Pitting in a wheel gun

[ArmyBrat61]

I just found out the hard way why you don't store a stainless wheel gun in a leather holster for any length of time. I took my Taurus wheel gun out to go shooting with some buddies and noticed pitting in the side plate! I thought it was dirt but it would not rub off....ran a finger nail over it and did not feel anything but under a loupe I could see pits in the metal. Is there any way to reverse or fill in these pits?

[xtriggerman]

The only way to get rid of pitting is to cut the metal surface down evenly across the entire panel until you get below the bottom of the pit. A polished surface will show the tiniest pit while a small pit can be masked to some degree by giving it a sand blasted surface. The courser the blast media, the more you can mask or even eliminate the pit. But then you end up with a rough finish. Get some 0000 steel wool and some Flitz metal polish and you can rub out quite a lot of fine surface rust on blued or stainless.

[DaveTN]

It just depends on how deep it is. Stainless is pretty easy to fix because it doesn’t have a “finish” applied to it. You just have to work the surface while keeping the surface smooth and level.

If you can’t really feel them I would use a soda blaster or very fine glass bead (NO SAND) blaster, if you can get access to one. Then see how it looks. If not, start polishing, just keep the surface smooth. It doesn’t sound like it will take much.

I have to ask… you are sure it stainless and not nickel plated?

[peejman]

Polish it out with cratex stones. If the rest of it isn't polished, you can brush or lightly blast to get the finish back. 

[ArmyBrat61]

I started with the 0000 steel wool and some Mother's Aluminum Polish.....slowly working on one of the smaller areas.....slowly...it seems to be buffing out but I am being observant (read paranoid) as I do this....slowly.....