Pro-shot Metal Care Cloth and Nickel Plating

[george_lehr]

I recently acquired my first nickel plated S&W (a model 57 no dash). I'd read that Hoppes no.9 should not be used to clean nickel plated guns. I've used CLP Breakfree, but had to work very hard to clean the gun (especially the cylinder face).
Has anyone had experience using Pro-shot metal care cloths to clean nickel plated guns?
I've submitted a question on the Pro-shot website asking if the cloth was safe for nickel plating but have not heard back yet. On the website it says the cloth is good for blued, stainless steel and chrome plated surfaces and it has worked well for me on blued guns.
George.

 

[DWalt]

First, the commonly held opinion about Hoppe's #9 being damaging to nickel plating is a pure myth. But it's probably not the best thing to use as a metal polish. I don't know anything about the Pro-Shot cloth. On the occasions when I clean nickeled guns (I have only two of them), I use Flitz metal polish (which is mildly abrasive) followed by waxing with Johnson's paste wax. I use Flitz mainly because I bought a tube of it many years ago, and still have most of it. Only a small amount is needed for a single gun. Ditto with the Johnson's paste wax. A large can will last you a lifetime, and longer. There are some metal polishes made for use on car chrome trim, and some use them on nickeled guns. This is one I hear mentioned a lot, but I have not personally used it: Mothers® Mag & Aluminum Polish For cleaning cylinder faces, try using a fine Scotchbrite pad with polish.

 

[arjay]

Ive used mothers mag polish to clean the cylinder face on stainless and nickel guns.It works quite well,but keep in mind that it does contain abrasives.

 

[Florida Guy]

I don't know if your Pro-shot cloth should be used on nickel, but I have the Lead-Away cloth, which is not meant to be used on blued as well as nickel guns.
Also, I've used Hoppe's #9 on nickel without any problem. I've read that if the surface is scratched, that the solution will then cause problems with the finish if left on for any period of time.
If gun is blemish free (no scratches or such), Hoppe's #9 should be a fine cleaner.
Wet a green scotchgard piece and run lighly on the cylinder face.
Also you can use a toothbrush. The dirt will eventually disappear.

 

[DWalt]

"Also, I've used Hoppe's #9 on nickel without any problem. I've read that if the surface is scratched, that the solution will then cause problems with the finish if left on for any period of time."

At one time, Hoppe's contained ingredients (ammonia, I think, or something like it) which removed jacketed bullet bore fouling by attacking the copper. Typical decorative nickel plating uses a base deposit of electroplated copper, followed by nickel plating. Therefore, anything which attacks copper could conceivably damage the nickel plating. HOWEVER - gun manufacturers plate using only nickel - no copper substrate is applied. So there is nothing there to attack.

By the way, it's Scotchbrite, not Scotchgard. Scotchbrite comes in several different grades of abrasiveness, generally indicated by color. I think the least abrasive is white, the most abrasive is brown. Other colors are in the middle. See: http://www.hmgpaint.com/knowledge-base/scotch-brite-grades/

 

[chief38]

30+ years ago I would routinely clean Nickel guns with Hoppes #9 and never knew it was suppose to be bad for the plating. I never have any issues with the Nickel and switched over to Rig#2 which is fine for Nickel guns. I don't know how true the legend is about doing harm to Nickel, but being that there are so many alternatives I'd probably not take a chance on it - just in case.