Cleaning Nickle

SDH

SDH

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It has recently come to my attention that cleaning nickle guns with standard solvents such as Hoppe's #9 is not good for the finish. Make sense that if it has copper solvents it could potentially harm the plating.

What do you think of this notion and what do you use for cleaning nickle revolvers? I've been using Clenzoil as it seems the most benign of the stuff on my shelf. A friend mentioned Prolix?

(M-13-3, faux ivory and 10-5 Detroit Police)
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:) I clean all my guns by putting them in mineral
spirits and scrubbing them with a brush and blowing
them off with a air hose. Then I spray them down
with silicone and blow them off with a air hose again.
You can use the mineral spirits over and over. This
is cheap and works for me. Don
 
Haven't had my nickel 37 very long but did notice that my silicone cleaner rag I use on all my other guns leaves a "dull" finish... so I follow up with a tee shirt and it gets "pretty." I will, however, continue to clean the bore with Hoppes... it needs to be clean and I don't think it will hurt the outside finish if wiped off quick enough. Thinking about trying Flitz... I have some. Isn't it a bit abrasive though? I can get a chrome like shine just using the silicone-treated rag and then wiping it off. What do you guys think?
 
gunlovingirl said:
I've used Breakfree CLP.
Click to expand...

Yea, I use that on the "inner-workings" after cleaning my guns. Never thought of trying it on the nickel exterior finish. I'll give it a "go" and see how it looks. Thanks for the suggestion.

What do you do when you need a tee shirt for cleaning? You gals don't have a lot of used-up tee shirts, do you?

Rod
 
Just remember that all polishes, like Flitz or Mothers, are abrasive. Don't go crazy with it or use it every time you clean or you'll polish away that pretty nickel finish.
 
Maybe I wasn't clear?? I meant cleaning after shooting, powder residue and the bore.
I normally use Hoppe's #9 on the blue guns but have heard it's not so good for the nickle.
Thanks for all your responce.
Steve
 
cleaning nickel

I recently got turned on to using Hoppe's Elite bore gel. It will clean nickel bore, cylinder and forcing cone's if you follow their directions and scrub lightly with tooth brush. Yes, I have my own toothbrush just for me... I have used Flitz and Mothers on the exterior and they look great. Note: treat carefully and use any abrasive sparingly. Kyle
 
For my nickel guns, I use CLP and Kroil (combined) for the bore/internals. If the gun is going to sit for a long time, I run a dry patch through the bore/cylinders, and then push a patch through with a light coating of "Rigs" grease. I do this because I've seen nickel guns (thankfully, not my own...) that have had solvents leave spots on the nickel finish after seeping out of the barrel and/or cylinder and resting on the finish over a period of time. I'm not sure what solvent was used (could have been an ammonia based solvent like Hoppes, or not...?), or if the spot could be corrected, but it always stuck in my mind to be careful of that with nickel.

For the external nickel, I initially polish them with some flitz (and I go easy with it...), and then maintain them with a wax coating. I have not used Mother's Mag wax on nickel, I just think it's too abrasive, and the Flitz does the job just fine. The wax really keeps them looking great, and any powder residue is easy to just wipe off the surface.

Some people are leery of nickle guns because of potential finish issues, but if you maintain them properly, you will not have any issues. I like both nicke and blued guns, but I find nickel to be much more durable than blueing (I believe that's why they nickled guns to begin with...).
 
I scrub my nickel 586 with Breakfree CLP and use an old piece of denim to wipe the major oil off the outside of the gun . After cleaning, I take a shower. Then I use the damp towel to wipe down the outside of the gun. After I throw the towel in the laundry I blow on the outside of the gun and fog it like a mirror with my breath and finish buffing it out with a t-shirt. The gun stays super shiny that way and I almost never need Flitz.
 
I have found that If you apply Breakfree to the bore with a mop at the end of your shooting and cleaning session,you will be able to clean the bore with Breakfree on a brush or patch the next time you shoot.This will eliminate the need for hoppe's#9.It works on a nickel 29-2, 6-1/2 with lead handloads @ 900 to 1000 fps.
 
I guess one could use Break-Free CLP,or Kleen-Bore 3-In-1 oil.I imagine they would be fine because they are oil-based.People probably used whatever was at hand. Maybe even Gasoline,or kerosene.The old-timers pretty much used whatever they could find to clean there firearms. Extra money for ammo and cleaning supplies must have been scarce for those living in rural areas.The shooters of the day simply did not understand the importance of regular firearm cleaning like we do today.(Just like they did not understand the need for hearing protection.) With all that corrosive primers being used,Hoppe's #9 was a very popular nitro-solvent.
I seem to remember reading many years ago that it was OK to use #9,just make sure that you WIPE OFF any excess solvent ASAP.
Otherwise,you will dull the nickel finish.
Whenever I see an old nickel-plated revolver with a dull or flaky finish,the first thing that comes to mind is that they may have been using Hoppe's 9 for years incorrectly.(I have nickel-plated 5-inch M&P from 1919 that is suffering from this condition..)
 
Hoppe's #9 has ammonia in the formula. Ammonia works well to attack and dissolve copper (and brass) deposits in the bore. Unfortunately, nickel guns have a layer of copper underneath the nickel. Nickel will not plate directly on steel, so a copper plating is applied first. If there is a nick or worn spot in the nickel plating, it exposes the copper to the Hoppe's solvent, and flaking will be the result. I avoid all use of Hoppe's on my nickeled guns, and just use CLP. Better safe than sorry.
 
David the Gnome said:
Just remember that all polishes, like Flitz or Mothers, are abrasive. Don't go crazy with it or use it every time you clean or you'll polish away that pretty nickel finish.
Click to expand...

