Polished my 870 Bolt assembly

[vipervt09]

I've always loved the way the Wingmaster looks. Between the blued receiver, the walnut wood, and the polished bolt, its great! I wanted to get my 870 Express to look a bit more like that. The biggest eye sore for me was the black oxide bolt carrier. I only have about 100 rounds through the gun, along with a bunch of extra pumps to work the action, and there is already scuffing. I decided to try to remove the oxide (Blue and Rust Remover), and polish up the bolt to see how it looks. Worst case scenario, I could always cold blue it again, or even buy a WM bolt.

Here are the results. I haven't decided how far I will polish it yet, and getting the shiny look of the WM bolt will not be easy. I'm also not too sure how it will react to not having the blue to protect it. I figure if I keep it maintained, and properly oiled, I shouldn't have much problem with rust.

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[nbk13nw]

With regular maintenance you won't see any rust or pitting. Polished mine more that a year ago and no issues.

[vipervt09]

With regular maintenance you won't see any rust or pitting. Polished mine more that a year ago and no issues.

Were you able to polish it to a more shiny finish? I was wondering if I need to use sandpaper, or just different polishing compounds to get it less dull. I used steel wool which did great at taking off the oxide, but did not do much in the way of shining it up.

[Chief Brody]

I'm interested in doing this to my parkerized 870P, maybe even going a bit further with the shine. Could you tell us what you used, how you did it? Thanks.

Steve

Looks great, by the way.

[vipervt09]

I'm interested in doing this to my parkerized 870P, maybe even going a bit further with the shine. Could you tell us what you used, how you did it? Thanks.

Steve

Looks great, by the way.

I used Blue and Rust remover ( http://www.midwayusa.com/product/778458 ... -oz-liquid)

Once you clean the part, you simply wipe on some of the remover, and scrub a bit with steel wool. Took no time or effort to remove the black oxide. I am not sure about a parkerized finish, or if the process would be any different.

I am planning on trying some sandpaper to get it shiny. Start with 600 grit and move up to 1000 or higher.

The hardest part of the entire thing was trying to take the firing pin out of the bolt. The retaining pin was so tight it wouldn't budge, so I stopped hitting it. I just made sure to clean and oil the whole thing afterwards. Also, that stuff really stinks, like sulfur, so I recommend doing it outside!

[Chief Brody]

Awesome, thanks - I'll look into whether it makes a difference if it's parkerized. If not, I'll definitely be giving it a try.

[Synchronizor]

Just to clear things up for anyone who might not be aware, the shiny bolts used in Wingmasters and some Police 870s are not just bare polished steel, they're chrome-plated to reduce wear & friction, and protect against corrosion.

870 Express with chromed bolt dropped in

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Simply stripping the oxide or phosphate surface layer off other bolts can make them look cosmetically similar to chromed bolts, but the unprotected steel will be more susceptible to corrosion and galling, even with regular lubrication. Understand that there's a functional trade-off to this cosmetic mod.

[Karlo]

I was gifted a 17-year-old 870 a few months ago and have been refurbishing it. I'm the type of guy that likes to doll-up my weapons, I also took out my bolt / locking block assembly to polish it, only because it had a wee bit of rust starting due to lack of care. I spent and hour and a half in front of the TV scrubbing it with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and honing oil, the paper will not clog if you use honing oil, by the time I was done, the rust was gone and it was smooth with a dull finish, so I took it to the garage and got out the dremel and used some Flitz polish on it, it shined up a little, only because I believe the bolt assembly is made from some sort of hardened metal to handle the impact when a round is fired, after cycling the action a few times the typical wear marks showed up where the assembly rides in the receiver. Hence I felt it was a waste of time. Regardless, I liked dolling it up. If for some crazy reason I need to replace the bolt I'll just purchase a chromed bolt / locking block assembly for a Wingmaster and call it a day.

Bottom line >>> which do you want to invest, Time or Money ?

My opinion ... the chromed Wingmaster bolt would require less maintenance !

[nbk13nw]

I used a dual buffing wheel. One for removal and smoothing it out with a black S.S. Rouge and a softer wheel with a white SS polishing rouge to give it a shine

[Synchronizor]

Bottom line >>> which do you want to invest, Time or Money ?

I found my chromed bolt on Ebay for about $20. Just needed a good cleaning and a set of extractor parts - which I already had in my other bolt.