About to polish my mag. Should I sand the underside? Is there a grain to the metal?

[halB]

Wow, that's a pretty exacting title right there. I hope these questions have not been answered, I did a search.

First: Should I sand the bottom of the body, where it attaches to the rail? Won't this affect how the sear interacts with the bolt?

Second: Is there a grain to the gun? Should I sand it circularly, you know round and round, or should I go back and forth, up and down the gun?

[bgjkm]

I wouldn't sand the underside of the body just to be safe, but I don't see it making to much of a difference. Your just sanding off like 1/50 of a milimeter off the body.

[Dawg047]

Wow, that's a pretty exacting title right there. I hope these questions have not been answered, I did a search.

First: Should I sand the bottom of the body, where it attaches to the rail? Won't this affect how the sear interacts with the bolt?

Second: Is there a grain to the gun? Should I sand it circularly, you know round and round, or should I go back and forth, up and down the gun?

Well, I would put the body vertical in a soft vice or use some wood to clamp it. I would then get some 220 and cut it into long strips about 1" to 1.5" wide. I would grab each end and then just go back and forth, so that the sand paper is wrapping around the body. .I would then flip it around and do the other side. I would do this same method with the feed, making sure the sand paper is conforming around the body or feed, kind of like cutting a tree down. This is to get all of the coating/finish off. I would then use some 400 wet/dry and do the same thing, make sure the body and 400 are wet when you do this. I would then use some 2000 the same way with water going in the same directions. I always sand round things like barrels and mag bodys in the direction they are shaped, in this case around. I sand falt things horizontally. Liek a rail, I would sand long ways. Now, if you take your time, you should get a very nice finish smooth finsh that is somewhat shiny. It should look like stainless steel since it is of course. I would then wash it off with Dawn dish soap to get all the wet slop/dust off of it. Then, if you want, you can get some Mothers rubbing compund and with a high speed buffer, polish it to look like your valve or even chrome! Hope that helps. DO NOT SAND ROUND AND ROUND, YOU WILL GET DISC SHAPED SANDING MARKS THAT WILL LOOK LIKE CRAP IN THE LIGHT, ALWAYS SAND STRAIGHT!

[Spider-TW]

Technically, steel has "grains", but as far as sanding goes, no, it does not.