Hoppes No.9 is still my go-to, general purpose firearms cleaning solution and likely will be for years to come since I bought it in the big, 32 ounce bottle. My standard practice has always been to use it as a solvent, a cleaning agent, one that is wiped off, then oil or wax applied to prevent corrosion.
I'm not worried about it changing the color of the bluing on any of my blued firearms as mine were made well before 2000, when S&W went to it's current, EPA friendly oxide finish. Not worried about it on my nickel plated S&W either as S&W plated directly to the steel, no copper intermediate layer to worry about dissolving.
