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Hey everyone,

I really appreciate the insight and experience offered by this board and hope to get borrow some thoughts. I recently picked up a pre-loved 686. Overall the gun is in great shape, but there are some marks that I do not appreciate. I'm all for have a littler character in a firearm, but these are distracting. Not sure what caused them (keys on a gunbelt maybe?) but you can just barely feel them. One or two might catch a fingernail. I don't want to polish it to a mirror finish. Preferably, I would like to maintain a satin/brush type finish. I don't mind putting in some elbow grease with sandpaper, but I want to make sure there is a way to blend the sanded area with the rest of the finish. Any thoughts?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LS ... directlink

I was just reading a simiar thread the othe day on "www.smith-wessonforum.com"
Several people said they had luck with varying 'grits' of scothbrite pads. Apparently, the different colors represent varying grits.They start with coarse and work their way down until they get the finish they want. Check out their forum. Lots of other S&W info you might find helpful on your new purchase. Congrats - the 686 is a fine firearm.

TheGasMan wrote:Hey everyone,

I really appreciate the insight and experience offered by this board and hope to get borrow some thoughts. I recently picked up a pre-loved 686. Overall the gun is in great shape, but there are some marks that I do not appreciate. I'm all for have a littler character in a firearm, but these are distracting. Not sure what caused them (keys on a gunbelt maybe?) but you can just barely feel them. One or two might catch a fingernail. I don't want to polish it to a mirror finish. Preferably, I would like to maintain a satin/brush type finish. I don't mind putting in some elbow grease with sandpaper, but I want to make sure there is a way to blend the sanded area with the rest of the finish. Any thoughts?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LS ... directlink

To me those look like someone's hamhanded attempt to remove some surface rust. (Stainless will rust under the grip panels and elsewhere if you neglect it enough.) They also look too deep to be fixable with very fine abrasive options like Scotchbrite.

You might be able to polish them out with a lot of effort using a polishing wheel and successively finer grit polishing compounds on a bench grinder or dremel tool if you're a really handy guy with experience in this area. If not, I'd suggest taking it to a gunsmith who should be able to fix it up right without risk of further damage for a reasonable cost.

Two words - - - Bead Blast. I agree with Excaliber those are too deep to polish out without leaving a dip in the surface. A good bead blaster could even the surface out without removing metal. Take it to a pro.

MoJo wrote:Two words - - - Bead Blast. I agree with Excaliber those are too deep to polish out without leaving a dip in the surface. A good bead blaster could even the surface out without removing metal. Take it to a pro.

..Not only will it mask the scratches, but it will make future scratches less noticeable.

BTW, I love this description...

TheGasMan wrote:pre-loved

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I had pondered bead blasting but wasn't sure how difficult it would be to keep clean afterwards. Also, I really hate to pay other people (like gunsmiths) to do anything. Nothing against gunsmiths, but I love the learning and satisfaction of doing something myself. I've found that short of requiring specialty tools, there is not much that can't be done by mere mortals with a little research. My tinkeritis and impatience got the best of me. A little wetsanding and hand polishing and I think it looks much better, or atleast less noticeable. I lost some of the petina of the original finish, but I'll get some fine steel wool later to smooth out the transition. Again, thanks for the tips!

Before:

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After:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shanestoval ... directlink" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WOW very impressive job there...I have the same pistol and love it. Now give it some love.