polishing gun metal

[teddybaham]

hey guys, i recently aquired a remington 512 .22lr from an old man who was a gunsmith and built custom rifles ect. he recently was diagnosed with brain cancer and gave it too me because i was giving him his shots each day (im a nurse) so i took it out to shoot and with cci standard velocity ammo it shoots one hole groups at 25 yards. finding the gun intesting and easily disassembled i took it apart and cleaned it and decided to refinish the stock in. the process i decided to float the barrel. after i did i realized that because it only had one take down screw the action teter-tottered in the stock lesson learned btw. so i added a second bolt at the rear of the action hidden under the rear trigger gaurd screw. so now that im into this thing quite a bit as far as time and effort i was wondering what would be the best method of polishing the metal to get a high gloss finish? i already used up to 2000 grit paper on the trigger gaurd and the visible screw heads and achived a nice glossy finish. now im wondering how i can do this on the barrel and action and bolt. any suggestions?? blueing? 

[1911crazy]

Listen carefully I use the simichrome polish on my bluing.  I use it first on another piece of metal to take the edge and sharpness off of the grit.  Its a very very fine polishing compound used for polishing the machining marks in the plastic injection molds industry. I take the used simichrome polish and very very lightly go over the dull bluing.  I've done this on my dull swede mausers and they look like new and awesome again. Just make sure to use the used simichrome polish on a very soft rag too.  I'm afraid to use the new simichrome polish on the old bluing i think it will or may take the bluing off.  I usually polish my stainless finishes first (new polish)and them reuse the rage with the used simichrome polish on my blued guns.

[teddybaham]

thanks for the info but maybe my post wasnt exactly clear hahaha what i meant was polishing the the metal it has some old blueing that's wearing and turned brown on the barrel. the action is still blue but its not polished to a "high luster" like you'd see on say a rem 700 mountian rifle ect. ive accomplished this luster on the smaller parts by hand. i have a lathe i can chuck the barrel in and sand it to i high luster but the action is gona be tricky. id like to polish all the parts and take it to a smith to be hot blued. i guess my question is whats the easiest way to polish oddly shaped parts? i have a dremel but no fine sanding wheels, do they sell any? and what can i coat the parts in while i wait to get it to the smith for blueing? it really humid here in LA and i dont want all my trouble to be for nothing if it rusts over night.

[yukondog]

I've used a polishing wheel [ Lowe's or home depot ] and polishing compound, but before bluing you'll need to get all polishing compound off metal, as for storing it you might coat inside and out with grease,there again all Greece will need to be cleaned off.

[eye shot]

To do a smith type job you need a buffing machine that can be a bench grinder with a buffing wheel and 3-4 different grits to get a high luster blue. Brownells has everything you need.

[gunnut69]

Power buffing makes a long job quicker but takes a lot of skill or the result will look like HE@@. The flats will wave and the sharp edges will be rounded over. Use progrssively finer wet or dry sandpaper grits and shaped rubber blocks to match the conture you are polishing. This will keep the edges straight and flats flat and round surfaces evenly round! Not a quick process but works quite well for just one or two pieces.. Relief cuts like the flutes on a revolver can be donw with a moto tool and felt bobs mounted on a screw mandrel and charged with succeeding finer grades of polishing compound. Remember when polishing the final pass with every grade of abrasive is down length wise with the workpiece..

[41 magnum]

you must work up thru the grits, making sure to eliminate the marks of the previous grit
 
most factory is not over 400 grit
 
I stop at 320 most of the time
 
200 grit marks will show thru 320 when not removed
 
wrap a flat file/wood block with the paper to keep flats flat
 
Cratex on a dremel works great for concave places, convex gets the "shoe polishing" technique
 
Cratex is at Brownells
 
The action end of the barrel is where you should "polish the shoe"
 
don't worry too much about the metal below woodline
 
hope this helps