1911 Refinishing Advice

[Dream to Dream]

Picked up one of the "Billboard" style stainless S&W 1911s recently for $550. The previous owner (who we shall aptly name "Bubba") had apparently decided he wanted a nice shiny gun and took a Dremel to the slide. To accomplish this, he first removed the sights... with a brick, as far as I can tell. I have no idea what the hell he did to the firing pin plunger, but the top of the shaft was all chewed up. I've managed to file the sights down, smooth them with steel wool, and cold blue them to an acceptable condition, and clean off the mangled steel from the plunger.

The frame was pretty much left untouched, and aside from the firing pin plunger, none of the internals were tampered with. I made sure to inspect the sear and disconnector for any signs of alteration. I can only assume Bubba sobered up after his slide polishing adventure and decided not to proceed any further.

The slide still needs some fixing, though. I want to bead-blast the stripped slide, and use a marble slab with fine sandpaper on it to polish the sides of the slide and remove the remnants of the SW1911 logo (which Bubba polished out, but is still faintly present). But for surface prep, I need to smooth out a few tool marks Bubba made when hammering out the sights. I'm thinking about securing the slide in my vise, leaving the top exposed, and then pulling 320 grit sandpaper tight over it and working it back and forth. I think this will slowly clean up the marks without messing up the profile of the slide.

Any suggestions?

 

[mac1911]

My attempts at polishing and removing tool marks on non critical fitting parts are at diy skill level. I have assorted flat files and emery cloth. I did learn one thing. Make sure if you use and sand paper or emery cloth its both water and solvent proof. Most of my projects where done before I had a digital camera or even thought to to tale pics. I did mostly 22s and a few shotguns.
One thing I did learn the hard way is to have seperate huffing wheels for each grit of compound if you choose to use a pad mounted to a grinder set up......since your slide isxalready a bit messed up its ripe for getting practice for a new skill. I was more than happy with my out come on my projects. Just go slow.

 

[Greg Derr]

photos would help

 

[Dream to Dream]

photos would help

Not a problem.

The side view of the slide. You can see the faint image of the "SW1911" on there if you look carefully.

Front sight dovetail location. You can see the fruit of Bubba's gentle handiwork.

Close-up:

Rear sight dovetail. Tool marks from the punch aren't as bad, but you can see the evidence of overzealous polishing.

And the right side of the slide, near the muzzle. A nice little "buzz" into the steel, but not very deep.

I'll recant my earlier opinion about removing the sights before polishing... the slide finish underneath the sights is still matte. Those must have come off at a later time. I can only assume Bubba had planned on doing an action job, but ran out of steam once the sights were ruined and the firing pin plunger damaged.

 

[Greg Derr]

You have a few options on the front sight dovetail. It can be recut for larger dovetail sight(SW uses a very narrow but need dovetail) You can silver solder in a "Dutchman" and recut the dovetail. Try some handwork on this one and see who it comes out. On the billboard, You just need to remove more material to get past the ghosting on the slide. The rear looks like handwork will smooth it out. Once done a light glass bead will soften all the work out.

 

[Dream to Dream]

In the interests of keeping this project economical, I've chosen to leave the dovetail alone for now. Marshall over at Paper City Firearms was kind enough to do an aluminum oxide bead blast on the slide for short money.

So, after much sanding and polishing, here's where we are currently:

Only the faintest image of the billboard is left. The only part of it I can still make out at all is the 9.

The buzz at the front of the slide is gone.

I really like the texture of the bead blast. No glare issues, and feels great.

I would have gone further with my sanding, but I ran out of sandpaper. At some point I'll pick up some more 500 grit and some 1000 grit to really make it smooth. If I ever decide to upgrade to new sights, the front dovetail will be enlarged for a standard Novak front sight.

Impressions?

 

[Greg Derr]

Looks great. Just be aware, the higher the polish the easier the scratch on stainless. I would stay with 500 or 600.

 

[Dream to Dream]

Looks great. Just be aware, the higher the polish the easier the scratch on stainless. I would stay with 500 or 600.

How about carbon steel? How fine can you go with that? I've enjoyed this and am thinking about finishing a blued 1911 in a similar style.