Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing bead blasting stainless barrel

i have a remington 700 that i am looking to re finish using beads, sand, or aluminum oxide. my quesiton is what is the proper size/ grit that some of you guys are using. i am not looking to cote after blasting. i am trying to get as close to a factory remington finish as i can.
Thanks

Well (you're not going to like this answer) it depends - some use larger grits and lower pressures and some (like me) use finer grits and higher pressures. I use 240-320 at about 100psi and then use a plastic wool sponge with gun oil to rub it down. A gunsmith that has down a couple of my rifles gets a very fine finish use 80-120 grit beads I believe at about 50-60 psi. The glass bead actually only peen the surface - silica sand and aluminum oxide will actually break-up/rough-up the surface. If you're not going to coat the barrel, I would use glass beads.

Right on the money , offshoreman . It's downright refreshing to see someone give advice , that actually knows what they are talking about !

thanks guys

Ditto.. Good job sir..

To give you some ideas this is a Rossi 92 blasted with 80 grit play sand at 80psi. Left side of barrel is sprayed, right side is stock. Same rifle with OEM and blasted receiver.






Something else is that when using AO or sand that raises the surface texture it will be more prone to hold moisture and show rust as well as scratches when the raised ridges are knocked down. I did the whole 92 in sand with the intent of a darker cerakote but never got around to it. It now looks horribly "scratched up" and when the weather gets hot I will either reblast with sand for cerakote or hit it with glass beads and smooth it down. The deeper cutting of AO or sand will also leave it with a darker grey finish, the glass beads will tend to give it a brushed satin satinless look.

thanks varmint that helps alot. couple other questions. about how much media do i need to do a barrel and action. i was thiking about using 220 grit glass beads from harbor freight that come in 2 lb packaged. also if i use the 220 beads, what kinda pressure do you think i should use. im just looking finish that closly resembles the factory rem 700.
Thanks

Not a fan of glass beading personally because it is still rather shiney. I had my last two done with aluminum oxide and despite the rumors it holds up and looks great. Nice dull gray.