[sniper350]

I know this is basic stuff, but for the beginner out there I thought I would post this.

Does your gun have a "polished" feed ramp ?.......no I don't mean smooth.....I mean have a mirror finish.

Well it should, and here is how to obtain one easily.

Supplies:
First go to the hobby store ( take your barrel ) and find a wooden dowel that perfectly matches the curve on your present feed ramp. Lay the dowl on the ramp like it was a bullet ready to load. I have often got away using a plain pencil for 9 mm barrels. 40 cals and larger may take a thicker piece of wood. Always use wood....if you slip, it will not damage the chamber.

Next sandpaper......... 600 grit wet/dry made for metal

Finally some jeweler's rouge or some fine polishing compound.

The process is simple.......take your dowel and wrap it with the 600 grit sandpaper. Work the dowl up and down the feed ramp in the same direction the bullet will travel. A drop of gun oil on the ramp may help with this process. No doubt, you will see some high spots where the ramp was cut out horizontally. Work on the ramp until you can no longer see any high spots. Depending on your barrel and the shape that the feed ramp was in this could take awhile. Take your time. Don't be tempted to speed up the process by using a rougher sandpaper.

Once the high spots are gone, wrap your wooden dowl with a soft cloth and apply the fine polishing paste or jeweler's rouge.
Work the cloth hard into the ramp. If you were successful in removing the high spots with the sanpaper.....the metal will come up like a mirror. You won't believe how smooth and friction free this surface can become.

That's all there is to it really........a lot of elbow grease, but it will pay off with a ramp that will feed effortlessly. The amount of metal that you will remove is tiny.......as long as you stick to the 600 grit.

Every gun I buy, this is the first thing I do to it after removing the packing grease from the barrel. Is it necessary ? Well, when you feel the slick surface of a highly polished feed ramp, and understand its main function........it sure can't hurt.

This process is for weapons used for self defense....where the tinniest advantage might make a difference. I have proven this can improve "slide or action" speed.

JF

 

[Nocturnal]

You have done this on a P99? Since the ramp is already baby smooth and chromed I really wouldn't want to put sand paper to it.

 

[sniper350]

Nocturnal,
Yes...... I polished my p-99 .40

My gun was bought 3 years ago..........and as you know there are many variants of P-99's out there in the market place. My gun is NOT an all German parts gun....like most. You can check for the eagle stamp on your parts to verify. Some guns were brought into the country by S&W (frames only) and the gun was built by S&W. My slide and barrel was made by S&W, only the frame comes from Germany.

So yes, if you have one of these guns.............the barrel feed ramp can be improved greatly.

If your barrel exhibits a "mirror" finish on the ramp then of course there is no need to fiddle with it. But there is a big difference between being "Shinny" and having a mirror finish---just so you know.

Thanks for pointing out the fact that some German made guns may not need this procedure.

JF

 

[Nocturnal]

Well I guess my point was I'm not sure that removing the chrome is worth the extra smoothness. My P99 is 100% German but of course I have no way of knowing how the ramp smoothness compares to yours.

I did notice that it only takes a few rounds (say 100 or maybe even less) to foul up the ramp, making it far more sticky. I suppose if you carry and clean after every shooting this doesn't matter. Without the chrome it seems it would foul even more quickly.

I'll try to take a pic and see if that's clear enough to tell if it's smooth or not.

 

[cahillxd]

How about this? I have modelers sanding cloth which a rubberized piece of cloth. It has no sand grit but is equal to 5000 grit(they also make a 10000 grit version but it's much too soft I would think). It gives model car paint jobs a mirror finish and might be good for this kind of polishing too.

HTH,
Chris Cahill

 

[cigarman]

Good points Sniper. I have a dremmel that I use with polishing compound and a felt cone that I use to polish the ramp.

One has to be careful not to alter the ramp unintentionally. I have 1500 grit paper that I use for trigger work on pistols in addition to/instead of the dremmel.

Interesting that you have one of the Walther imports with the Walther USA slide and barrel. I commented on that in the other thread. The opening in the slide and the barrel do differ in fit and finish. It is not poorer, just different. Mine fed fine without the polishing, but I did it anyway.

 

[sniper350]

Cigarman,
"One has to be careful not to alter the ramp unintentionally. "


I agree with your statement 100% and a very important point! .......That's mainly why I advised members to do the polishing "manually" with a wooden dowel. Less chance of making an error that way...... using power tools can be unforgiving at times! And you won't be doing any terrain changes using 600 grit ( or finer ) sandpaper.

It is true that many guns will feed just fine the way they come from the factory.......but I believe if it is possible to make it slightly better and do no harm - it can give you an edge. Many gunsmiths "polish" the feed ramps of their custom made semi Autos as a matter of fact.


Nocturnal,
I think you are happy with the functioning of your gun "as is".........and so I would not recommend you polishing. It is true that removing the tennifer finish or chrome in your case, has a draw back when it comes to long term storage. But I can't tell you how slick metal can get when brought to a mirror finish----you have to see it! My feed ramp can be cleared of powder resisdue with a dry cloth with one swipe. That's how "smooth" the surface has become with polishing.

Chris adds additional forms of polishing to the post. Even car finish rubbing compound can be used for the final polishing
stage.

Another tip that goes along with bullet feeding reliability.....I was always taught to load your magazine 2 bullets shy of max.
So a 12 rd magazine becomes a 10 rounder. Some companies are making 11 round magazines now to force people to load "down".......so the pressure on the slide from the bullets pushing upward is not so great that racking the action becomes too hard to perform for some.

JF