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With my recent 1894 CSS purchase, I've decided I finally need to deal with learning how to refinish a 'stainless' gun. In other words, I want to see if it is possible to do a 'matte' finish of some kind without handing my gun over to a local gunsmith for six months and paying half the cost of a new gun only to find out the job was seriously "Bubba'd" ( can you tell I've been burned a couple times...?).
I've seen small sand/bead blasting cabinets for sale, but I've also heard that with stainless, it isn't that hard to burnish the surface with fine grit paper, valve-grinding compound, or even a 'Scotch-brite' pad. Anyone ever redo a stainless gun on their own? I really do hate handing over guns to local 'smiths who can't even put on a scope base without it being misaligned, and I don't want to sent it out long distance and be without it for weeks.
Besides - I'm one of those guys who likes to do (and sometimes screw up) things himself...
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws "first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.
Myself, no I've not done that to a stainless gun. Never owned one actually.
However over on The Ruger Forum they talk about this a lot. Most of them use the Scotch Brite pads, or the various grits sanding pads you get at paint stores.
Some of their jobs rival the custom guys. Obviously a lot less expensive.
And yes I can tell you've been singed by bubbas that call themselves gunsmiths. I have too.
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
The bead-blasted SBH I bought from CEB is absolutely beautiful....for something I wanted to kill the shine on, I wouldn't hesitate to spend the bucks for it....Remember the DeLorians? You cleaned the stainless panels on it with a scotchbrite pad Looked good, too, but it's still the color of stainless and kind of bright.
The Rotten Fruit Always Hits The Ground First
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Cheap way, Flap Wheel with Shaft these are made of a combination of cloth flaps or abrasive paper flaps and high performance A/O non-woven material. (goes right on the drill)Works Good. Good Luck!
You can get a cheapo bead blast cabinet from Harbor Freight for about a hundred bucks. I've got a stainless Taurus 357 that I've been thinking of blasting in mine. Those cabinets come in handy, not a bad thing to have in the shop anyway.
my rossi I think was bead blasted. looks great to me. I have done this to SBH, SRH, and a colt .38 in the past, all with great results using a cheap cabinet.
Mike Johnson,
"Only those who will risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Eliot
I put new stainless barrels on bolt action rifles part time. When a customer wants a finish similar to the factory finishes I have to bead blast them (glass bead) but for anyone who really wants a finish that won't shine or glare (hunting rifle) I use sand and get a little more aggressive. Win 92
I wasn't looking for the mat finish you're talking about, but I did polish a Speed Six one time. It came out looking like a nickled piece. I'd thing bead blasting would be thte only way to go to get things uniform all over.
If you're gonna be stupid ya gotta be tough-
Isiah 55:8&9
It's easier to fool people than it is to convince them they have been fooled.
I have a pair of NRV done by this gent. Excellent!
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a Vet! COMNAVFORV, Vietnam 68-70
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I would put a fire wire wheel on the grinder and put a "brushed' finish on the steel. It is non-reflective, but have a velvet look about it. I don't like the rougher bead blasted look.
This is not exactly an answer to your question but have you considered DuraCoat for a blackened finish? I have components to make a double rifle from NEW parts, but they are stainless and therefore won't take traditional bluing or blackening. I have researched a number of finishes and determined that DuraCoat is a nice black tone, weather resistant, tough, can be touched up easily or re-finished and fairly easy and inexpensive to apply. It is a two part process. If you consider putting a black matte finish on your stainless gun, this may be a good option for you.
1. What's a "fire wheel" - I do have a bench grinder...?
2. How difficult is bead blasting and if the item is a long part, do the cabinets have openings in the ends to pass it through or do you have to have a cabinet as big as your biggest gun part...?
Appearance-wise, I'm mostly after a more subdued look - kind of like the difference in a new, shiny brass-framed gun, vs. one with a normal patina of age.
Perfection-wise, at least at this point, I realize whatever I do may look silly, but so do I, and at least that way people will know my guns and I belong together... I wouldn't dare refinish a mint-condition Ruger No.1, or an antique with collector value, but my 'shooters' get dinged, scratched, and scuffed anyway, so little I can do wrong worries me.
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws "first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.
Dulls it up/no sanding etc.just spray er on and now you have this hardcore protective finish with touchup left over if ever needed!
86er was right on the money with this idea!
Looks really nice on that Ruger. I wouldn't mind doing that with an aluminum or blued-but-needs-refinished gun, but hopefully starting with stainless I can just do some sort of blasting, buffing or 'firewheeling' (?).
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws "first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.
There is nothing that you can screw up with sand that you can't fix with glass beads, if they are the same size. I am sure your marlin has a bead finish.
can you tell I've been burned a couple times...?). 
.***
Looked good, too, but it's still the color of stainless and kind of bright.
