner]

the gun is a s&w x frame 460 10 inch barrel its all stainless steel, it was baught brand new had one scratch on the cylinder. other polished areas of the gun are from the manufacture alone but machining lines in the metal are still present, seems like they can only polish it so much, my main goal is to remove the cylinder scratch and cylinder burn while giving it all a even close to mirror finish on the cylinder. Theres a mixure of satin stainless and polished stainless through out the gun. its mainly the frame cylinder and a trim on the barrel that is polished but not a real shiny polish, the rest is mostly satin stainless.

[Ufatz]

Visit a gunsmith.

[harvey lee]

Is this a brand new gun?

[Ufatz]

See my recent note (above). Trying to be diplomatic about it.

[HandGunner]

Yes brand new gun, when you machine metal there will be machining marks it the equivelent to the grain of wood except metal can be polished out to shine like a mirror. The scratch on the cylinder must have been from manufacture or during shipment or display. All i want to do is remove machined metal marks and shine up areas of the gun for a 2 toned look as well as remove cylinder burn i just wanted to kno if polishing away cylinder burn can it at all ever change the cylinder gap size ever so slightly...

[harvey lee]

Yes, they could be removed. How much will you remove and will it effect the performance, who knows.

I have cleaned up metal with polishing stones and it does work well. very teadious work.

[mechanictim]

Polishing with a product such as Mothers or Flitz and a cloth will not remove enough metal to affect performance or remove the machine marks. If you start polishing with a machine or emery cloth and polishing grit with enough bite to get a mirror finish and remove all the tool marks you will remove several 1/1000's of an inch of metal. You will then have a bigger gap between the rear of the barrel and the front of the cylinder and it will probably not be an even gap from chamber to chamber. This will lead to more powder residue on the cylinder and lower more inconsistent velocity on the bullet. Accuracy could suffer. You will also see a lot more flame cutting of the top strap of the revolver. Polishing the front of the cylinder can be done but you need a lathe and some parts to swap out to get a proper cylinder gap. May need to get a new cylinder and have it fitted to your gun after polishing. This is a job best left to the Smith and Wesson custom shop or one their service centers.

[HandGunner]

i done some research a guy on youtube does it with mothers mag and it quickly removes cylinder burn he also says stainless will not be a mirror finish but close just not as good as chrome plated metals and such. I guess i can try hard scrubbing on the rougher side of a dish sponge for cylinder burn, it does give character to a revolver though besides being so squiky clean. I guess i can just touch up the polished areas and cylinder but will leave the cylinder face to hard scrubbing with a rough dish sponge.