Project Colt Lightning - Hand Polishing

The next step in our deluxe Colt Lightning restoration series is hand polishing in preparation for the various factory correct finishes to be applied. We'll show you our painstaking process for the proper hand polishing of valuable collector firearms.

[@forgit4562]

great to see true professionals at work. Also the pride taken in the work. Fantastic. thank you

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@wilberfifer5563]

Excellent Work Gentleman! This will help all the DIY gunsmith's in the steps of doing it correctly. Thanks for taking the time to produce these videos and your generosity of sharing the knowledge. Enjoy the Holiday's

[@jeffgrier8488]

Thanks for taking the time to make the video, this is really interesting and great info!

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome, Jeff!

[@oldhorse4171]

Looks good. Can't wait to pick up my 94 that you just finished. Lot of people think magic happens overnight. Good detailed video!

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks a bunch! We'll be looking for you.😉

[@dianecullum1281]

(Mike C.) Very helpful, informative and much anticipated segment! I have several firearms projects I saved for retirement and all of them will require rust blue and case hardening. This 40 minute video was literally a valuable lesson for a lot of us! Me and my stack of old guns thank you!!!!!

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome! Let us know if we can help you get through that stack of old guns. 😉

[@mikedouglas2355]

Boy, that turned out great! There's a lot to unpack in this video about hand polishing and the techniques involved. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks 👍

[@kbjerke]

I know how difficult it is to keep those edges crisp and clean... Great job! 👍

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks Karl! It surely does. Attention to detail is critical.

[@claymiller1644]

As I gather up parts and prepared to send you a gun , it gives me great confidence to see these videos it’s really helpful to see the kind of dedication and knuckle bruising work that goes into the proper restoration.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks Clay! We'll be on the lookout for your project.

[@timtrax918artisan8]

Amazing work from you and your crew Sir. Thank you for sharing this and hopefully people learn about how many man hours its takes for this kind of work .

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thank you very much!

[@chrischiampo7647]

So Tedious The Metal Prep and Polishing and Keeping The Lines and Metal and Logos intact 😮😲😮 That’s Definitely a Job For You and Your Fine Craftsmen and Women Mark That’s Out of My League For Sure 😮🥵😇👍🏼

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks a bunch, Chris!!

[@paulvenn4447]

Great timing, I have a 94 XTR that needs some work and a re-blue, should keep me busy for a bit!

[@thecinnabar8442]

Best of luck on your project!

[@WilliamJohnson-g6z]

You guys really do amazing work. I'm glad I watched this. It gave me a lot of tips. Thank you again for another informative video!

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome! Glad it helped.

[@rjoetting7594]

I always enjoy watching you restore these fine old firearms, and I also learn a little bit more each time. The only time I have ever had to draw file a barrel was for a Kibler Colonial American Longrifle 54-caliber kit I purchased a little over a year ago, and for me draw filing a swamped 43+ inch barrel was a little bit intimidating. Then browning the barrel afterward was too. I just took my time and paid attention to what I was doing and was surprised with the results. Now I have a fine flintlock rifle that looks as well as it shoots. And the extra curly maple is something to behold. I'm looking forward to your next video.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Taking your time, being patient and paying attention to detail are keys to a good build or restoration. Sounds like you're doing it right.

[@elvingeorge6627]

Really enjoy videos that I can learn from. Hope you will keep posting these types of videos.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Glad you liked it. These kinds of videos take a lot of time to make and edit, but it's worth it if it helps people to learn how to treat these old firearms right. We'll keep posting them if people will keep watching them.

[@davidsims1329]

I just love watching you guys work, my grandson want to SDI for gunsmiths

[@thecinnabar8442]

Best of luck to your grandson in his gunsmithing adventure.

[@henrysara7716]

Thank you Mark

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome!!

[@jeffryrichardson9105]

Great information!👍🏽😊❤️🇺🇸

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks Jeff!

