Matte Stainless, blah

[dao]

While I'm not a big fan of bbq guns, especially for concealed carry, I'm also not overly fond of matte stainless.

I bought my PM45 in matte stainless because it was a killer deal and I couldn't find one with a Black Diamond slide on it. Black would have been my preference as it usually is when it comes to carry guns. But patience is not one of my strong points.

I used some Mother's and some Simi-chrome on the flats of the slide today, for about an hour total. Just enough to liven it up a bit, all done by hand. I think it turned out nice. I left the top, muzzle, and rear alone, as well as the slide catch. It's just a tiny bit shinier than the slide on my MK40 Elite now.

Here's a before and a couple after.

[Bawanna]

I like it like that, if you find you a black one, I'll take that one so I got's one on each side. If the right one don't get cha, then the left one will.

[DJK11]

Aren’t DLC slides a buck n half? I’m still contemplating having my TP45 slide done in DLC. Then the PM45. Kind of miss the DLC PM45 that I sold. Couple shops I checked out can do the slide for $100 or so.

[dao]

Thanks Colonel. You made me laugh because since I've had to start thinking about and shooting with my left hand I've considered having a gun on both sides.

DJ I've thought about that but didn't want to end up with a used slide. I don't do well selling things. I may at some point still pick up an entire PM45 in Diamond Black. Better to have more than you need than less than you want. At least that's what I tell myself.

[yqtszhj]

That’s just the right amount of bling.

[Canine Dave]

I agree. That does look good.

My MK9 could stand a nice polish like that. I bought it used and there are a couple spots where the previous owner might have cleaned up some tarnish.

Would Flitz or Maas polish work? I was concerned that there might have been another coating or treatment on the surface that shouldn't be removed?

[dao]

I've heard of Flitz being used with excellent results on various SS but have never used it myself. Have never used Maas. I've had very good results with Mother's. I have a P938 SAS that came with a matte finish and it worked just as well on its slide flats. Also, I've used it on several Kahr barrels which are actually coated and it removes that coating very well. Only thing worse than a matte SS finish to me is a barrel finished that way and the finish is marred by cycling.

Comparing my MK40 Elite to this PM45 does show that the hour I spent on the 45 (not counting stripping the components and putting them back together afterwards), was enough to leave it slightly shinier than the Elite, though it's not quite as shiny as the factory finish on the flats of my DW Classic CBob. I don't want a gun that's any shinier, I never show them to people other than on Boards, but I do want them to look good. Subjective of course but like a well cared for pair of shoes, a clean gun is important to me. I've no interest in a bbq gun though. This is not that. I did only the flats (leaving the spaces between the serrations alone), and as you can see the radius above the flat side of the slide has a factory shine and is fairly bright. So I didn't do it for the shine so much as I did to "clean" it up, and allow some contrast between the parts I did do and the rest of the slide as it came from the factory. And to pull the beauty of the SS out from under the matte finish. Doesn't make much sense to me to carry a gun that's as apt to blind me, as someone I'm protecting myself from.

Here's a better picture of what I ended up with. And below that a picture of my P938. It started out with the same finish you see on the Safety and the finish between the serrations. It also took me about an hour of polishing time.

edit: btw I also masked off the radius and top of the slide to make sure they were left untouched.

[Canine Dave]

That just looks nice. Clean.

I'm going to try it.

I'll post some before and afters.

[dao]

Happy polishing Dave, I think you'll be pleased. I think "clean" is the best way to describe it too. It's not even close to a mirror finish, so in my opinion it's fine for a carry gun.

I would recommend removing the extractor before you start. And of course that means essentially everything other than the sights. And if you mask off the radius it will leave you with a nice straight line of demarcation between the "clean" flats and the factory finish. I didn't mask off the serrations on my PM but I did make sure I only moved from front to back along them to avoid taking off the matte finish in between them.

[Bawanna]

I use Flitz mostly, if your doing it by hand without a buffer or a dremel etc, you can't over do it.

I used to use Symachrome I think it was called but can't find it now days. Basically the same stuff but worked pretty good.

I too polish my Kahr barrels first thing to clean off the coating, makes em real pretty. I use a buffer so it takes about 2 minutes.

[dao]

I've been using the same can of Simi-chrome for about 10 years. This was the first time I tried it on SS or any other part of a gun. Mother's did just as good a job imo. But it's always nice to have options. Oh, and Mother's seems to be less nasty than the others out there.

[Canine Dave]

Spent about an hour this morning using Flitz and soft cotton. Big improvement. Not a bright finish but just a little more shiney than the original satin. Also was able to buff out some light pitting on the frame :frown:, but some of the deeper scaring is still visible. Like Case knives, stains less.

17352

Also cleaned up the barrel hood a little, nice improvement there. Finished up with an application of renaissance wax.

[dao]

Looks good Dave, glad you like it!

[SeanESean]

That's a good look. I also prefer the black diamond. It's a pretty durable finish.

[dao]

Until relatively recently I ALWAYS opted for black guns. Mostly for tactical reasons. But then after getting a couple with bare stainless slides, and lightly polishing the slide on my PM45 I've definitely taken a liking to them. And in a holster it's not going to shout out to anyone. Might lose a couple of points in tactical stealth under certain conditions but I fondle my pistol far more than I use it, never having had to pull one out in 4+ decades of carrying. I guess getting older I've realized that I do like the spices of life more than I would have thought. Still not into bbq guns for self defense carry though :)