How to Polish the Bolt?

[RainMan_JH]

I have seen it referenced many times about someone polishing the Bolt on the 870 to a mirror shine. My question is in reference to the 870 Express. I am not overly fond of the blued bolt and would like to "make it shiny". Can I polish the blueing off and shine up my existing bolt or do I just need to buy a new one? If so any words of wisdom on how I would do this.

[Hntbambi]

You can polish the bolt body. It is parkerized and will take some effort though. You can media blast it to remove the finish then use a buffing wheel or sand paper in ever increasingly finer grits to make it shiny. Don't polish the breech face portion of the bolt as you will be changing the headspace. Only polish the surfaces that run parallel to the barrel. You will need to use some kind of proctectant because you are now looking at bare metal. Getting it chromed or nickel plated is the easiest. That's what the Wingmaster has. Both Brownell's and Numrich have bolts listed, but you would have to call to see if they are polished or parkerized.

[jpfrog]

Hntbambi is right- you can polish it the way he mentions, or replace it through a purchase at Brownells/MidwayUSA. OR, you can make that action nice and smooth using my favorite, and probably the most fun, method. Go to local sporting goods store. Buy a couple of cases of shells (birdshot). Take shells to range, open a box, load shotgun. Yell "PULL!!" firmly and loudly. Identify orange target flying through air, aim shotgun at target, pull trigger, rack action, repeat...

[RandyWag]

When you decide to polish your bolt, It would be cool if you could post some Before, During, and After pics. Pictures are awsome

[PRegner]

It took me an afternoon to polish the bolt in my 870 Express. I broke down the parkerizing with steel wool, then went to work with newspaper and Happich's Semichrome polish. Well worth the effort.

[Vitaly]

Nice shiny bolt, looks good, maybe I will do the same thing with my shotgun in future

[RainMan_JH]

That looks fantastic. I have not been brave enough to try this yet. How difficult would you say this was to do? Also have you shot the gun yet since doing this?

[PRegner]

That looks fantastic. I have not been brave enough to try this yet. How difficult would you say this was to do? Also have you shot the gun yet since doing this?

It was an easy process; I worked on it while watching television one afternoon. The shotgun fires no differently with the polished bolt than it did prior to polishing.

Go ahead and take the plunge. I think you'll find (as I have) that tackling and completing projects like these are very rewarding.

[RainMan_JH]

I forgot to post here, but I chickened out with the polishing project. I ended up opting to purchase a Wingmaster Chrome bolt instead. I stumbled on it on ebay and got lucky by purchasing it for $30 US. Cleaned it up and put it in the gun and away I went.