I finally finished my project just in time for this year's muzzleloader season.
This started as a stainless/synthetic sidekick.
I got rid of the synthetic stock, and put a straight grip cinnamon laminate shotgun stock set on it. The existing forend screw hole was filled with clear resin, and I milled a new one farther forward to fit the sidekick. I then milled out a ramrod channel inside the bottom of the forend, and put in a retaining spring. The front of the forend had to be shortened just under an inch, since the ramrod hole was deeper than the front of the forend was thick.
After finishing the stock, I went to work on the frame. The pins on a nickel frame are stainless, and polish very easily. 10 minutes on a buffing wheel, and they were all shiny. The frame surface itself is a different story. The nickel plating is very thin, and doesn't shine up very easily. I used some mothers mag polish and a rag, and shined it up as best I could.
The barrel was the easiest part, but the most time consuming. I spent about 2 hours (just a few minutes here and there) wet sanding the bead blasted finish off the barrel, starting with 400, then 600 and 800 wet sand paper. For the finishing polish, I turned some short 1" dowels to fit tight in the breech and muzzle, then clamped it in a wood lathe, and let it spin while polishing it with a rag and almost a whole can of mag polish.
The barrel is like a mirror. If Santa brings me a new camera for Christmas, I'll get some better close-up shots.