Mirror pollish, Pros/cons

[SingleStack]

I was just on armslist and seen an ad from a guy in chattanooga, that does mirror pollishing. It got me thinking.

I have a Kimber classic stainless that i picked up a few years ago. The guy I bought it from used it for competition

did a bunch of upgrades He sold it to me with all orriginal parts and 13 bumper mags. I used it in matches for a few

seasons, He sold it to me cheap , It has had ALOT of ROUNDS through it. It also has a pretty bad and deep scratch down the

left side of the slide.

Can pollishing cover up or remove the scratch?How much would it cost?, To do the slide and frame?

Its not a carry gun. Hopefully someday ill have time to get into some competitions, till then it just sits there.

Ive always wanted a nice shinny 1911, (Pulp fiction chrome 9mm)( Llamma?) or should i just buy an old llamma?

[Dolomite_supafly]

If it is a scratch you can catch with your fingernail it will likely take a lot of sanding on a flat surface then polishing to remove it.

 

Something else that might make it less noticeable is to have it bead blasted. It won't be as shiny but it will be a uniform texture.

[Will Carry]

Polishing reduces the surface area of the metal. Bead blasting increases the surface area. That doesn't answer your question but it is true. I bet I have the same scratch on my Colt 1911 in S.S.. I have tried polishing it out but like SingleStack said..... Edited June 2, 2014 by Will Carry

[Dolomite_supafly]

And bead blasting will help it hold oil.

[SingleStack]

It is a pretty deep scratch, actually more of a gouge. Ive been thinking of buying something shiny for a while and thought this might be a good excuse to get some bling.

 

But what do you guys think of doing a mirror pollish to a Glock slide and barrel.  It looks cool. but just for the cool factor would it be better to just buy some used llamma or Star.

Ive seen a guy at the Knoxville gun shows selling a Star 9mm with a pollished slide. Hes been to all the shows ive been to, you probably have seen the pistol im talking about.

[rugerla1]

I bought my Glock 23 used and the previous owner polished the slide and barrel. It looks good, but I don't really care for the slick finish, but that's just me. I may get it Cerakoted or Duracoated sometime in the future.

[TnShooter83]

And bead blasting will help it hold oil.

 

And moister and dirt and what ever else you get on the surface. And it is not as easy to clean as polished either.

Sure if you oil it regularly moisture should not be problem. But drag bead blast through the mud and dirt and it will not wipe off near as easy as polished.

And it typically wears "slick" on the corners and edges. This might not matter to you, but since you are all ready concerned with "scratches" it maybe?

 

No offense Dolo, Your advise is some of the best  on this forum. But I've been down the bead blast road and I just don't like it.

Not that what I like makes any thing right, I'm just stating my personal findings.

[DaveTN]

Short of being drug behind a car there isn’t much you can do to a stainless gun finish that isn’t an easy fix. I’ve made some basket cases look like new.