# Care of Nickel-Plated Arms



## Revolver (Aug 26, 2006)

Are there any extra percautions I should take in respect of not harming the finish during routine cleaning and maintenance? This will be the first nickel-plated firearm I've ever owned.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

I'm pretty sure U are not supposed to use any solvents made to remove Copper - it can affect the nickel.


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Under nickel plating is a thin layer of copper and if you have a small chip or deep scrach it will start to peel at that point. If you use copper cleaners. I use kerosene and Hoppes #9. Wipe real dry and wax with carnuba wax. Good luck with your new gun and don't forget some pictures.


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## Revolver (Aug 26, 2006)

So I only need to worry about copper solvents and kerosene and kerosene-based solvents are safe. Thanks. I'll have pics and info after the holidays.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

To be honest - I'd just stick with Breakfree CLP if it were me...


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Kerosene is safe on any gun. We use a lot harsher stuff than that on them. Read some of the labels of what is some of this stuff. Ketones,amonia,and some have acids. It's just going to take the powder and soot off. It's not going to take lead and copper out of the barrel. Good luck.


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## Warhawk (Jan 4, 2007)

Look up the recipe for "Ed's Red". It's an all in one gun cleaning solvent/llube that I have used for years. It's based on a WWII field expedient bore cleaner that could be made from common materials.

Here is one link ... http://www.gungrabber.com/edsred.htm


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Here's the mix for Ed's Red. Good luck.

Acetone 1 Part
Turpentine (or Mineral Spirits, or Deodorized Mineral Spirits) 1 Part
Sperm Whale Oil (use ATF, I use Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF) 1 Part
Pratt's Astral Oil (now K-1 Kerosene) 1 Part
An optional ingredient was Anhydrous Lanolin, USP, up to 200 grams per Liter. This is a thick and sticky semi-solid and in practice the Mineral Spirits should be slowly (a little bit at a time) incorporated into the Lanolin until a well-mixed Lanolin soup is formed. Then the rest of the stuff can be added by shaking.

Pratt's Astral Oil was essentially deodorized, acid-free Kerosene.
Sperm Whale Oil is no longer available and no longer legal to own.

As previously noted, there is no provision for a copper remover. However, it is said that the remaining copper is easy to remove with copper removers and regular use of Ed's Red seems to reduce copper fouling to an acceptable level.

Many people are tempted to make the brew without the Lanolin. After all, it is a messy process at best. However, using the liquid lanolin can be a help if one is squeamish. Moreover, the legend surrounding the use of lanolin in bore cleaners goes back at least to WWII, where soldiers in the Pacific Theater favored captured Japanese bore cleaner to our own-- supposedly, it is said, because of the lanolin content. (Taken from Gen. Julian S. Hatcher).

Mineral Spirits has found favor because it is supposedly less flammable than Turpentine. It may be, but turpentine brings added solubility to the party. Mineral spirits and Kerosene are very much like one another and really only differ siginificantly in molecular weight. Therefore, their solubility properties are more similar than different. Turpentine is refined from tree resin and the tree makes it from terpene units. That would bring additional solubility properties.

The acetone is problematic. Acetone is good because it is a different character of solvent, and it is of a lower level of toxicity than some replacement chemicals. Acetone occurs naturally in the body from the metabolism of fats and alcohol--it is, however, toxic in any event. I recently took a patch and soaked it in Ed's Red and took note of how long the acetone stuck around. It was about 20 seconds in the open air of my shop. It may not be of much use. Maybe there is another ketone that could be used somewhere.


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