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Removing Anodizing & Easy Alloy Finishes

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Just like a kid with his first Jeep, I can’t seem to leave my firearms alone. Cepek tires & wheels, lift kit, winch, light guards…you get the picture. They all seem to need the “special touch”. This goes for customers also. One could call it “pimping” or perhaps “personalization”. Case in point; I get a NIB pre-lock S&W 442 air weight with the black anodized finish. After a couple of weeks living on my ankle, I get the itch to make a duo-tone mirror finish showpiece. Don’t try this at home, kids. Let a pro take over or you’ll be making a $525.00 goof.

Step #1 is to fully strip the gun to the raw frame & remove the barrel. For the next step, you’ll need the following:

  1. a. Bottle of “Naval Jelly”.
  2. b. Pyrex pan.
  3. c. Bottle of distilled water.
  4. d. Buffing wheel, #200 – #400 buffing compound.
  5. e. Rotary tool or selection of fine files and SKILL.
  6. f. If the barrel, cylinder, extractor components, are good, fine. If they are worn, Master blue or hard chrome matte or polished, whichever appeals to you. Step #2 is to make-up a mixture of 75% jelly & 25% water. Mix thoroughly. Once the barrel is off and you are left with the anodized frame, lay in the Pyrex dish For 5 -7 hours or until lite finger pressure smears the anodizing. Leave in another hour, remove and rinse completely.

Dry and rub vigorously with a rough cloth shop towel. Most of the anodizing will come off. You can always lay in the mixture again if the finish is being stubborn. Any which remains can be buffed off with the #200 wheel. Now the final finish is up to you. Leave #200?, progress to #400?, or satin finish by gently whisping in one direction with #400 Alox.

Now is a good time to polish the hammer, trigger,  & to bevel & polish the rebound friction points. You may want to respring, stone the boss bases and get your Monogrips ready. Also, this is a good time to clean and/or refresh the forcing cone. check & repair any muzzle dings, measure barrel clearance which ideally should be .005 +/- .001, stone the recoil plate flat, & true the yoke. Inspect for friction marks on the hammer & trigger & repair. Reinstall the barrel as per factory instructions, reassemble the cylinder components, check everything twice, lubricate, and reassemble the works. Check function, test fire and enjoy your new gun.

On the subject of forcing cones, note that most manufacturers use a cut of approx 18 de. for general use. If you shoot wadcutters, you may increase accuracy & lead buildup by recutting to 11 deg then lapping to a fine luster.

I’d like to add that there is a plethora of finish options. Think this out well ahead of time. What do you want your gun to look like in it’s completed form? If you have any questions, just give me a holler and I’ll walk you through any problems you may experience. Otherwise, it’s a rather straightforward process.

Good luck, & happy shooting.

Adrian J. Canton

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Buying a Used 1911 .45

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Through my years of buying used gun show and dealer used 1911 platform handguns, I have come across remarkable deals as well as utter junk concocted by a neighborhood garage “gunsmith” whose work was a Frankensteinian attempt at “improving” a 100 yr old proven design or pseudo “customizing”.

1911 Handgun
1911 Handgun

The best deals may be found by the ballistic equivalent of “driven by a little old lady on Sunday”. These guns come from people who realize that the .45 acp is too much for them or they simply find it difficult to carry & conceal a 7” brick.

Lets’ look at contemporary 1911s’. Every major & minor manufacturer makes a 1911 clone. From thde low end like the Korean Rock Island Armory to 1st rate Wilson, Reeder, or (ahem) Canton Custom StreetFighters. Your best investigative tool is your powers of observation. Ask the vendor or dealer to remove the slide. Using a magnifying glass, look at the finish, original with expected wear, or perfect? Remove the barrel and look for any marks besides factory machine marks. Carefully examine the male & female  .locking lugs. They should not show any sign of peening, indicating soft, cheap metal especially on the barrel. If all is well there, the land & groves should be clean & sharp. Examine the barrel exterior for unusual wear marks which indicate poor fitting as well as any bulges. Has the feed ramp been polished, and if so has the top portion been rounded?. Not good. There should only be minor factory machine marks.  Check the plunger tube for a tight fit and free travel of the slide lock & safety detents.

Now, most of the imperfections you may spot are an easy fix. Point them out to the vendor and get the price down. The major sticking points & things to avoid are:

  1. On alloy frames, check for a minute crack at the slide lock.
  2. Poorly stoned or polished bed.
  3. Loose or distorted disconnector. Travel must be firm ut held solid.
  4. Hammer fall or follow when the slide is racked. This is usually due to a worn or defective sear spring which controls the pressure in the disconnector, beavertail, & trigger.
  5. You’ll want to refresh all the springs, install a carbon steel F/P fresh disconnector & sear anyway, no matter the condition unless NIB.
  6. Sights tight and fall on target when drawn from low carry?
  7. Many Colts have come with plastic mainspring housings. Call Brownell’s & change-over to metal.
  8. Ask for 2 factory or high-quality mags that fall free.and check function of the mag release button & slide lock/follower.
  9. Forget S/S extractors even if the frame/slide are S/S. Remember that the extractor is a spring and therefore must be made of spring steel.
  10. Carfully examine the bbl bushing for firm, but not impossible to remove fit. Also look over the wear marks on the bbl where it contacts the bushing during retraction.
  11. Watch for any bbl buldging which indicates an overload or doubling.
  12. Check F/P protrusion, then pull the pin & check for peening. While the extractor is out, look for wear and broken corners. As mentioned, if the F/P or extractor is S/S, you’ll want and need to replace with carbon steel.

You will want to install a fresh 18 lb recoil spring. Go with Wolf or Springco progressive springs. I strongly suggest a quality full length recoil spring guide, reverse plug, and “Shok-Buff”.

Most importantly, make certain the shop or vendor is available to you and that you have a 30 day return warranty. Get to the range and run a couple of hundred rounds of various ammo through your new gun. Any problems encountered besides the normal easy fix kink &, have a competent ‘smith give it the once-over. If a serious problem pops’ up ether have repairs made, or return it and try again. Your most important tool is keen observation and the knowledge of when something is simply not right. If you’re not intimately familiar with Browning’s SA design, get a revolver or dbl action auto…and train with a pro if you are a newbie. Get to the range at least once-a-month and burn a couple of hundred rounds at situation targets. Memorize my mantra…”Carrying a firearm does not make you an “unstoppable pistolaro”. Handguns are relatively feeble weapons in most hands and are meant to allow you to get to your shotgun. No one argues with a .73 rifle.

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