Clear Coat Finishes

[ingmansinc]

I don't come to this area much so this may be a worn out subject, but I just got off the phone with S&W. I own two revolvers, model's 638 & 642 and the clear coat is peeling. They are sending me a shipping label and said they will take a look at the problem and possibly repair at no cost.

They told me the reason for the finish coming off is probably due to ammonia in Hoppe's #9 solvent.

 

[InTheWoods]

What did you clean them with? The clear-coat is sensitive to ammonia cleaners and the manual that comes with the gun warns to use only gentle cleaners such as CLP. I have had my 642 for several years now with no pealing issues, and it gets used quite a bit. I only use CLP as a cleaner and, for additional clear-coat protection, wax the frame with paste wax. No issues whatsoever, so far.

I also wonder if Smith has upgraded the finish somewhat on the recent guns. It doesn't seem like the issue comes up on this site near as much as it used to. Or maybe folks are just more careful cleaning after all the reported problems using strong solvents?

 

[Gebe]

I'm sure that's correct about not using ammonia but I have a Model 317 with the clear coat and I've used Hoppe's to clean it many times with no harm to the coating. In fact, all I use is Hoppe's on all my guns' bores and then lube them with CLR afterwards.

However, it's an older model 317 that I purchased new in 1998 and maybe the clear coating was different back then.

 

[kbm6893]

I had a 642 that I sent back to S&W TWICE for the peeling finish. And I fired that gun only two different sessions, and kept a seperate cleaning kit so nothing other than CLP would come in contact with it. The finish mostly peeled on the hump, since I carried it in a soft suede holster with a thumbstrap. I was able to just pull the gun without snapping the holster strap, so I guess that is the reason why it peeled. But the clear coat finish sucks. Hoppes #9 has been around forever, and S&W should have designed a finish that would not be so sensitive to probably the most common cleaner out there. I know someone who blasted the finish with Gunscrubber just to get rid of it. Took the whole finish totally off.

 

[ingmansinc]

S&W called today to let me know that they refinished my revolver at no charge. They had to put a new serial number on it as the original came off in the refinishing process. They will ship to an FFL of my choice and reimburse me for any FFL fees. They said that either sweat or Hoppe's #9 may have caused the clear coat to peel. I know it wasn't sweat so I guess we'll blame the bore cleaner for now. Whatever the cause they made it right at no cost to me, in a week. I am not very enthusiastic with clear coat, but I can't complain about the service.

 

[borntoraisehogs]

Ingmansinc
"They said that either sweat or Hoppe's #9 may have caused the clear coat to peel." ???
My Marine big brother would have told me long ago if Marine sweat would strip the finish from wood products . If it requires the consumption of some combination of adult beverages , he would be glad try them .
I am impressed they are going to these lengths to preserve the original characteristics of your piece .

 

[ranger7]

S&W called today to let me know that they refinished my revolver at no charge. They had to put a new serial number on it as the original came off in the refinishing process. They will ship to an FFL of my choice and reimburse me for any FFL fees. They said that either sweat or Hoppe's #9 may have caused the clear coat to peel. I know it wasn't sweat so I guess we'll blame the bore cleaner for now. Whatever the cause they made it right at no cost to me, in a week. I am not very enthusiastic with clear coat, but I can't complain about the service.

My experience indicates that there may be different formulations of S&W's clearcoat and some may be more resistant to damage than others. I had older pre-lock 642s that seemed to suffer no damage at all from cleaning with Hoppes #9 while a newer, IL equipped version needed refinishing twice before I sold it. To be honest I found it hard to believe that S&W would finish a revolver with something that couldn't take cleaning with Hoppes. I've since replaced all my clearcoat finished 642s with either 442s or Ruger LCRs. I already avoid S&W products with the IL and now I have another "feature" to avoid.

 

[ab4ka]

interesting...I never thought Hoppe's was that strong, although I understand they've changed the formulation at some point. I had some Birchwood-Casey bore scrubber that was extremely strong. I took a whiff of it once and almost passed out. I don't let it touch my guns anymore. If I need something serious I use Ed's Red (I mixed up a gallon about 3 years ago and still have 80% of it left), but 90% of the time I just pull a Boresnake through them followed with a little Eezox or Militec-1.