polishing stainless

[PAshooter20BR]

I have a remington 700 with an aftermarket Shillen Barrel. It is a low luster stainless steel. Can I polish this barrel to a high luster, and if so how would I go about doing it?

thanks for the advice.

Brandon

 

[JDJones]

the best way to do it would be pull the barrel off and use a barrel spinner and polish it out on a buffing grinder. next best thing would be turning it in a lathe at high speed and using progressivly finer compounds, till you get the desired finish. The lathe mathod you could chuck up on the naked action,using soft shim to protect it) and a live center,again with soft shim), you could even do it in a wood lathe.

 

[sjk]

If you want a very high polish without any of the waves that a buffer or lathe will produce, draw polish it. This will give tou a very nice even surface and you won't have any ripples. It takes a little more time, but you can do it with the action in place.

 

[PAshooter20BR]

can you explain to me how to draw polish the barrel?

Thank You

 

[sjk]

Polish the barrel down the length parallel to the boreline. Usually done on a ragwheel by some but it will pull over the stampings that's why I don't suggest it. The best way is to put it in a vise and use crocus then graduating to fine. All the finer rifle barrels are done this way,draw filed or polished). Rotating the barrel in machinery with emery will leave waves. If you look down a polished barrel in its reflection, you will see enough waves to make you sea sick. After it is all polished draw polish it with a .002/.003 wire wheel to bring out its luster. Go very lightly for stainless is much softer than 4140, but it's tough. It's lengthy but for your own piece it will show beauty. Mass production is done differently to defray cost in manufacture