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How do I smooth the rough brass on Muzzleloader?

I have just bought a muzzleloading kit (gun). 20% of the hardware is brass, but in the unfinished state. The brass is not smooth, it is rough to the touch. How do I go about making the surface smooth?

Patrick Screan
- Huntington Woods, Michigan
2001

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July 1, 2008

Hi, Patrick. This is simply a mechanical buffing process -- which is not meant to imply that it's either fast or easy :-)

As you finish up you will be using a very fine buffing compound on a very soft buffing wheel. But trying to get rough brass smooth with that would take longer than digging a foundation for a house with a teaspoon. So basically, and again I don't say it's easy, you start with a rather course polishing compound and, in a series of perhaps 6 or 8 steps, you get all the way to mirror smooth.

I would suggest that you practice on some expendable brass rather than on your new muzzleloader. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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