Talked to S&W about suitable cleaning products for M&P

I'm fairly new to polymer pistols and have read many conflicting reports on what's suitable for cleaning them. I decided today to go straight to the authority and ask them.

I bought a new M&P Shield 2.0 9mm a couple months ago and have been using Hoppe's #9 on it and CLP as well. On my metal guns I use gun scrubber also or similar solvents but hesitated to use it on polymer. I've read many conflicting reports but simply do not trust the majority of information I reason the internet. This morning after shooting a few rounds at the range I went to clean it but decided to call S&W customer service and get the facts.

Customer service stated that solvent sprays like gun scrubber are just fine. The did however say NO products CONTAINING AMMONIA. Ok great, gun scrubber is fine and then I checked the label for Hoppe's and right on the label it states that it contains AMMONIUM HYDROXIDE (ammonia). Customer service stated several times that ammonia will damage the finish.

So now we know sohlventsmade for guns are OK but good old Hoppe's is NOT GOOD. I think from this point on I'll use CLP to clean and lube and gun scrubber to get the deep crud out of the inner crevices.

Hope this helps.

I'm afraid you won't find too many people here who will agree with the factory about Hoppe's, or ammoniated solvents. Pretty hard to get folks to read product labels or owner's manuals, much less follow the important information found in them.

Thanks for passing the information about your conversation with Customer Service though. Always good to get this confirmation straight from the horses mouth.

I feel confident that members will be right along with testimonials about how great products like Hoppe's, Flitz, and Semichrome are......and how they've been using them for years with no damage at all, even to their nickel finished revolvers.

This has been discussed in the revolver section for some time. Apparently the new "blue" finish is very chemical sensitive and YES Hoppe's will dull and in some cases remove the bright blue finish.

On the dull finished duty guns, like the MP, I honestly don't think this is the case. Smith uses their version of Melonite, a combination surface hardening and coloring finish, first used in the large scale gun industry by Glock.

Hoppe's makes a LOT of different products, so, I'm not sure which one you are talking about... If you are referring to the bore cleaner, you are probably correct, and, I would not use it for anything other than the bore... I've cleaned the bore of my M&P9c hundreds of times over the past 14 years using Hoppe's with no ill effect...

I’ve been cleaning the bores and the slides of my M&Ps with Hoppes #9 starting in 2006 and there has been no damage to the finish whatsoever.

My wife’s .380 EZ has been regularly cleaned inside and out with Hoppes and there’s been absolutely no damage to the finish on her pistol either.

I don’t intentionally apply any solvent to the polymer frames but if any gets on them I just wipe them dry with a cloth and have never had any problem.

That being said, I wouldn’t use strongly ammoniated, copper removing solvents such as Sweets, Butch's Bore Shine, or Shooter’s Choice.

Since the bores of pistol barrels don’t foul with copper like rifle barrels do there’s no reason to use such strongly ammoniated solvents anywhere on a handgun.

Not an expert, but my understanding on S&W's recommendation againsted using ammoniated solvents applied to their blued and clear-coat finished guns, not the M&Ps. The CS rep may have just given you a blanket statement that may not necessarily apply.

With that said, I've used Break Free CLP for cleaning and lubing since the 90s with good results. For several years I used Gun Butter oil for lube while cleaning with CLP, also with good results. Last year I switched to non-toxic MPro7 for cleaning and Lubriplate for lube and, you guessed it, had good results.

Oh, on the topic of Gun Scrubber...I believe it actually says on the can if it's safe for polymer guns. I haven't used mine in a few years and I'm too lazy to dig it out right now, so maybe someone can chime in.

I'm just passing on what S&W told me. I specifically asked about the M&P Shield and not the new blue finished guns. I don't own a Smith with blue newer than 1977 so not a worry. As to Hoppe's, I looked on my NEW bottle of #9 and it says contains Ammonium Hydroxide. I have a degree in organic chemistry and ammonium hydroxide is household ammonia. As I stated I'm pretty new to polymer guns and wanted to get the answer straight from the experts. I've been using Hoppe's #9 for fifty years probably and that's been my standard cleaner for that time. However in the last 27 years I've used CLP for a combination of lubrication and cleaning with some guns.

