Homegrown beadblast finish on a stainless revolver?

[HeavyDuty]

I recently picked up a S&W 619 that is in a typical brushed stainless finish. To restore the finish I can either work it over with a scotchbright pad or beadblast it. My 69 has beadblast, and I kinda like it.

I’m thinking about picking up one of the inexpensive blast tools from Harbor Freight or similar and just doing it on a tarp in the backyard to capture the beads. I’m not worried about reusing the beads, and I really don’t want to spend the money on even a cheap booth for a one or two off project.

Good idea / bad idea?

[okie john]

I'd run it past the guys on the S&W Forums. Someone over there has probably done it.


Okie John

[LtDave]

I recently picked up a S&W 619 that is in a typical brushed stainless finish. To restore the finish I can either work it over with a scotchbright pad or beadblast it. My 69 has beadblast, and I kinda like it.

I’m thinking about picking up one of the inexpensive blast tools from Harbor Freight or similar and just doing it on a tarp in the backyard to capture the beads. I’m not worried about reusing the beads, and I really don’t want to spend the money on even a cheap booth for a one or two off project.

Good idea / bad idea?

I’d skip the scotchbrite. Instead, a better match for the factory finish will be had with 3M Trizact 3000 grit. Amazon has it as well as autoparts stores. I’ve used it on several S&W’s and a Freedom Arms revolver. Works best on barrel and cylinder where you can see and follow the existing polishing marks. Front to back on the barrel and around the cylinder.

[Rock185]

It's certainly doable. If doing it sans cabinet, over a tarp, I would sure suggest eye protection and respirator mask. Brownells 270+ glass beads @ 60-65 PSI produce a very fine finish, with just the slightest sheen to it in bright sunlight. The #80 glass beads from Harbor Freight produce a slightly coarser finish. Both look good on stainless firearms.

[Darth_Uno]

You don’t have any friends with a blast cabinet? My friend owns an auto body shop, I just run stuff by there after work sometimes. Heck any auto or machine shop will probably do it cheap.


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[HeavyDuty]

You don’t have any friends with a blast cabinet? My friend owns an auto body shop, I just run stuff by there after work sometimes. Heck any auto or machine shop will probably do it cheap.


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Not that I know. Plus, I’d be at the mercy of the media they have, and all the carbon steel spooge.

[OlongJohnson]

Don't even think about it unless you're willing to pony up for the Brownells 270+ glass beads. Anything else available will put "tooth" on the surface, rather than the soft matte you want. Some of the recent new S&Ws I've seen, and maybe the Colts, suggest someone at the factory decided to try to cut a corner there... It's not pretty, and once done, really can't be undone.

I did some googling a couple years back to find the supplier, and found a place that does supply the beads, but you apparently have to tell them you want a truckload for them to not hang up on you and block your number. So you're paying Brownells' markup on that item or pounding sand...

Also, as alluded to by the previous poster, you must have a stainless-only system, or thoroughly sanitize your equipment when switching target materials. If you use sand or a cabinet that's been used on carbon steel, the beads will embed microscopic particles of carbon steel in your stainless, and you will get red rust spots on your stainless gun.

Another factor is that you will have to 100 percent detail strip the gun, mask edges you don't want softened and surfaces you don't want blasted, etc.

If you do the Trizact hand pads, you'll keep your finish original. You can do a little or one component at a time, things are happening more slowly so you can stop and think about what to do different if you don't like what you see, etc. Jobs like this are what podcasts are for.

[Rock185]

Olong makes some very good points. Yes, auto body shops and other non-firearms related businesses have blast cabinets. But those cabinets are not likely filled with anything like the 270+ glass beads. And even if they were, you have to accept any and all contaminants therein. They are usually filled with coarser media, perhaps even actual sand. But even aluminum oxide will produce a way coarser and darker finish than the 270+, with plenty of tooth. I don't care for it for myself.

I prefer the 270+ above all he other media I've tried. My only gripes with are that it tends to clump up in my blast cabinet after periods of disuse, and it is not exactly inexpensive.

[HeavyDuty]

Gulp. I just looked at the cost of the Brownells beads - I think I’ll farm this out! Oh, well.

Thanks, everyone!

[mmc45414]

Gulp. I just looked at the cost of the Brownells beads - I think I’ll farm this out!

Yeah, if I only had one that would be the best way.

But thanks for this thread, I have been wondering about the specifics. It will be a couple hundred buy-in, but I have a number of guns I want to do, and a few more I would probably buy if I had the in house ability to clean them up. Plus this is kinda my hobby, I would rather matte finish some of my guns than use my hobby time making coffee tables out of old pallets