Bead Blasting?

[Bigiron]

Is there anyone in the middle TN area that does glass bead blasting on firearms? For those who have had a handgun bead blasted, will the blasting remove or lessen areas that have been pitted by rust? I have an old Colt 1908 Hammerless that was severely neglected before being given to me over 30 years ago. Would like to return it to some of its former glory. Will appreciate any advice/suggestions.

[Guest sn8kbit]

Just recently blasted my P13.45 and lower for my AR with Brownell's coarse grit aluminum oxide. Corrected minor surface imperfections, but if it's severely pitted, you may want to look at some emery board sanding, then blast.

Don't know about anyone offering the service in Nashville.

[poak]

Might wanna contact TGO David.

I know he started doing some refinishing on the side, but I don't know what his finish stripping process is. I also don't know if he's still doing it as I know he recently went back work full-time.

Couldn't hurt to ask.

[Bigiron]

Thanks for replying, guys. The gun didn't have any severe pitting, just considerable surface imperfections, probably from being left in a holster for many years. I did a little gentle filing, and emery cloth, also applied judiciously. It is coming along nicely, but will never be perfect. A friend does occasional duracote painting so I will most likely go that route. I am having nightmares about dismantling down to the bare frame.

[AU2009]

I have my grandfathers colt commander with the satin nickel finish. It has some pitting, and I was wondering if anyone had ever found a person in the Nashville area that will do refinishing/blasting on it. Honestly, I don't even know if its even worth trying to refinish, if it would do any good that is.

Thanks in advance.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Duracoat does a ceratin amount of filling in minor imperfections. If you could use one of their colors it would probably look presentable. They do make a finish that looks similar to blued steel.

Dolomite

[peejman]

The glass beads will help clean out the pitting, but won't do much to smooth out to the pitting itself. AlOx blasting will help smooth out the surface, but be very careful. If you get overly aggressive with AlOx, you can blast a hole right through the metal.

As for paints/coatings filling in the pits... if you run over the pitting with an extra-fine point pen (0.5mm) and can feel them, paint will not fully hide them.

[East_TN_Patriot]

I had a Smith & Wesson 642 revolver bead blasted once upon a time. It basically took care of some pretty impressive imperfections that I created with a Dremel. As others have said, it won't completely do away with imperfections, but if you do some work to even out pits and major flaws it will do wonders to even out the surface and make those blemishes disappear.

[AU2009]

The more I read, the more I think I'm just going to get the gun refinished. A good friend of mine suggested sending it to Coal Creek. Any suggestions in nashville area instead?

[MarkInNashville]

The more I read, the more I think I'm just going to get the gun refinished. A good friend of mine suggested sending it to Coal Creek. Any suggestions in nashville area instead?

Migfht try giving this guy a call. http://www.midtngunsmithing.com/ (he is in Springfield - not Nashville but a hell of a lot closer than Coal Creek).