Just presented the information as given by S&W and nothing more. I thought it might be of some benefit for others that are new polymer owners. In any case I'd suggest calling the manufacturer rather than getting a dozen different answers from the internet.

I use several products including Hoppe's, but an enzymatic cleaner degreaser from Mil-Comm called MC25 is a good option to have in the cleanup kit.

ContinentalOp said:

Oh, on the topic of Gun Scrubber...I believe it actually says on the can if it's safe for polymer guns. I haven't used mine in a few years and I'm too lazy to dig it out right now, so maybe someone can chime in.

Click to expand...

Gun scrubber comes in two flavors, regular and polymer safe. The regular says right on the can not safe for plastics.

When I was in the police academy many years ago, we were issued a cleaning kit with Hoppes #9 bore solvent. Used that on my stainless steel revolvers and my Glock 19. Bore, slide, inside frame. Never an issue. Done the same with every other plastic gun I own, several M&P’s included. Never one issue.

When I had my 642 many years ago, it had the clear coat finish. I sent it back twice because it kept peeling. S&W told me to not use anything other than oil to clean the gun.

If you don’t want to use Hoppes, then don’t. But millions of satisfied customers can’t be wrong. I think whatever drone you got on the phone was reading from some script.

.38SuperMan said:

I'm just passing on what S&W told me. I specifically asked about the M&P Shield and not the new blue finished guns. I don't own a Smith with blue newer than 1977 so not a worry. As to Hoppe's, I looked on my NEW bottle of #9 and it says contains Ammonium Hydroxide. I have a degree in organic chemistry and ammonium hydroxide is household ammonia. As I stated I'm pretty new to polymer guns and wanted to get the answer straight from the experts. I've been using Hoppe's #9 for fifty years probably and that's been my standard cleaner for that time. However in the last 27 years I've used CLP for a combination of lubrication and cleaning with some guns.

Just presented the information as given by S&W and nothing more. I thought it might be of some benefit for others that are new polymer owners. In any case I'd suggest calling the manufacturer rather than getting a dozen different answers from the internet.

Click to expand...

You’ll get a dozen different answers from various Smith &Wesson customer service employees as well.

Thank you for relaying what the particular person who you interacted with at S&W has told you, however, if you do a thorough search of this site you’ll find examples of others being told by S&W that Hoppes #9 is safe to use on those pistols, and others who’ve been advised as you were.


Currently available formulations contain less than 1% ammonium hydroxide.

Hoppes # 9 safety data sheet.....

Ammonium Hydroxide <1%
CAS number: 1336-21-6 M factor (Acute) = 1

https://www.hoppes.com/on/demandwa.../sds/04e3a446-2860-4fdd-9e91-49ea662e5830.pdf

Cleaning with currently formulated Hoppes #9 won’t damage Melonite and similarly finished pistols.

Pretty sure that's what the owner's manual says. But I digress . . .

.38SuperMan said:

I'm just passing on what S&W told me. I specifically asked about the M&P Shield and not the new blue finished guns. I don't own a Smith with blue newer than 1977 so not a worry. As to Hoppe's, I looked on my NEW bottle of #9 and it says contains Ammonium Hydroxide. I have a degree in organic chemistry and ammonium hydroxide is household ammonia. As I stated I'm pretty new to polymer guns and wanted to get the answer straight from the experts. I've been using Hoppe's #9 for fifty years probably and that's been my standard cleaner for that time. However in the last 27 years I've used CLP for a combination of lubrication and cleaning with some guns.

Just presented the information as given by S&W and nothing more. I thought it might be of some benefit for others that are new polymer owners. In any case I'd suggest calling the manufacturer rather than getting a dozen different answers from the internet.

Click to expand...

To be on the safe side, stick with steel handguns. Just saying.