View Full Version : Polishing a CM9 barrel and slide stop
Johnnydwoods
02-06-2013, 11:00 PM
I am thinking about polishing the outside of my barrel and the visible portion of the MIM slide stop on my CM9. I feel like polishing the barrel since it's getting those shiny "wear spots" on it from shooting, and I bet it would be easy to to.
I am planning on doing it by hand using Mother's Mag Wheel polish. I've polished a revolver this way before while eliminating some scratches (after initially using a Scotch Brite pad).
Is there anything I should be worried about if I were to do this? Maybe some areas which I SHOULD NOT polish? Maybe a better way to do it? Will MIM polish very well?
Any advice from the infinite wisdom on this excellent forum would be greatly appreciated!
John
Hookmiester
02-06-2013, 11:58 PM
I have thought about doing only my guide rod. I have never done it, but there are several youtube videos on polishing that I have done on knives that have worked really, really well. You might check that out also. I am more concerned about what it can or will do to the guns performance?
newCW45guy
02-07-2013, 02:39 AM
Guide rod I would do but barrel might reduce accuracy. Albeit slight any polishing is removing metal. I myself wouldn't try it.
kerby9mm
02-07-2013, 04:11 AM
I polished the barrel & hood on my mk40 & it came out nice & shiny but after shooting you will have to give it a light polish again because the scratches will be there again. I used Liquid Flitz and cotton squares.
muggsy
02-07-2013, 07:45 AM
I have thought about doing only my guide rod. I have never done it, but there are several youtube videos on polishing that I have done on knives that have worked really, really well. You might check that out also. I am more concerned about what it can or will do to the guns performance?
I doubt that polishing a barrel with metal polish will remove more that one tenth of one thousandth of an inch of metal and that won't adversely affect performance. I used to polish precision punches and die bodies used by metal stamping industries. All that polishing does is remove minor surface imperfections. You might want to take care when polishing near sharp corners as they can break down quite rapidly.
JFootin
02-07-2013, 10:34 AM
Hey, why stop there? :D
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/My%20Custom%20CM9/KahrCM9PolishedLSwMagandBullets.jpg
Watch my SLIDESHOW (http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/My%20Custom%20CM9/?albumview=slideshow)!
Bawanna
02-07-2013, 11:28 AM
The barrel polishes up very easily, your actually just shining up the finish. Really not removing anything.
The slide is another animal entirely and is harder than heck and requires much effort to polish especially to the level of Jfootins.
Johnnydwoods
02-07-2013, 01:26 PM
The barrel polishes up very easily, your actually just shining up the finish. Really not removing anything.
The slide is another animal entirely and is harder than heck and requires much effort to polish especially to the level of Jfootins.
So you don't think polishing the barrel will affect the accuracy?
Also, what about the slide stop. Has anybody noticed whether it's difficult to polish a MIM surface?
jocko
02-07-2013, 02:22 PM
Guide rod I would do but barrel might reduce accuracy. Albeit slight any polishing is removing metal. I myself wouldn't try it.
don't buy that at all,,,
Bawanna
02-07-2013, 02:30 PM
So you don't think polishing the barrel will affect the accuracy?
Also, what about the slide stop. Has anybody noticed whether it's difficult to polish a MIM surface?
The slide stop is slightly more difficult but it polishes up. The beauty of it is if you mess it up you can order a new one without breaking the bank.
Many here have changed the profile, rounded or melted the corners and reduced the size.
I reduced the heck out of mine on a PM45. Thought about getting a new one and trying again. It works perfect and don't look bad, I just want another shot at it. Think I can do better.
jocko
02-07-2013, 03:32 PM
most all kahr barrels come with some type of dull ass finish on them. all polishing is doin is taking off that finish to produce the nice shine underneath. Like mud on a fender.
jeepster09
02-07-2013, 04:04 PM
Hmmm.....I better not polish and jewel any more of my barells if it affects accuracy [which it don't] ;)
KoolBreeze
02-07-2013, 04:42 PM
Hey, why stop there? :D
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/My%20Custom%20CM9/KahrCM9PolishedLSwMagandBullets.jpg
Watch my SLIDESHOW (http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/My%20Custom%20CM9/?albumview=slideshow)!
Looks awesome! What did you use to polish it with?
RevRay
02-07-2013, 04:56 PM
Hey, why stop there? :D
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/My%20Custom%20CM9/KahrCM9PolishedLSwMagandBullets.jpg
Watch my SLIDESHOW (http://s1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/My%20Custom%20CM9/?albumview=slideshow)!
