Bead Blasting

[rglbegl]

So I was thinking about having my slide bead blasted. (CW9)
Is there anything I should look out for when having this done?
Is there a finish on the slide that would be ruined by blasting it?

I am just looking to dull the slide a bit, and blueing or parkerizing seems like it would wear away over time. So bead blasting looks like the way to go, especially since my neighbor has a machine shop and can do it for next to nothing.

But before I do this . . . . .. Are there any warnings I should be aware of?

[gb6491]

The CW series stainless slide has no additional finish on it.

Completely disassemble the slide before blasting.

It's best to remove the sights, but this isn't real practical on the CW series as the front sight has to be broken off for removal. You can tape them off with masking tape and work carefully around them when blasting: do not dwell long or use too much pressure/aggressive media. Try to find blasting angles that won't be likely to lift the tape. The tape will work better if you degrease the sights before applying it. IMO a better option would be to just remove the old sights and install night sights after blasting.

Avoid the inside/bottom of the slide when blasting.

Depending on the blast media (discounting bead) 100 to 60 grit will usually give quite a dull finish. The down side is that this surface will show wear/handling marks rather quickly.

Clean up needs to be thorough.

I cleaned up some tooling marks and blasted my CW45 before I installed night sights on it. I blast with aluminum oxide then again with glass bead.
The finish is just a little duller than the original, but i like it and it's easy to touch up.
http://i48.tinypic.com/2vj7ko0.jpg

Regards,
Greg

[Bawanna]

You can hardly tell that your CW was bead blasted. Is there a noticeable difference in the feel? Like trying to rack the slide from the front or away from the grooves is it easier to grip.
Seems it would hold oil better with a slightly roughter surface which is probably a moot point on stainless but I treat stainless just like carbon myself, got no use for rust.
I'm still contemplating jeweling a whole slide but as you mentioned I suspect it would show dings and abuse fairly quickly. Perhaps not difficult to touch up either. Guess it's kind of a gamble and the fact that I've never seen one might be an indicator that it might not be a great idea.

[gb6491]

Is there a noticeable difference in the feel? Like trying to rack the slide from the front or away from the grooves is it easier to grip.The feel is slightly different, but it's effect on handling is probably negligible.
If I was to forgo the bead, you could feel difference quite readily and it might actually aid in manipulating the slide.

The neat thing about blasting is that there many ways to manipulate the finish (to include post blast chemical applications and polishing). I like to use a heavier blast (more aggressive) on the sight ribs of my revolvers to reduce glare. I also like it to change the aesthetics of a firearms.

Here are some examples:
The Ruger MKII top end in this photo has been blasted with 60 grit media.
If you were to apply some oil to it the color would darken a considerable amount. An interesting point here is the effect the blasting had on the receiver and barrel; they are different type steels and show a color difference. This makes them difficult to match up; it's a real bear when parkerizing. The upper pictured is stainless and I ended up polishing it some. http://i42.tinypic.com/2lo0w0.jpg
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2lo0w0.jpg) The Security Six had the same blasting job done on it, but I buffed it afterward.
http://i48.tinypic.com/30ncdpc.jpg

This P90 had the slide blasted then beaded; the slide lock and decocker levers were polished then beaded.
http://i42.tinypic.com/11sm7vc.jpg

The scalloped areas of the slide on this Buck Mark were left blasted while the remaining area was beaded. Reason: I just like the look.
http://i42.tinypic.com/2a9e61k.jpg

There are some photos of blasted sight rib on this page:
XS Big Dot sight installed on a Smith and Wesson model 60 (http://gbrannon.bizhat.com/xs.html)

Regards,
Greg

[Bawanna]

I love the suttle but nice contrast. Classy but not flashy. You do some really nice work.

[jlottmc]

I started my days in the machine shop with the cabinet, we used glass bead as our GP medium. Kinda miss having the stuff to do things like that.