Polishing feed ramp and barrel chamber

[jcannady]

I've seen several references in the forum to using a dremel tool for polishing but no details. Which tip on the dremel should be used? Any other advice?

Jim

[OvalNut]

Never polished my Kahr, just shoot it and it runs like a champ. More guns are ruined by kitchen table gunsmiths...

Put down the Dremel and step away.


Tim

[Bawanna]

You really can't damage anything with a polishing wheel. Dremel makes a disc type and a smaller diameter solid type, actually kind of looks like a bullet. The polishing compound which I am no expert at makes the difference, it's like the grit on sandpaper. Super fine or medium or course. Usually different colors. I've always just used what I had and have no clue what the grit is.

To back what OvalNut says, it's wise to remember if you see or make sparks, your not polishing, your grinding. Polish is good, grinding can be very bad.

A cleaning patch and some Simichrome or similar paste with a round dowel can work just fine too. It takes longer but in recent times I dont' think the Kahrs need nearly as much polishing as in years past. I know mine didn't need a thing.

[CJB]

I like the small felt wheen and white compound.

[OvalNut]

...
Polish is good, grinding can be very bad.
...


Fair enough, yes.

+1 Bawanna !


Tim

[Tilos]

I cut a cheap brand Q-tip, with a paper wound shaft, not the hollow plastic tube, in half and chuck it in my variable speed B&D Dremmel clone.
You can use a drill instead of a Dremmel too.

I use the same Nu Finish car polish I put in my tumbler as a polishing compound to do any/all fluff and buff.
just sayin'
:D

[Bawanna]

Excellent idea. I use Q Tips on a long wooden stick a lot for cleaning and lots of stuff. I use the stick part sometimes for stirring or mixing acraglas etc.

They would work perfectly for polishing. Your a wise man Mr. Tilos.

[berettabone]

I purchased a polishing kit for my Dremmel on Fleabay for about $8...................................comes with the red rouge.

[Scarywoody]

I just use some metal polish and a medical Q tip. Takes a bit but gets the job done.

[Bobshouse]

Flitz and a old cotton t-shirt. Leaves a few stains on the shirt but if you tuck it in, it wont be visible!

[Bawanna]

Or use somebody elses T shirt, that's what I usually do.

I find better clothes in the rag drawer than I wear sometimes. I've put a few clothes the wife tossed back into service.
She gets a confused look and ask where I got that garment. Hmmmm out of the rag drawer I think. She just shakes her head.

Same with toothbrushes, never use your own.

[Ken L]

I polished the feed ramps on all my pistols. I just used a q-tip and Flitz. Yeah it took a while, but nothing got overpolished or rounded or anything. Plus there was no Flitz flying all over my workbench, like happens when I polish something with the Dremel.

[Bawanna]

Amen to that. I don't care much for the flying Flitz myself. Seems like no matter how slow you get her spinning she throws it everywhere.

[RolandD]

I polished the feed ramps on all my pistols. I just used a q-tip and Flitz. Yeah it took a while, but nothing got overpolished or rounded or anything. Plus there was no Flitz flying all over my workbench, like happens when I polish something with the Dremel.
I use simichrome polish and a pencil eraser. Shines up really nice.

[RolandD]

Or use somebody elses T shirt, that's what I usually do.

I find better clothes in the rag drawer than I wear sometimes. I've put a few clothes the wife tossed back into service.
She gets a confused look and ask where I got that garment. Hmmmm out of the rag drawer I think. She just shakes her head.

Same with toothbrushes, never use your own.
I keep a stash of my old toothbrushes on top of the medicine cabinet.

[CJB]

Y'know, all this polishing talk is about the same importance as stacking rat turds.

Back in the day, not too terribly long ago, the 1980's, 1990's.... ramps on autoloading pistols were really terrible. In my range hand/gunsmith days, you'd find Browning HPs, S&W 39/59 series, Colt Autos, you name it... with ramps, and sometimes chambers that were full of tool marks. In those days, you sometimes NEEDED to rework things, just to get the pistol to function.

Most of that consisted of using our little friend, Ms. Craytex Wheel (those rubbery abrasive wheels), on either Mr. Dremel, or Mr. Foredom. Keep in mind Craytex wheels (or their generic counterparts) come in cylinder, tapers, wheels, sharp sided disks, all sorts of shapes, and all sorts of abrasive quality. I have grey and black wheels that cut almost like sanding drums, and yellow and light green wheels that still cut, but are almost at the "polishing" level. I'd handwork all the tool marks out, then polish with a felt wheel and FLITZ.