I had been thinking that once the baby (CM9) was born (I'm still waiting on my permit), I would put a PM9 Black slide on it like someone else has done on here. But now that I've seen what you did, I don't know. I'll have to do some more thinking about things first.
kerby9mm
02-07-2013, 05:18 PM
Hey the guide rod on that nice LDA needs some oil to make it shinier! I polish some things on my guns to make them just a little different to my liking.
JFootin
02-07-2013, 09:25 PM
Looks awesome! What did you use to polish it with?
Actually, I bought it that way. In the slide show, it describes the multi-step process that was used, and that it was done by a professional (I don't know who). The original owner was preparing it as a carry weapon for his beloved wife. But she decided she wanted something even smaller and in a lesser caliber. So he put it up for sale and I jumped at the chance to own the prettiest CM9 in the world! :D
JFootin
02-07-2013, 09:31 PM
I had been thinking that once the baby (CM9) was born (I'm still waiting on my permit), I would put a PM9 Black slide on it like someone else has done on here. But now that I've seen what you did, I don't know. I'll have to do some more thinking about things first.
I have been quoted $250 plus to do a gun like that. It would probably be more than $300 because the slide stop is smoothed and rounded, as is the trigger, and even the magazine is mirror polished. If you have the time, you can do it using finer and finer grit sand paper and finish it with Mother's Wheel Polish.
ParabellumJ
02-08-2013, 11:09 PM
I polished the entire barrel on my pm9 and it came out great. Easy to do and I don't buy it affecting accuracy. I don't know about polishing a mim slide stop, never tried it. Shine it up and post some pics.
man i love that finish , what did you use and how long did it take? i have a taurus pt92 in stainless that i bought because of the finish, and it shoots great too.
Johnnydwoods
02-17-2013, 01:08 AM
I finished polishing the barrel and slide stop tonight. I decided to use 2000 grit 3M automotive sandpaper, followed by Mother's Mag Wheel Polish. I did it all by hand, and the whole process took about 2 hours.
I was surprised at how deep some of the original machining grooves were and I ran out of patience to remove them all in the intricate areas under the barrel. The slide stop also took a fair amount of time with it's rough MIM surface. Overall I am very pleased with the result.
Anybody know how to post pictures? I have read the FAQ section and I don't have the "Manage Attachments" button available to click...so no pictures for now.
JFootin
02-17-2013, 08:43 AM
You can post pictures from Photobucket. The way I post pics is upload them to Photobucket, mouse over the image, select the Direct Link, come over here to the Post Edit Window, select the Picture Icon (http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee486/John_England/Misc/PictureIcon.jpg), paste the link in there and hit Enter. If I am pulling a picture from some other website, I Right Click it and select Copy Image Location, then post the same way.
Rob_0t
02-17-2013, 09:31 AM
I did the barrel and hood on my k40. Looks t1ts ... Im very happy. Then i went to the range and 120 rounds later i was damn. Why did i do that.... now i gotta do it again.. :/
So i will have to live with polishing the slide marks out everytime i go shootin. I spose im good with that.
And get used to people eye fo0kin your piece at the local shootin range :)
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy236/hooray_for_farva/photobucket-2906-1360797110240_zps4a549988.jpg
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy236/hooray_for_farva/photobucket-22357-1360797210748_zpsa95ba0a4.jpg
http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy236/hooray_for_farva/photobucket-6496-1360797286703_zpsdca47109.jpg
Fyi... mine shot just dandy after..... :cheers:
Johnnydwoods
02-17-2013, 12:12 PM
Thanks JFootin :D. Here are some before and after pics just in case someone else wants to try the same thing. I am sure the barrel will get scuffed up again, but that probably won't bother me to much. I really wanted to get rid of the darker MIM slide stop finish and I think it looks much better shiny.
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b568/johnnydwoods/IMG_0605_zpse5823f94.jpg
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b568/johnnydwoods/IMG_0607_zps5a4f9a1c.jpg
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b568/johnnydwoods/IMG_0614_zps6dff2c37.jpg
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b568/johnnydwoods/IMG_0616_zps98d61649.jpg
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b568/johnnydwoods/IMG_0644_zps7aea7cfc.jpg
http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b568/johnnydwoods/IMG_0654_zpsee6a8cdf.jpg
tkosiba
02-18-2013, 07:46 PM
1911 gunsmiths promote polishing the hood, because it provides smoother functioning. Actually, any polishing of moving parts, especially in sub-compacts, is good, because of the shorter distance to operate.
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