How do You Polish Ramps ?

RugerNiner

I assume I would need a Dremel.
OK, that's about all I know, somebody take it from here.

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jaoob

I used crocus cloth and fine steel wool. That worked fine for me. Did not take much.

Jim

v35

Use Cratex brand rubber bonded abrasive wheels with your Dremel.
The flexible shaft attachement gives better control over the wheels.

mballai

1. Use Dremel
2. Cry
3. Buy New Frame

If you really don't know what you are doing, you can lightly polish with the cloth. Or give it to a smith and let him do it.

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NagantShooter

Use jaoob's method.

Xracer

If you're talking about an M1911.....

Jaoob's got it right....wrap a piece of crocus cloth around a 3/8" dowel 'till it's about .45 in diameter, and carefully polish the feedramp on the frame. NEVER use a Dremel tool on the frame!

Then, pin the barrel and link pin to the frame. Lay the barrel down in the battery position and feel for a "step". If the step is LARGE, you can use a very fine abrasive wheel on Dremel to VERY CAREFULLY polish the step (on the barrel chamber) down until you have a NEARLY smooth transition from the frame into the barrel. Then, BY HAND, (with the dowel & crocus cloth) continue polishing the barrel chamber until you can run a fingernail from the feedramp into the barrel and feel no difference.

This is not something you can do in 10 minutes! Work VERY SLOWLY and VERY CAREFULLY! Remember, you can always take more metal off, but you can't add it back on!

Edited by - Xracer on 08/07/2002 10:05:23

leeblackman

DO NOT USE A DREMEL!!! If you accidentally change the angle of the feed ramp any, it can be devistating.

If I'm wrong please correct me, I won't be offended.

The sound of a 12 gauge pump clears a house fatser than Rosie O eats a Big Mac !

IAMACLONE_2

Ditto!
DO NOT USE A DREMEL!!! , I did, then had to buy a new barrell.

JudgeColt

I have throated every barrel I ever throated with a Dremel using a combination, as necessary, of grinding wheels, Cratex polishing media and felt wheels with polishing compound, and have never ruined anything. Usually the Cratex is all that is necessary to remove the sharp edges that cause feeding problems on most barrels. If a lot of material needs to be removed, as on a M1911-pattern barrel that was made before the factory began doing most of the throating, a grinding wheel will speed things up, but again, be patient and light-handed. Remove the last bit of material with the Cratex so as to remove all grind marks. Finish up with the felt nub and polishing compound and you will have a mirror-bright and extremely slick throat. The only way to ruin a barrel or frame is to take off too much material in the wrong place. Do not remove too much material from the chamber so as to leave too much csse unsupported, which could cause a case blowout. Go slow and be careful and you will have no problem.

JudgeColt

I have throated every barrel I ever throated with a Dremel using a combination, as necessary, of grinding wheels, Cratex polishing media and felt wheels with polishing compound, and have never ruined anything. Usually the Cratex is all that is necessary to remove the sharp edges that cause feeding problems on most barrels. If a lot of material needs to be removed, as on a M1911-pattern barrel that was made before the factory began doing most of the throating, a grinding wheel will speed things up, but again, be patient and light-handed. Remove the last bit of material with the Cratex so as to remove all grind marks. Finish up with the felt nub and polishing compound and you will have a mirror-bright and extremely slick throat. The only way to ruin a barrel or frame is to take off too much material in the wrong place. Do not remove too much material from the chamber so as to leave too much csse unsupported, which could cause a case blowout. Go slow and be careful and you will have no problem.

ericthered

I am a 20 year dental lab tech so I use a handpeice. A dremel on slow speed with rubber points or wheels will do the same thing. You need at least two grades of rubber wheel. Rubber wheels are made of rubber impregnated with some grade of abrasive material. They are about 1 inch in diameter and about 1/8th inch thick. Ask for a medium grade and a high shine. The high shine removes almost nothing, but if the metal is smoothed well by the first wheel, it will shine it like a mirror. The wheels are also usually too big. About 3/4 - 1 inch in diameter. You can trim it down on a diamond fingernail file until it is the same diameter as the ramp curve. Then just gently move it back and forth with light pressure, until you see all the little imperfections smoothed out. You must brace your hand against the pistol and hold the machine very firmly, so that the wheel will not catch and run off on you. You can not remain in one spot or it will remove more from one area than another. It has to be in motion spread evenly over the entire desired ramp suface equally, continuously. Then use the high shine the same way and get it like a mirror. I have done every auto I have ever had and never had a problem. Magnifying glasses help to see the process better for me. What you are trying to accomplish with the first wheel is a pure smooth milky finish with no imperfections or scatches at all, even under magnification. This wheel will not "shine" the metal.

The high shine wheel will then illuminate any scatches immediately.

A rubber point is a flat ended cylinder of rubber about an inch long and about 1/4 inch in diameter. It goes on a different type of mandrel. Same thing, only shaped differently. The rubber point comes flat on the end, so you can shape it to be rounded or at a specific angle that will hit the ramp at the right direction. These are a little smaller than the ramp will be, but will work if you follow the directions.
The rubber wheel and mandrel seller can identify which goes with which. Either will work. I would not use anything harder than a rubber wheel or point.

Truing: It would be advisable to true the rubber wheel or point. This means you take a diamond fingernail file and hold it against the running wheel or point, firmly and without chatter, until it runs without any vibration, perfectly, smoothly. You remove the out of center material. Points need this most of all. They tend to chatter badly. The high speed of a dremel intensifies this problem.

These things should cost less than 5 bucks at a gun show.
Two rubber wheels or points, and one appropriate mandrel.

I only do ramps, I don't know enough to mess with chambers or
other critical areas.

Hope that is helpful to those who want to know.
Eric

thats'me