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I own two Ruger .480's, a SBH Bisley and a SRH- both great shooters, absolutely happy with them in terms of function.
So- as the owner of a Freedom Arms M83 .454 Casull, with its absolutely impeccable stainless finish- no buffing marks, etc., it kind of bugs me that the finish on my Rugers doesn't come close to that on my FA.
Is there any good way to clean up the finish on the Rugers, short of major surgery? Yeah, I know, I should just leave well enough alone, and Rugers are not Freedom Arms products, but just wondering what others have done to their Ruger stainless revolvers.


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That's a tall order. The FA is a semi-custom revolver and the Ruger is as machine made as humanly possible. FA's goal is to build the best they can and its priced accordingly. Ruger's are very well made, but they are built with almost no human fitting. The skill level of the person doing the polishing is also extremely important. The polishers who do the FA Cassull's, or the high polished Colt's are people who have been doing it for many years. To try to improve on the existing level of polish, you must first be a better polisher than the guy who did your gun; and only you can answer that question.

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I do not like a high polish on a hunting gun. I like a dull matte finish .. if Ruger offered the target gray finish on one of their single actions I'd probably have to buy it. This is one of only 2 things I prefer about the Ruger over the Freedom Arms guns.


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You could bead blast them. It won’t hide fit issues or machine marks but it’ll give a uniform finish.

Or assuming you don’t have a blast cabinet you can go at it with a Scotchbrite pad. Again it won’t take any big marks out and won’t make the grip frame fit any better but it can smooth and blend the finish as long as you keep all the polishing marks headed the same direction.

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Pro-shot makes lead clean cloth that I have used to improve the finish on stainless guns, followed up by their metal care cloth. The lead clean cloth is awesome on stainless. I doubt it will be what you are looking for though but I feel it would be an improvement, certainly try on a small area first. I have used them on a stainless sp101 and single six.

Last edited by killerv; 11/18/20.
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Sorry,
But for a stainless hunting revolver, I prefer Ruger’s finish over shine. Actually, I prefer Ruger’s stainless finish over all my other revolvers, period


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Minor scuffs and very light scratches can be removed using 3M or equivalent black, red or the common green scouring pads matching the "grain" of stainless steel.

"Frosted" portions that are worn smooth of stainless guns can be 'repaired' by taping the correct grit of abrasive sheets towards the steel surface and gently tapping the backing with a gunsmith's mallet uniformly to match the bead blasted surface.


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How expensive would it be to have a professional polish the marks out and bead blast to the desired finish?


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I have a SBH Ruger .44 mag stainless that I like VERY much. Zero problems with the finish. My .480 SRH is the Target Grey, and I like it as well.

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What can be used to dull the finish to look like the target gray?

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Ruger STainless guns are generally thought of as working guns. The finish is fine. If you want a shiny one, a little polish can spruce it up.

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Not looking to make a shiny finish out of my Ruger's stainless, just smooth out some rough buff marks.


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SEE ABOVE.


Alternatively, 400 to 1000 grit Wet-or-Dry can "smooth out...buff marks".


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Any buffing, sanding or polishing you do yourself will most certainly ruin the resale value. If you don't care about that then have fun experimenting.


"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon

"...most of us would be better off losing half a pound around the waist than half a pound on our rifle."--dhg

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My Sako’s are bead blasted with a fine grit bead.... it makes a very nice finish - so you could do that.

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Originally Posted by pal
Any buffing, sanding or polishing you do yourself will most certainly ruin the resale value. If you don't care about that then have fun experimenting.




Not if you know what you are doing. Guessing you have no stainless?


Don't ask me about my military service or heroic acts...most of it is untrue.

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Originally Posted by SheriffJoe
Originally Posted by pal
Any buffing, sanding or polishing you do yourself will most certainly ruin the resale value. If you don't care about that then have fun experimenting.


Not if you know what you are doing. Guessing you have no stainless?


Bullspit.

An expert polisher could do it, yes, if that's what you mean by knowing what you're doing.

I have owned and still own stainless firearms. And I regularly polish stainless steel as part of my long career as a boat builder. So, unlike yourself, I'm not guessing at this. Attached are photos of some of my work.

[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]


"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon

"...most of us would be better off losing half a pound around the waist than half a pound on our rifle."--dhg

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Guessing you have never owned a stainless...firearm, regardless of your alleged ownership.


A californian with a boat....oohhh...elite (elitist) genius!

Your post makes THAT obvious.


Don't ask me about my military service or heroic acts...most of it is untrue.

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Originally Posted by SheriffJoe
Guessing you have never owned a stainless...firearm, regardless of your alleged ownership.


A californian with a boat....oohhh...elite (elitist) genius!

Your post makes THAT obvious.


GFY, bigoted troll.

Long time members here have seen photos of some of my firearms, some stainless.

My boat is a 25' Mako project on a trailer.

[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]


"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon

"...most of us would be better off losing half a pound around the waist than half a pound on our rifle."--dhg

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Well, AT LEAST you learned how to take care of stainless steel revolvers, today. Don't be afraid...


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