Why FLITZ? Because FLITZ is a true polish. That is, it is self disintegrating. I have done this, you try it too. Take some FLITZ and smear it on a microscope slide real thin. HOLY CRAP! Look at the boulders in that stuff at about 60x or 80x. Dang! Then smear some used FLITZ residue on a slide and have a look. No more boulders, just fine, rounded, particles. So, FLITZ goes from big and sharp to small and round as you use it. To keep it from flying off, you rub it into the felt (or muslin) wheel. You wipe the wheel off, then spin it up to polish the part. If you get flyoff, its because you got too much FLITZ on the wheel.

Today's ramps and chambers are far and away better than anything you'd encounter 20 years ago. They just are. Kahr ramps and chambers are some of the best in terms of shiny smooth, so .... I really can't see fixing what ain't broke.

[CJB]

https://www.widgetsupply.com/category/dremel-polish.html

Thats a link I've posted before. They got all the polishing stuff you'll ever need for Dremel-like machines. That link is the main link to polishing, under which are all the wheels and abrasives and such, each in its own category. If you REALLY shop, you'll find slightly better pricing, especially if you buy 1000 units at a time (or more), but these folks got the selection, and really good customer service, so for the few bux I spend, I give it to them, just because.

[Bobshouse]

Y'know, all this polishing talk is about the same importance as stacking rat turds.


Least it's something to talk about, been kinda slow around here lately. Besides, if I had any, I'd probably stack'em, I have great organizational skills.

[Bills1873]

My older P ruger ramps aren't polished, not real rough, but not shiny. Shoot great with no feed problems. Ramps aren't quite as steep as on the micros, though, so I can see a possible need to have them slick. My Kahrs are plenty slick from the factory.

[CJB]

Least it's something to talk about, been kinda slow around here lately. Besides, if I had any, I'd probably stack'em, I have great organizational skills.

What I meant is... not that its not good to talk about, but the actual need is quite low, especially for Kahr pistols. Even my recent RIA, bottom-of-the-lot 45 auto came with a great chamber, ramp, and breech face.

Some may recall the days of the "humped" Browning Hi-Power ramps, which were copied on the early production S&W 39/59, up to the 39-2 series (most of the way through that series). These were terrible, and would only feed hardball. But... wait! LEO's wanted hollow points. S&W got it right, and put a straight ramp on their barrels. Later, maybe about 1980, so did Browning! But, there were tool marks.

As the autoloader progressed from military use, to civilian, then to police use, the realization of the superiority of the hollow point bullet became more established. As that occurred, the manufacturers had to be use better techniques with designs and in cutting metal.

Think of it this way.... "Everybody" knew, back in days of old, if you bought a Colt, or Browning, or Smith, and wanted it to feed hollow points, you most likely would need to have the ramp and chamber and maybe other parts (breech face, extractor, magazine) worked on by someone who knew just what it took, and had the skills and tools to perform the job. That job was a necessity. Today, it no longer is a necessity, because somebody got smart, and started offering a decent pistol someplace along the time line, and thus caused competition, forcing every other company to make the grade or lose sales. So today, we see Kahr, Colt, Smith, Browning, Walther, H&K, Ruger, etc etc, mostly offering pistols (and revolvers for that matter) with chambers and ramps that pretty much work with a wide variety of bullet shapes and configurations.

But.... you get one problem, of any kind whatsoever, and the 'smithy will tell you he needs to polish things in the chamber and barrel. Its like the "tune up" for a modern engine. Really? A tune up? What is that? Every 10,000 miles I'd be putting points, plugs, condenser, rotor, and cap on my old 283 Chevy. Today, what do they rate plugs at? Is it a hundred thousand miles? At least fifty thousand. No points, no rotor, no cap. No setting the gap, no setting the timing or dwell angle. Yet... I hear folks say, they're bringing in their relatively new car to a local shop for a tune-up. What do they get? New air filter, injector cleaner, maybe they wash the engine with GUNK? I have no clue. Maybe a OBD scan... with printout.

So, like a tune-up, the ramp and polish is mostly a throw back to the days when Jocko was good looking.

Just sayin'

[jcannady]

Thanks. I asked the question because Jocko's prep guide mentioned it.

