Scoring and Scratches on Barrel Bushing

R51Fan2017 · April 13, 2018, 07:39:22 AM

Has anyone noticed their barrel bushings that may have individual scoring and scratch marks? Mine was free of anything like that when new. Now after about 290 rounds, it has these hideous scratches on it. Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating about it being hideous. But for someone who is picky about their guns appearance, and keeping it as like new looking as possible, this just got to me. I field stripped it the other day to see if there was a bur or dirt or something on or under the slide which could be causing this. It's as smooth as silk. I am sort of perplexed as to how this is happening in the first place. Anybody else having this problem? I will post a pic later today if anyone needs to see it. Thanks!

funflyer · April 13, 2018, 09:52:44 AM

Sean, post a pic when you get a chance. I noticed some scratches on mine when it was new, before I ever fired it so I polished the bushing. They were light scratches and polished out easily without removing any material. Now, sneaking up on 1000 rounds, the bushing is scratched again in several places but I believe they are from handling/field-stripping. I'll post a pic later, going to the range this morning to test my 1911s new extractor.

R51Fan2017 · April 13, 2018, 10:53:38 AM

Will do Todd. I am at work right now, so I can't pull it out. When I go on lunch in a little bit, I snap a couple right quick.

funflyer · April 13, 2018, 06:49:11 PM

Here's what mine looks like.

Engineerpower · April 13, 2018, 07:38:07 PM

Mine has that too, it's from catching on the sharp edges inside the slide during dis/assembly.

R51Fan2017 · April 13, 2018, 08:34:31 PM

Sorry for being so late here. Just got back, so here is what it looks like. Good grief Todd, yours looks worse than I have seen before. What the heck am I complaining about?

https://i.imgur.com/yRq27uP.jpg

Kind of hard to see I know, but that is the best I can do for now.

R51Fan2017 · April 13, 2018, 08:37:00 PM

Cameron,

I would be very tempted to agree with you, except I already looked there. It is nice and smooth. Maybe it happened during reassembly somehow. Who knows.

funflyer · April 14, 2018, 09:48:21 AM

Quote from: R51Fan2017 on April 13, 2018, 08:34:31 PM
Good grief Todd, yours looks worse than I have seen before. What the heck am I complaining about?

They'll all get pretty ugly eventually so a spare might be a good thing to have. Mine has been field-stripped no less than 30 times, maybe more. The bushing is not hardened and that also makes it very easy to scratch.

R51Fan2017 · April 14, 2018, 02:22:18 PM

Quote from: funflyer on April 14, 2018, 09:48:21 AM

They'll all get pretty ugly eventually so a spare might be a good thing to have. Mine has been field-stripped no less than 30 times, maybe more. The bushing is not hardened and that also makes it very easy to scratch.

Thanks for shedding some light on that subject. I was wondering if the bushing was hardened or not. I guess there is no need for it.

Engineerpower · April 22, 2018, 06:25:43 PM

I expect it's stainless, so no hardening available, unfortunately. Would be possible to do it in Titanium, or maybe a really deep Type III Hard Anodizing in Aluminum.

R51Fan2017 · April 22, 2018, 07:41:57 PM

Quote from: Engineerpower on April 22, 2018, 06:25:43 PM
I expect it's stainless, so no hardening available, unfortunately. Would be possible to do it in Titanium, or maybe a really deep Type III Hard Anodizing in Aluminum.

Thanks Cameron. I thought you could harden stainless steel? I am no metallurgist, so I guess it shows. Titanium would be pretty expensive compared to stainless, so it's no wonder why it isn't made out of that instead.

DUTCH Van Atlanta · April 23, 2018, 05:56:27 AM

Quote from: Engineerpower on April 22, 2018, 06:25:43 PM
I expect it's stainless, so no hardening available, unfortunately. Would be possible to do it in Titanium, or maybe a really deep Type III Hard Anodizing in Aluminum.

It attracts a magnet, which stainless does not. It's supposedly chrome plated for surface hardness steel, which I read somewhere was one of the improvements from Gen 1

There's one way to prove or disprove the chrome plating. Put a drop of muriatic acid on it. It will dissolve the chrome.

R51Fan2017 · April 23, 2018, 07:15:19 AM

Quote from: DUTCH Van Atlanta on April 23, 2018, 05:56:27 AM
There's one way to prove or disprove the chrome plating. Put a drop of muriatic acid on it. It will dissolve the chrome.

Thanks Dutch. I don't think I want to try that experiment though. I trust you!

Engineerpower · April 23, 2018, 08:27:55 AM

Quote from: R51Fan2017 on April 22, 2018, 07:41:57 PM
Quote from: Engineerpower on April 22, 2018, 06:25:43 PM
I expect it's stainless, so no hardening available, unfortunately. Would be possible to do it in Titanium, or maybe a really deep Type III Hard Anodizing in Aluminum.

Thanks Cameron. I thought you could harden stainless steel? I am no metallurgist, so I guess it shows. Titanium would be pretty expensive compared to stainless, so it's no wonder why it isn't made out of that instead.

There's not many stainless flavors that can take a hardening, it's the same way most are non-magnetic or weakly so. Both properties are based on how the metal is able to crystallize on the microscopic scale, and the nickel and chromium atoms in the SS lattice prevent it from being able to form the proper grain structure for magnetism and hardening.

Engineerpower · April 23, 2018, 08:29:25 AM

Quote from: DUTCH Van Atlanta on April 23, 2018, 05:56:27 AM
[There's one way to prove or disprove the chrome plating. Put a drop of muriatic acid on it. It will dissolve the chrome.

Another way is to set it on a Ford bumper and count to 12. If the rust leaches out from under the chrome on the Ford, you know it's got the plate...