Polishing opinions

[Seraphim]

After about 200 rounds, I've noticed the finish is wearing inside the frame, just beneath the feed ramp on the barrel. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to polish that part of the frame, since it was getting wear. A couple types of ammunition have had difficulty feeding when the slide is released from the locked to the rear position. Thoughts?

The weapon is a new Ultra CDP 2...

[Chuck43]

If it's not giving you trouble and you're still in the break in process and under the factory warranty I wouldn't recommend doing it.

[The Tourist]

I have essentially the same pistol you do, except that mine is the Gander Mountain version.

I checked mine, and it has the exact same wear marks.

Our frames are aluminum, and if I miss my guess, it is either aircraft aluminum, or surface hardened. The "black" is technically paint.

If you polish you will be altering the surface of the aluminum. If the mark bothers you, I'd first recommend that you cold blue it, checking first to make sure any touch up is compatible with the alloy Kimber uses.

I polish things for a living. When the rag or stone is black it's called "swarf." That's a combination of the paste, the carrier (water or oil) and the metal itself. Yes, you can make it shiny, but at the expense of removing irreplaceable metal.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by The Tourist I have essentially the same pistol you do, except that mine is the Gander Mountain version. I checked mine, and it has the exact same wear marks. Our frames are aluminum, and if I miss my guess, it is either aircraft aluminum, or surface hardened. The "black" is technically paint. If you polish you will be altering the surface of the aluminum. If the mark bothers you, I'd first recommend that you cold blue it, checking first to make sure any touch up is compatible with the alloy Kimber uses. I polish things for a living. When the rag or stone is black it's called "swarf." That's a combination of the paste, the carrier (water or oil) and the metal itself. Yes, you can make it shiny, but at the expense of removing irreplaceable metal.

Can aluminum be blued? Or must it be anodized?

[Seraphim]

OK. You've convinced me to leave it be. I forgot the frame was aluminum. I'll let it smoothe itself out. I'm not concerned by appearance Isolde the frame, merely function.

[RustyIron]

The wear is to be expected and nothing to worry about. The finish that Kimber uses on that gun is hard and it looks great... as long as you don't use the gun. As you put a few miles on the gun, you'll surely end up with more blemishes. If it bothers you, try some "aluminum black" to touch it up. Get it from

Amazon

Amazon

. It won't look exactly the same, but from the business end it will look great and is sure to impress your adversaries.

[Seraphim]

No, my comment was concern for whether that spot should be getting worn or not - whether there should be contact or if some ammunition was feeding incorrectly. I've owned enough firearms to realize they will 'blemish' - you should see the finish on the last duty gun I carried for about 15 years. Nor am I concerned about impressing adversaries lol. Apparently the wear there is normal, so there's no issue.

[Tankgunner]

With the alloy frames it is best to avoid magazines with steel pointed followers, such as CMC. When the slide grabs the round and slams it into the chamber, it also somewhat slams the follower into the frame below the feed mouth. Overtime it will accelerate wear and dig into the soft metal. CMC recognized this problem and sell a different mag with a shorter rounded follower called the power mag plus to be used with alloy framed 1911s.

I know this was not your concern or problem, just thought I'd throw it out there for future use.