I know there is a lot about this on the forum. I have Flitz and Simichrome polish. The Flitz I bought today. It say to use on nickel, no ammonia, and then it says " not for electroplated metals.

Ok, so how does the nickel get on my 586 if not by electroplating???

Everybody on this forum uses Flitz on their nickel guns. How do you get by this disclaimer? Are guns not electroplated, I doubt it?

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Pete,

They are electroplated. Basically, almost everyone ignores the label directions and warnings and does what they please. Kind of like the warnings on Hoppe's No. 9.

BTW, according to the MSDS, Semichrome does contain ammonia. (ammonium oleate) No ammonia in Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. Almost all of these polishes contain abrasive media, like aluminum oxide, for example.

Use with caution and follow label directions. Nickel plating is a very thin coating. That black stuff on the polish rag when you're done....that's your plating.

Carter

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I guess I didn't read that far....
All I can say is "It works."
This 10-5 was quite yellowish when I picked it up.
These pictures are before a coat of Ren Wax which made it really pop.
(The odd blemish you see is the apple on my iPhone.)

IMG_2531.jpg

IMG_2519.jpg

Thanks Carter. I looked up ammonium oleate. It is used in cosmetics. Probably not ok for a nickel gun, but OK for your wife's face

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

So that's what happens to their faces when they get old!!!!!!!!

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Jim
S&WCA #819

The warnings on these products are way to general to provide us with the whole story. Ammonia does not attack nickel plating. This has been clarified many times on this forum when someone states that it made their nickel finish peel; it did not!

The electroplating in jeopardy is only the copper plating UNDER some nickel plating by independent re-finishers. Of course when it's eaten up by the ammonia, what's going to happen to the nickel plating on top of it? IT PEELS OFF BECAUSE IT'S NO LONGER CONNECTED TO THE GUN METAL.

And no manufacturers of firearms that I'm aware of, certainly not S&W, pre plates with copper.

And that's the rest of the story.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

I have read that Colt used a copper plating on their firearms that received highly polished nickel finishes. Don't know for certain if that is true and I have no nickel plated Colts, so I cannot check.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Don't use the Simichrome - use the Flitz (much better on Nickel)! Use an old Cotton T Shirt and NOT any motorized tool! Disassemble gun so inside can be cleaned free of all polish afterwards. Check work often and proceed gently. I would not use ANY polish on Nickel more than two times over its lifetime - it will eventually thin it out.

So then what's the black stuff on the rag when I polished the steel barrel of my blued CZ Vz45?

(Edit: using Mother's Mag)

I use Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish, very carefully on mine, and NOT often! both S&W and Colts....so far,so good.....(maybe I'd better go look at them!)

I have used both Mothers Mag. and Flitz with good success. My oldest nickel is my 1947 M&P, and I only use Mothers Mag on it; Flitz is a little more aggressive.

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John

Some nickel is ElectroPlated
It can also be plated by Electroless Plating.

The latter is a popular method for aftermarket shops as it doesn't involve the chemicals that are EPA sensitive in electroplating.

I don't know if any of the factorys use Electroless Nickel Plating.

All said,,it's still a plating of Nickel,,,and if a chemical were around that was supposed to damage nickel plating, I suspect it would do so no matter the way it was applied.

FWIW, Colt did at least at one time use copper flash plating under the nickel plating. I can remember the copper plating showing on more than a few used N/Plated Commanders and 1911A1's that came in for repair or custom work.

I don't know if this was just something they did for a certain time or 'always'. It's just something I remember seeing on the guns from time to time in the 80's and 90's.
But I couldn't say now how old or new those particular guns were at that time.

In the 80's, there was a somewhat popular engraving technique & look produced by cutting 'through the Nickel'.
The engraving cuts were left 'in the white' and the slight variation betw the bright nickel finish of the pistol and the bright steel engraving cuts was quite stunning.

It was quickly found that the technique could only be done on NIB guns.
If the work was done on a used pistol, even one that appeared like new,,the plating would quickly start to lift and peel along the engraving cuts.
The thought was that the prior firing of the gun had flexed the parts enough to break the bond or at least loosen it betw the plating and the steel.

These were S&W pistols for the most part that were done up.
If a NIB gun was done,,there was generally no problem ,,,unless the gun was then taken out and used(fired). Then that same issue of the plating lifting started to occur.

S&W didn't use any copper under plating which was a plus for the technique. That left a clean nickel to steel nine in the engraving where cut.

When the same style technique was done on a Colt that had been copper underplated, a very narrow band of copper plate could sometimes show on a cut. That copper would quickly oxidize in the air and turn black or brown spoiling the look.
But I don't remember the Colt plating being a problem with peeling though maybe it was and I just don't remember anymore.

The technique came and went rather quickly with it's peeling problems.

Pete-I think the key is to use a tiny amount of polish, then rub gently. I have applied Mother’s with a little dab on my finger. Then gently clean it off with an old t-shirt or polishing cloth. Follow with a little Renwax and into the safe. Generally those guns become safe queens. I have plenty of others to shoot frequently.

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

Interesting. A few years back, I was looking for something that would work on an old S&W that was nickel and starting to turn a yellowish color. I read a bunch of posts on this forum, and a lot of the members said to try a German made product called Wenol and to use the one in the blue tube. So I got some and tried it and it worked absolutely great. It does say on the label that it MAY cause cancer, but anymore, I think just about everything out there at one time or another has the same possibilities.

I wonder why it hasn't been mentioned here. Also, none of my nickel guns that I have used this on have gotten cancer. Good luck.

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John
SWCA #3401 SWHF #737

Wenol is still around. I saw some not awfully long ago, and it brought back memories of when it was quite popular. I do not have any comparison experience with it, so I cannot suggest how it stacks up. I am a convert to Flitz, then Ren Wax with a microfiber cloth. It's hard to beat the results, so I have ended experimentation.

When nickel plating began back in the mid-1860's the steel was base coated with a copper or iron plating to improve adhesion.
Iron was often used on cheap guns, copper was the normal material.
This is why on old lower priced guns the nickel is peeling off but you don't see copper.

In the 20th Century methods were developed to allow plating directly to the steel, but some gun makers still used a copper base plate.

Because of the thin, delicate nickel plate it's best to use a metal polish only when you have no other choice and then limit how hard or much you use it.
I recommend as mild an abrasive polish as possible and use a microfiber cloth.
Flitz seems to contain less abrasive material.

The metal polishes do turn black from the chemicals and from the removed layer of finish.
You'll see this on blued guns also and that's both the polish and oxidized bluing.
The key here is that EVERY TIME you use a metal polish the abrasives remove finish.

A nickel finish is just like any coating; in order to "remove" light scratches you have to remove enough of the coating to get to the bottom of the scratch.
This is really no different then "removing" pits in steel. Enough has to be removed to get to the bottom, but unlike metal, plating has a bottom.

So, use metal polishes on nickel only when you absolutely have to, and only as much and as hard as you can get away with.

Renaissance Wax is what we use, very mildly abrasive.

I use simi chrome polish to remove the dullness on nickel finishes lightly and Stainless finishes, once the finish looks like new I use fritz from then on. I save the used simi chrome polish to use on blue finishes. It makes the dull finishes on blued guns look new again.