While looking under my kitchen sink, I stumbled upon a bottle of Brasso Metal Polish. I'm curious if anyone has ever used this polish on their SS guns? The bottle say's SS as well as other metals & I'm wondering how it would hold up on my SS pistols or how it would take to the finish?

Brasso is not a wax or a protective coating, but rather a polishing compound. I believe it was introduced around 1920 with lots of volatile hydrocarbons. Today's Brasso is water and alcohol based. I became familiar with it in the Army, since it was used widely to polish everything from brass hand rails to military uniform badges and insignias. Brasso imparts a very high shine and mirror finish, so would not be good for matte finishes. I find Brasso more abrasive than many other auto products on the market today like Mag Polish, and paint rubbing compound and prefer those if a high polish is desired.

The original Brasso contained stoddard solvent, silica, and ammonia that cut through wax and lacquer coating in order to shine the metal below. Today, Brasso contains ethanol, oxalic acid, isopropanol, ammonium hydroxide, limestone, and pumice.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Thanks Gary, since my Gen pistols are matte finishes, then it sounds like this stuff may not be good for their finishes. Your right, this stuff is abrasive and may reflect such on the finish of the gun.

Thanks again

It is actually a polish with ultra fine polishing compound in it. It would change the texture of your finish with any aggressive rubbing as it tries to turn your matte finish into a mirror finish. Chances are you would never be able to obtain such a finish, but it could certainly change the current look of your finish. Non-abrasive cleaners, simple soap and water, and window spray cleaners all work well to clean the surface without changing the appearance. Some people use the dishwasher for extreme cleaning chores on Stainless Steel guns.

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Gary
SWCA 2515

I should add that I'm not looking to change the finish on my Gen pistols, just trying to maintain & keep the original finish looking good. I'll keep it simple with continued use of a damp cloth wipe followed by a dry cloth wipe.