Jim

[Bawanna]

Back when Jocko initially posted his prep and was putting it together, there were considerable issues and polishing was sometimes beneficial.

It's still applicable today as it was the day it was thunk up but more as a guideline now days. If you have issues, try this type of thing.

I never racked the slide 500 times or whatever it says on any of mine, but it's still not a bad thing to do and certainly can't hurt.

[berettabone]

If it makes you feel good.............................................. .......................

[Pacn45]

You wanta have fun with your Dremel grinding and polishing? Get a Diamond Back 9mm and work on getting it to run smooth. Yes it can be done and if you want it to go bang every time you will be GRINDING and polishing. And adjusting mag lips and polishing striker bores. But hey it is a cheap, small and light 9mm. It can be made to run well BUT a Kahr does not need all that. I'm on my third Kahr and have not had to do anything but pull the trigger a few hundred times with good standard ammo and just make sure it is pointed in the right direction. Sure there can be one that has a little kink but I have two (had a third till wwb blew up Sparky) and from the first bullet to the few thousands that have run through them the pistol never caused the problem. If you have a Kahr that is giving trouble talk to the guys here and with Kahr tech before you break out the Dremel.

Charlie

[mark7mod0]

https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-422-Polishing-Tip/dp/B00004UDH5/ref=pd_cp_469_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AV2AW6TFBFYN4AQPTMKH These are what I use....there are some clone types not dremel out of some other kind of material that I do not like as much. I polish the slide rails, the striker, barrel and just a light buff on the feed ramp....Kahr does a great factory job on it...unlike some of the other manufactures.

[finpro]

https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-422-Polishing-Tip/dp/B00004UDH5/ref=pd_cp_469_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AV2AW6TFBFYN4AQPTMKH These are what I use....there are some clone types not dremel out of some other kind of material that I do not like as much. I polish the slide rails, the striker, barrel and just a light buff on the feed ramp....Kahr does a great factory job on it...unlike some of the other manufactures.

Polishing benefits some pistols more than others, but most pistols benefit from some polishing of moving parts. I agree with the use of this polishing tip, which fits a 9mm chamber fairly well. I suggest using a dressing stone, that tiny black brick, to smooth Dremel heads to prevent vibration and do better work. If you use a paste polish, like Simichrome, after applying to the head, spin it at high speed in a waste paper basket or tin can so the extra polish to flies off without making a mess or getting into an eye. Eye protection is a very good idea when using a Dremel.

For some pistols, I have used a paste polish directly, as I would use grease, on the rails and barrel and worked the action until it felt smoother. After the polish was removed, you could see exactly where the smoothing occurred and the guns remained cleaner longer and cleaned up much more easily. I think smaller, tighter pistols benefit more from this. I have never had a reason to think this harmed the pistol, though I was careful to not overdo it.

[ohboy2]

Does Polishing the Feed Ramp of any Kahr Firearm Void the Warranty ?

[LinemanBob]

The feed ramp in my PM9 came to me with a mirror polish from the factory. No way I could improve that.

[kenemoore]

I'm pretty sure Kahr nickel plates the feed ramp. Over zealous polishing would damage the plating.

[ohboy2]

Good to know... thank you...

[oldtimer]

I normally use the Dremel with the 422 attachment and JB polishing compound, but the kahr needs very little, just so they are shining and smooth. As always go easy
no need to over do.

[Greg Solomon]

Use crocus cloth and polish the feed ramp by hand.

I use #3000, followed by #5000, and finish with #7000.

You'll have a mirror finish on your feed ramp and will never again experience a failure to feed problem.

Good quality crocus cloth can be purchased at Amazon...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013W44ESY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Regards,
-Greg

[BubbleHead]

5 minutes with a cotton pad and a tiny dab of Simichrome gets the job done for me every time. I have a Dremel but I see no need to use it.

I also polished the outside of the barrel for kicks and giggles. Only a slight difference in shine that I don't think shows up in photos. There was no real point to it but I was curious, and I'm pretty sure this little tube will last me the rest of my life. Still runs like a champ!

https://i.postimg.cc/v8ffTLjg/IMG-0009.jpg

[Bawanna]

Throw a buffer wheel on that and it'll shine up like a mirror. The barrel hood and barrel shine up real nice and easy too.

The slide no so much, the are tough.

I polish all my kahr barrels and hoods. Just looks nice.