How to Polish the Barrel of a Gun

Is the barrel of your semi-automatic pistol looking old and grungy? Maybe it rusted at some point and is now dulled in places. Maybe it just needs a good shining up. Unless your gun is brand new, your barrel could probably use some help. Here is what I do:

1. Attach a soft polishing wheel onto a rotary tool, such as a Dremel.

2. Take the barrel out of your gun and place it somewhere sturdy, like in a bench vice. Do not clamp it too hard, however, and use rags or something soft around the barrel so that the waffle pattern does not damage it.

3. Dab a little polishing compound (you can find this stuff from Mother's, Turtle Wax, 3M, and Meguiars, to name a few) on the wheel while it is spinning at low RPMs. If your rotary tool isn't multi-speed, I'd dab it on there manually and then turn the unit on. You don't want it flying everywhere.

4. Apply the compound to the barrel with the rotary tool at higher RPMs, if possible, pressing down firmly. If you use a lighter touch, it'll take longer to polish, but be sure not to press too hard, either, because you could damage the tool. I always say to use "medium" pressure, but I realize that is pretty vague.

5. Once the barrel is polished, you can oil it up and put the gun back together. Check out that gleam!

Decent polishing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcYFOH09_w4