[@matthewsullivan5713]

I cannot wait to see the charcoal blueing process. I'm in the process of making a fine .40cal smoothbore muzzleloading pistol and I want to charcoal blue some of the components, but can't find a good resource for charcoal blueing. Looking forward to your experience and expertise in the following videos! As always, thank you for your incredibly valuable information you provide on this channel, it is super interesting and allows hobbyists like me to learn advanced techniques without having to commit to an apprenticeship!

[@thecinnabar8442]

I probably won't get into fine details about the charcoal blue process, but you'll be welcome to contact me if you have questions after we post the video.

[@udflyer98]

Beautiful work Mark!

[@thecinnabar8442]

Thanks a bunch!

[@grassroot011]

Thanks, interesting for sure.

[@thecinnabar8442]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@billhatcher2984]

The first gun I blued I hand polished to 1000 grit I had to draw file the whole thing then polish all by hand to a color finish it was beautiful when I finished

[@edwardweiszbeck1649]

100 percent. Worth doing it right

[@thecinnabar8442]

I have a feeling she's going to be a beauty. Thanks for watching!!

[@loupuleff571]

Mark have you ever tried to sand the octagon barrel on a flat surface lined with sandpaper so hold the barrel by hand and run it across on the flats while pushing it down if you know what I'm referring to ? I did that once with that sticky back paper on a stainless steel table top and it came out pretty darn good.

[@thecinnabar8442]

I haven't tried that particular technique. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@MegaBait1616]

How's the bore on the barrel ?? thanks from NC ..

[@thecinnabar8442]

Excellent. If it weren't, we would make a new barrel for it. We now have all the correct stamps for medium frame Colt Lightning barrels.

[@richardhutchinson4016]

Wow , you are patient men! When polishing an octagonal barrel it seems like the flats that you draw file would end up wider than the ones not needing draw filing. Do you end up with an asymmetrical octagon? Am I over thinking? Thanks again for the video!

[@thecinnabar8442]

That's part of the painstaking process of polishing and paying attention to the fine details. You must pay attention to both keeping the lines straight and keeping the flats even. Those techniques and that level of detail is a little beyond the scope of this brief intro to polishing.

[@roadking99jokerst60]

A guy may feel it looks good at a pertikaler grit finish but if one crosses That grit with a finer grit , the scratches will be apparent. I learned this long ago on knives. I spell as I speek.

[@thecinnabar8442]

Very true. On these old firearms restorations, we try to match the grits used by the factory on the final polish as closely as possible. It's always tempting to go just one more grit to make it look even better that original.😉

[@peterconnan5631]

Thank you very much. A question if I may: how do you handle the "concave" corners (for example where the trigger guard meets the receiver along the sides)? You can't really change direction there, so how do you know when to change grits?

[@thecinnabar8442]

Great question. The initial work is done with the edge of a backer. If you watched the last of Josh polishing, he was using a rotary tool to final polish that particular area. You're right, there can be some tight spots that are difficult to change direction. A polisher has to use some ingenuity at times. There are lots of little tricks that are beyond the scope of this basic intro to polishing.

[@nathanadrian7797]

I bought a Frankenchester, and now I need a little advice. The rifle is a 94 carbine in 30 wcf, made in 1905, and it hasn't had a nice life. Are the fore stock bands different sizes for different years? The fore stock band on my carbine does not seem to fit quite right, the bolt comes through under the barrel too low to be threaded into place.

[@thecinnabar8442]

We see a lot of old guns that have been put together with parts from the wrong guns. If I understand your description of the problem, my best guess is that the barrel band is from a different model of rifle.

[@kendavis1516]

Who and where did you get the restamping done?

[@thecinnabar8442]

A fellow gunsmith and I had them made and he stamped these parts for me. When we finished, I paid him for his share of the stamps. We now have them at Wyoming Armory in Cody.

[@Rainmaker60LM]

roughly what do you charge for this job, to restore it with the case hardening?

[@thecinnabar8442]

Every restoration is different and, thus, the cost is different. Typically, our restorations cost little more than half of our chief competitor and take less than half the time to complete. If you're interested in having a gun restored, I'd encourage you to send pictures and details about the work you'd like to have done. www.wyomingarmory.com/about-contact.html