Salvo
08-04-2011, 12:46 AM
On my stainless savage, the barrel and action are fairly shiny, while the trigger guard, floorplate, bolt handle, rear baffle etc. are all matt stainless castings.
Ouch!
The checkering on the bolt handle was a little rough on my palm. It had made my palm sore after a morning's shooting.- Picking the rifle up from the rack later on, I noticed this strange light brown substance in-between the diamonds of the checkering. - That was my palm!
So I decided to combine polishing up the bolt and baffle with making the checkering a bit less aggressive.
What I found out:
It turns out that the matt finish covers up a world of imperfections on the bolt handle etc. including casting marks. Running a bit of #400 grit wetordry paper ( wet ) over the bolt brought all of these imperfections to light - so it was time to drag out the files and get it all smooth on the visible parts.
The files remove the rough matt finish better than sandpaper does, with a half-round needle-file taking care of the inside curves and fillets and a larger flat file handling the outside curves on the bolt and baffle.
Then I sanded the file-marks smooth with #400 grit until the part was shiny - then I gave it a "brushed" finish to more closely match the action with a piece of 3-M Scotch-Brite.
That did it.
The trick is to get the part all polished up and shiny before you brush the stainless with the Scotch-Brite. - If you skip the polishing, it won't come out nearly so purdy.
On the checkering - I just pretended it wasn't there, and it got sandpapered and Scotch-Brited along with the rest of the bolt handle. The checkering is still sharp - but maybe now it will not grind my palm away so bad.
I'll try to get a pic lined up soon. - I think the rifle looks much better now, but I am seeing where I need to go back and give it one more go-round.
- Typical of any kind of polishing job.
Next, I'll go after the trigger-guard, and parts but not all of the floorplate.
So the verdict is:
Sure you can smooth those matt stainless steel castings up - but count on doing some file work on the casting before you get started on the sanding, polishing and brushing process.
I won't recommend this to a beginner, or the faint of heart unless you have spare parts on hand in case you do not like the new look.
I decided to take the plunge because the alternative was to buy the big round bolt handle with no checkering. - So my bolt handle was expendable in any case.
Now I don't have to buy another bolt handle, and I like the new look.
Ouch!
The checkering on the bolt handle was a little rough on my palm. It had made my palm sore after a morning's shooting.- Picking the rifle up from the rack later on, I noticed this strange light brown substance in-between the diamonds of the checkering. - That was my palm!
So I decided to combine polishing up the bolt and baffle with making the checkering a bit less aggressive.
What I found out:
It turns out that the matt finish covers up a world of imperfections on the bolt handle etc. including casting marks. Running a bit of #400 grit wetordry paper ( wet ) over the bolt brought all of these imperfections to light - so it was time to drag out the files and get it all smooth on the visible parts.
The files remove the rough matt finish better than sandpaper does, with a half-round needle-file taking care of the inside curves and fillets and a larger flat file handling the outside curves on the bolt and baffle.
Then I sanded the file-marks smooth with #400 grit until the part was shiny - then I gave it a "brushed" finish to more closely match the action with a piece of 3-M Scotch-Brite.
That did it.
The trick is to get the part all polished up and shiny before you brush the stainless with the Scotch-Brite. - If you skip the polishing, it won't come out nearly so purdy.
On the checkering - I just pretended it wasn't there, and it got sandpapered and Scotch-Brited along with the rest of the bolt handle. The checkering is still sharp - but maybe now it will not grind my palm away so bad.
I'll try to get a pic lined up soon. - I think the rifle looks much better now, but I am seeing where I need to go back and give it one more go-round.
- Typical of any kind of polishing job.
Next, I'll go after the trigger-guard, and parts but not all of the floorplate.
So the verdict is:
Sure you can smooth those matt stainless steel castings up - but count on doing some file work on the casting before you get started on the sanding, polishing and brushing process.
I won't recommend this to a beginner, or the faint of heart unless you have spare parts on hand in case you do not like the new look.
I decided to take the plunge because the alternative was to buy the big round bolt handle with no checkering. - So my bolt handle was expendable in any case.
Now I don't have to buy another bolt handle, and I like the new look.