Dave,
Flitz isn't abrasive. It will not even burnish bluing. May be you are thinking of Happich Simichrome polish.
 
Both of the Flitz basic polish products (paste and liquid) list that they are OK for "nickel and Factory Hot Gun Blueing" on their website.

However,,They do have "Not suitable for: Electroplated Finishes" listed on their website.

I take it by 'nickel', they mean solid, and not a plated finish.

Have no idea why it would damage electroplating, but the warning is there.

Says nothing about it's effect on electroless plating which is also commonly used today.
 
Ed's Red. If I am unfortunate enough to have leading, pure gum turpentine and a tight patch will clean it if the Ed's (which has turpentine) does not. A Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser will get any remaining black ring off the cylinder face. Other solvents are suspect.

A 25-5 purchased in the last year was cleaned meticulouosly by its former owner. When I got it, it had the lovely smell of Hoppe's #9. Unfortunately, the nickel is now coming off the cylinder face of the once minty gun and gets worse with each firing.
 
I curently don't have any Nickeled Guns but have in the past, I only used Breakfree CLP & Flitz on them..
I have a Smith & Wesson Model 547 which has several parts made from Berilium Copper, The ratchet & extractor segments in perticular & only use CLP on these parts & wipe dry with a clean patch afterwards.. I do use Hoppes #9 on the bore but never the cylinder as to avoid contact with the Berilium Copper parts..
Just something to be aware of on the irreplaceable parts..
Great Thread..
Gary/Hk
 
Hi
I clean all my Nickel revolver's Internal cylinders and Internal Bore's with Hoppes Number #9 and dry Patch them when done. I Never apply it to the Nickel surfaces on my revolver. I then swab the bore and internal cylinder surfaces with Corrosion-X, as it has proved to be the best Lubricant to me. I have a Large number of Nickel finished guns and now use Renaissance Products on them all. I have found Pre-Lim which is their Polishing Paste to work very well and be a Lot less abrasive than Flitz, Maas, Mothers, and Simi-Chrome. When I buy a used Nickel finished handgun it depends on what shape the Nickel is in to what I decided to Polish it with. For those with lot's of Micro scratch's, Flitz seems to cut to the chase quicker than any other Polish's mentioned here. Once I arrive at a High Polished luster with all scratch's about gone, I switch to pre-Lim and finish up with Renaissance Wax. The Wax seals the High Polished Look and keeps the gun looking new also it Prevents finger Prints. It can be found below in the Link Provided from the Main United States supplier as it is Imported from England. Dennis is a great guy to deal with as I have ordered it several times from him. The revolver shown below came to me with a small amount of Handling scratch's and I used The Renaissance Products to clean it up. I have found if it is cleaned after firing on the face of the cylinder with Pre-Lim and followed up with the Wax, eventually it will make clean up a Cinch as the The Wax seems to seal the Metal Pores after it is applied a few times. I hope this helps, Hammerdown



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I recently bought a nickle model 36. As I was cleaning it I saw saw what I believe to be blueing on the edge of the sideplate and where the yoke fit into the frame. Also there is no "N" stamped on the frame. I have two other J frames, M49 and M38, both are nickle and have an "N" stamped on the frame. I suspect this M36 this gun has been plated. The plateing is in pretty good shape; no pitting, cracking or flaking. Is there a way to tell for sure?
 
There are a couple of special nickel situations which also need to be addressed.

The first has to do with the patina which we often find on the older nickel guns. I have some from the teens, twenties, and thirties which have a beautiful soft, almost satiny glow. Most collectors value that cloudy patina and would consider it to be a travesty to remove it. So before you start rubbing, be sure that you aren't diminishing the value of a fine old collector piece.

The second special situation which I have run across has to do with what we call the "Pawn Shop" engraved guns. These are the guns from Wolf & Klar which were stylisticly "engraved" during the forties and fifties. In those cases the scrollwork is cut through the factory applied nickel and the raw metal is often exposed. If a polish which attacks the copper undercoating is used, I suspect that it might accelerate the peeling of the plating. I haven't found what I would consider a safe method to polish these guns or others in which the nickel has already begun to peel.

Bob
 
G'day Steve and all those who have followed this thread. It's an old thread now but I've only just found the time to pass on some more information that a few of you may find of interest.

Another old book in my library is one entitled, "Fortunes in Formulas", first published pre 1910. My copy is the 13th printing, January, 1946.

Now I don't expect many (any) of you to follow these directions, but, I quote;

"TO CLEAN ARTICLES OF NICKEL;

Lay them for a few seconds in alcohol containing 2% of sulphuric acid; remove, wash in running water, rinse in alcohol, and rub dry with a linen cloth. This process gives a brilliant polish and is especially useful with plated articles on the plating of which the usual polishing materials act very destructively. The yellowest and brownest nickeled articles are restored to pristine brilliancy by leaving them in the alcohol and acid for 15 seconds. Five seconds suffice ordinarily."

And also,

"TO CLEANSE NICKEL,

Fifty parts of rectified alcohol; one part of sulphuric acid; one part of nitric acid. Plunge the piece in the bath for 10 to 15 seconds, rinse it off in cold water, and dip it next into rectified alcohol. Dry with a fine linen rag or with sawdust."

The alcohol referred to is ethyl, grain or ethanol. Rectification means to purify by repeated distillation. I am no chemist so I can't elaborate.
Maybe methylated spirits is a possibility.

Now, I know we don't want to clean our guns this way so don't tell me this is impractical; I know that, but one of you may find it of interest.

Frank S.
SWCA 2052.
 
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