# Polishing various trigger and action components



## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

What serious grits of sand paper do ya'll use to polish trigger and action compnents? Also do yall use a polishing compound when you polish it?


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## miles58 (May 5, 2010)

shdybrady19 said:


> What serious grits of sand paper do ya'll use to polish trigger and action compnents? Also do yall use a polishing compound when you polish it?



First off since you are asking I am going to assume you have no intention of trying to polish internal trigger parts like the sear.  I assume you mean parts like the bolt, the trigger, the trigger guard etc.

Depending on how bad the piece is you start with something like 280 and work down through 600 and if you wany a lot of polish crocus cloth.  

You can us a buffing wheel and compound, but if you have not done that work before you are probably going to mess the gun up and are well advised to not go there.  Particularly with a dremel.  

Keep the paper on a good, hard, square block when you work flats.  Take your time and it will pay in the end.

Dave


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## 1kruger (May 5, 2010)

I do all my pistols inners 600 grit then dremel with a buffing wheel and polishing compound. I also polish the feed ramp and the rails top of the hammer, basicly any metal part that travels against another. I have an early 1960`s LLAMA 380 that I parkerized black and then polished all mating surfaces  that cycles and runs smooth as glass.


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## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

No I mean do internal parts like the sear and all contact parts. I'm not looking to sand down and take off much metal. I am more looking at making it have a cleaner contact point and also a more crisp break. No major mods just cleaning up contact points


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## hayseed_theology (May 5, 2010)

shdybrady19 said:


> What serious grits of sand paper do ya'll use to polish trigger and action compnents? Also do yall use a polishing compound when you polish it?



What kinda gun you workin' on?


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## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

As of right now I am working on a s&w  sw40ve and a marlin 917vt 17.hmr.


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## NOYDB (May 5, 2010)

On most guns the sear is specificly heat treated so that it will bear the repeated movements as the trigger is pulled. That extra hard surface area is not very "deep" and if you polish just little too much you can destroy the mating surface and ruin the function of the sear. On some guns that can be really exciting. 

That said, it can and is done, you just have to be really, really gentle. Some use a very fine Jeweler's rouge. http://www.schaffnermfg.com/jewelers-rouge.html

The idea is to smooth any burrs or ridges in the surface, to polish, not sand. You do NOT want to change the shape of the surface at all.


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## VHinch (May 5, 2010)

You don't use sandpaper, you use a stone, and you make sure you don't change the engagement angles.  Screwing with a fire control group can cause serious problems if you don't really know what you're doing.


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## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

and Im not changing the shape. I watched several videos on youtube and surfed some forums. The only things Im doing are what I can find some write up ons. I not going in blind. Also is there a gunsmithing book for dummies or something? I'm tring to get into his hobby but cant find too much instruction


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## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

also you said not to use paper. I was watching gunsmith how to's on youtube and they use sand paper. And this is the guy from midway. Not some hobbist


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## NOYDB (May 5, 2010)

It can be done. I personally wouldn't use sand paper. It's one of those things that you want to sneak up on. However , it's your gun and as important, your money. After all you can always buy replacement parts.


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## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

oh ill take all the advice I can get. I appreciate it. But is there a "gunsmith bible" I can learn from?


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## VHinch (May 5, 2010)

I'm sure there are guys out there that use sand paper, but I'd stay away from it without more experience.  There's a lot less margin for error with paper.


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## hayseed_theology (May 5, 2010)

Well, I haven't ever used paper, but I believe paper is recommened for the Kel-Tec "Fluff 'n Buff."  I pretty sure 600 grit wet/dry.

I used a fine India stone from Brownells on a trigger job on my S&W 686.  Like VHinch said, it helps you keep the angles the same.  The stone also helps you keep even pressure and get even surface.  That's very important.  Like NOYDB said, you can hit it with some green jewelers rouge and a Dremel.  Gotta be careful whenever you get a Dremel around a gun.  

Don't know about a gunsmith encyclopedia.  If you ever work on a S&W wheelgun, Jerry Miculek has a good video.


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## shdybrady19 (May 5, 2010)

I only have a taurus revolver. But Ill check him out anyways. thanks


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## Sharps40 (May 5, 2010)

*trigger work*

Three recommendations for starting.  1. Start with American Gunsmith Online (keith lawrence/Chick Blood) - become a subscriber. 
2. Don't work on triggers w/o proper commercial or shop made jigs.
3. Skip the trigger work for a while to develope basic skills thru stock refinishing and external metal polishing/coloring (will build familiarity w/tools and technique on less critical surfaces while you study. Consider building several muzzleloaders-nets you wood, metal polish/coloring and trigger/action fitting. And if you do not like muzzleloaders-sell 'em here for cost and consider the practice your profit)


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## jglenn (May 6, 2010)

good stones keep surfaces square and level.. Any work I do on sears or hammers is always done with stones and the proper jig As Sharp40 noted.


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## shdybrady19 (May 6, 2010)

awesome. I think I rather start on bolt actions instead of muzzleloaders. I have taken mine a few times just to see how things work and clean them up. They seem simple enough. I'll head to the pawn shop and pick a spare one up. Is there a gunsmithing supply site yall know of? One thing I would like to get is the jeweling tool. I have seen it referred to as a jewel jig.


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## Gunplumber Mike (May 6, 2010)

Jeweling is a better activity than most for beginners.   If you mess it up (and you probably will the first few times) you can wipe it clean and start over.  Don't remove a measurable amount of steel.  Brownells sells the jigs, but remember that you also need a large compound vise and drill press or mill.  Most folks like the look of a jeweled bolt, but the purpose of the jeweling is actually to slick up the operation of the bolt by decreasing the bearing surfaces of the bolt and its raceway and giving lube a better surface to adhere to.

If you are trying to polish the _sides_ of a trigger or _side_ of a sear then super fine paper is okay.  There is no way you can accurately slick up an engagement notch with sandpaper --- you need hard stones for a smooth finish with square edges.  India stones and hard arkansas are the best and you need a variety of them, of decent quality.  Jigs will help keep you from botching the job or creating an unsafe situation.


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## shdybrady19 (May 6, 2010)

thanks. I have the drill press. I have been meaning to pick up a vise so I will order one this weekend.


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