want to re-do the top of my defender slide.

[BoomerBSG]

the bead blasting has quite a bit of holster wear on my new defender.
i'd like to remove the bead blast thats on top of the slide, and get it to look like the sides of the slide.
what would be the best way to go about this, and is there any reasons not to?

cheers

[David Rose]

Boomer, that is fairly easy really. The reason not to is glare. If you don't think it will bother you, grab some aluminum oxide strips like Brownell's sells and go after it.

The job is much MUCH simpler if you remove both sights first.

Being a bit of a picky gunsmith, I would wrap abrasive around something flat like a file. Actually, I have a piece of steel milled flat. Run it front to rear along the top. This will help cleanup any low or high spots. I would start fine, maybe 320 grit without wasting any time there, and see if things were flat. When using abrasives, the biggest waste of time is usually trying to go too fine and staying with it. If it doesn't take off what you want, go coarser.

Grasp the slide in a well padded vice. Clamp just tight enough to hold it. You don't want to flatten it any, but you don't want it to rock. After things look acceptable, use abrasive strip like a shoe shine cloth. If you want to get more sophisticated and protect the edge where the top meets the sides, you could clamp on strips of metal to the sides. Play around with how low to set them to get full coverage on the top.

If you go back to 120 grit, don't skip the progression. Go to 220 then 320 then 400 or whatever level you want. It is MUCH faster to go through the progression, than to skip a number. Finer will be glossier and more reflective. My Defender is finished on the sides with about 500 grit, it appears.

It is also showing some burnishing on the blasted surfaces. When I redo mine it will be to mask the sides and reblast the top. But I prefer the low gloss surface.

If you do the polishing carefully, and don't like it, it will simply be that much more uniform a surface to blast or coat. There isn't much to lose but time... IF you are careful. Nothing will cover a botched job. So take your time and think it through.

David

[BoomerBSG]

thanks for that. I dont see those strips on brownells site. Is there anything i can pick up locally to do the job?
Also does the glare afect aim in bright light?

[David Rose]

Boomer, I have rather tired eyes. So you may not have the same situation. But for me anything that glares or distracts has become a problem. The brighter it is, the worse the glare.

I think this is what I've been using http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=9621&title=METALITE%20CLOTH%20ROLLS I don't remember if that is what I last ordered. It is a Norton product. Try "abrasive strips" in the search engine. Brownell's keeps promising that they are going to get that archaic engine fixed. sigh I think it is costing them a lot of business.

The most important thing is that it be cloth backed. Aluminum oxide wears fairly well. Auto parts stores carry a lot of abrasives on down to really fine. But they are usually dealing with larger surface areas, so most of them carry sheets. If you can find a cloth backed sheet in the coarser grits, then you are probably OK. I've read of people attaching masking tape to the back of paper abrasives, but I've not tried it.

David

[Hawkmoon]

If you don't find it as "aluminum oxide," look for "emery cloth." That's usually what the auto parts places call it. I have found generic aluminum oxide cloth in some of those super discount, odd lot disposal stores.