Cleaning medallions

[fourb20]

I am looking for a way to clean up the medallions on some of my older Smiths, any suggestions?

 

[LEO918]

I use a wooden toothpick and a little Flitz. Then brush with soft toothbrush.

 

[mojave30cal]

Be careful on some of the earlier post war medallions as they
were made of plastic.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

I use a cotton cloth such as a cleaning patch, use a very light film of Flitz and use finger tip to lightly rotate the patch onto the medallion. Don't overdo this as on the older gold colored ones who knows how thick the plateing is. Use a Q tip to clean the edges. Hope this helps.

 

[fourb20]

Thanks for the advice

 

[Hondo44]

Good advice from Vulcan Bob.

Often the medallions have lacquer or other stock finish on them. It's hard to polish off with Flitz. I clean carefully with lacquer thinner or acetone first, if I suspect that.

 

[chief38]

A soft toothbrush is indispensable around the Work Shop. When I am P'd off at Mrs. Chief38 I use hers LOL!!!

 

[DWFAN]

I use a Q tip. I try to stay away from acetone just because it can cause finish issues, but sometimes you have to play with the devil to get the best results. Most times I just use mineral spirits for cleanup. I use Maas polish. I ain't selling stock here so use what you want.
Don't forget that Q tip.

DW

 

[chief38]

I agree about not using Acetone unless nothing else is working. I have a can in the Work Shop that I used just yesterday to clean glue off a piece of plastic. It did work better than Mineral Spirits and Alcohol which I tried first, however it did slightly etch the plastic as I did expect. I wasn't concerned in this instance since the plastic was to be covered up once again anyway - just be careful when using Acetone.

Not a fan of the smell either!

 

[Waveski]

This previous discussion may be helpful---

Clean Medallion

 

[wheelgun610]

One warning: Acetone will literally eat the plastic medallions that were used on some of the early post-war stocks. At a casual glance those medallions looks just like the ones made of metal, but the plating on them looks dull in comparison.

Mark

 

[Hondo44]

They could also be stainless steel, not nickel plated, check with magnet.

 

[wheelgun610]

They could also be stainless steel, not nickel plated, check with magnet.

Hmmm... I wasn't aware that S&W made any from stainless....
Do you know when that was?

Mark

 

[153]

Early Model 60 revolvers were all stainless - including the medallions. I found a pair when cleaning out some old pistol grips that belonged to a gun shop which had a fire. I purchased the stocks and pulled the medallions. Later I put them in some rosewood handles for my 66. I discovered when polishing them up that they were solid stainless steel, a nice find...

 

[Hondo44]

Hmmm... I wasn't aware that S&W made any from stainless....
Do you know when that was?

Mark

Plastic and SS were used in the early 1950s due to the brass shortage caused by the Korean war.

A magnate will differentiate between nickeled brass and SS. If not all, most SS used on guns is magnetic.