Hi Cliff-
Out of curiosity I polished up a spare barrel I had many years ago. I mounted it in a drill chuck, spun it up and polished it with wet and dry (mounted the the end that goes into the chamber which can't be seen so no need to polish that bit). I didn't bother to remove the bluing first. Only took a few minutes and looked good when fitted to the pistol.

I gave it a coat of car polish and it still looks good now-this was 20 years ago!

If you decide to reblue I also second the Birchwood casey kit. Used as instructed it works well.