Best technique for polishing ramp/barrel on 1911?
- Thread starter Greg Bell
- Start date
Is the wear on the ramp causing feeding problems? If so, have it checked by a gunsmith or send it back to Kimber.
If the finish on the ramp is just not wearing as evenly as you might prefer, you need something that will act uniformly on the ramp without changing any of the surface angles or shapes. In that case, the solution is to shoot your gun more. The bullets will take care of any needed polishing during the feeding cycle.
If you must have a uniformly shiny ramp right now, use a minimally abrasive polish such as Flitz or Mother's on a soft cloth wrapped around a wooden dowel. Do not use a Dremel; they do too much too fast.
If the finish on the ramp is just not wearing as evenly as you might prefer, you need something that will act uniformly on the ramp without changing any of the surface angles or shapes. In that case, the solution is to shoot your gun more. The bullets will take care of any needed polishing during the feeding cycle.
If you must have a uniformly shiny ramp right now, use a minimally abrasive polish such as Flitz or Mother's on a soft cloth wrapped around a wooden dowel. Do not use a Dremel; they do too much too fast.
Greg it is the inside of the gun and it is perhaps the most important part of the inside of the gun . If the weapon feeds correctly leave it ALONE . I had a Colt Combat Commander that I bought used that the previous owner had played with the feed ramp and screwed it up royally I had to have a smith reshape it and throat the barrel just to get it through a magazine of hardball .
It is as I said on the inside of the weapon be more concerned with how the gun runs and not how shiney the insides are .
It is as I said on the inside of the weapon be more concerned with how the gun runs and not how shiney the insides are .
Cratex
What you need is a Dremel tool and a set of Cratex bits, which are different shaped bits made of a hard rubber with different grades of abrasive imbedded in it. I would use the finest grade to avoid removing metal, while polishing the ramp. I have their No. 777 kit, which has 4 grades of bits. The light green are the finest. You can polish pretty well with those, and it will smooth up any roughness without grinding away metal. You could potentially overdue it, but it would be alot of work to do with the fine grade. Knowing when you are done is important, I guess. Maybe others are afraid of someone going nuts with a Dremel grinding wheel which would remove alot of material. The Cratex bit will leave a shiny finish, and if you get a Dremel small stiff buffing wheel, and work some red rouge polish into it, you can finish after the Cratex and get a mirror shine on the ramp. It would be even harder to mess up with the rouge metal polish and the buffing wheel, but it is still a good idea to know when to quit. The idea is to polish the ramp without changing it at all. And it will leave bits of abrasive dust in the barrel so be sure to clean it completely and clean out the bore after you are done to remove any traces of abrasive material. It is not that hard if you use the proper stuff. I use the lowest speed on the tool I have.
What you need is a Dremel tool and a set of Cratex bits, which are different shaped bits made of a hard rubber with different grades of abrasive imbedded in it. I would use the finest grade to avoid removing metal, while polishing the ramp. I have their No. 777 kit, which has 4 grades of bits. The light green are the finest. You can polish pretty well with those, and it will smooth up any roughness without grinding away metal. You could potentially overdue it, but it would be alot of work to do with the fine grade. Knowing when you are done is important, I guess. Maybe others are afraid of someone going nuts with a Dremel grinding wheel which would remove alot of material. The Cratex bit will leave a shiny finish, and if you get a Dremel small stiff buffing wheel, and work some red rouge polish into it, you can finish after the Cratex and get a mirror shine on the ramp. It would be even harder to mess up with the rouge metal polish and the buffing wheel, but it is still a good idea to know when to quit. The idea is to polish the ramp without changing it at all. And it will leave bits of abrasive dust in the barrel so be sure to clean it completely and clean out the bore after you are done to remove any traces of abrasive material. It is not that hard if you use the proper stuff. I use the lowest speed on the tool I have.
1911austin
New member
I use progressively finer sandpaper starting with 600 grit working up to 1500 grit. I cut the sandpaper in to squares the size of a pencil eraser. I then use the eraser end of a pencil to work the sandpaper. I have found that this technique makes the sandpaper assume the shape of the feed ramp. It is not nearly as quick as using power tools or more abrasive materials but I have not screwed up one feed ramp out of over 50 that I have done. If you have a lot of tool marks in the ramp you will spend hours just with the 600 grit before moving on. In the end, I have always achieved a very smooth finish with moving much material or altering the shape of the ramp.
Bill DeShivs
New member
Sometimes it's better to know when not to start, rather than when to quit! If the gun works leave it alone, unless there is an obvious burr or rough spot.
If it doesn't work, take it to a qualified gunsmith. Learning gunsmithing by trial and error metal removal is an expensive hobby! I do a lot of intricate repairs on expensive items and have seen that something that is simple and easy to me is completely foreign to others.
Bill
BTW- polishing will not restore the finish, it will remove more of it.
If it doesn't work, take it to a qualified gunsmith. Learning gunsmithing by trial and error metal removal is an expensive hobby! I do a lot of intricate repairs on expensive items and have seen that something that is simple and easy to me is completely foreign to others.
Bill
BTW- polishing will not restore the finish, it will remove more of it.
cloudcroft
New member
I agree with Tom2...the Dremel is a great tool for this kind of work.
-- John D.
-- John D.
Greg,
Take a look at Why you SHOULD NOT use a dremel when polishing your ramp on the 1911 Forum. Particularly noteworthy are the comments by 1911Tuner and George Smith of Evolution Gun Works (EGW).
Take a look at Why you SHOULD NOT use a dremel when polishing your ramp on the 1911 Forum. Particularly noteworthy are the comments by 1911Tuner and George Smith of Evolution Gun Works (EGW).
The cautionary tales about the Dremel are well founded, but only in the wrong hands, like a "Rabid Bubba" who doesn't have a handle on a meaningful purpose....cloudcroft
New member
True. Do you think any gunsmiths use Dremels?
As said by others above, if you can control the little beast, then it IS the best tool to use.
I thought knowing HOW to use it was a given.
-- John D.
As said by others above, if you can control the little beast, then it IS the best tool to use.
I thought knowing HOW to use it was a given.
-- John D.