How do you keep a nickel plated revolver shiny?

A

aarondhgraham

New member
I have a very nice Nickel plated Model 34,,,
I know I should not use anything abrasive at all on this gun.

LittleSister-lr.jpg


What should I use to keep it nice and shiny?

Aarond

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I use Hoppes gun metal polish on mine,and also on my stainless handguns.
It comes in a tube like toothpaste, just a little bit of it goes a long way, and it's not abrasive.
 
There are a variety of "mag wheel polishes " on the market if it has no abrasives...

but personally I use Flitz liquid polish ....you can get it from Brownells and other places...

it works on Nickel and Stainless guns ...

Here's a photo of a stainless Freedom Arms / and a Nickel model 27-2 S&W...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=81292&d=1336585674

the Freedom Arms is new ( only polished once this week ) ...the Model 27-2 has been polished many, many times...( both still look great ) and get shot a lot...
 
Here's a secret for you..... ALL metal polishes are abrasive. That's what metal polish is.
The abrasive may be very fine and the maker may not state that their's is abrasive but they all are.

Every time you use a metal polish on nickel it abrades off a thin layer of the nickel.
Rub a little too hard, use a more aggressive polish, or use too often and you'll abrade the nickel right down to the steel.

Used only once in a while and when absolutely necessary and used very gently you'll do a lot less damage.
A possibly better option is to use a NON-Automotive wax like Renaissance Hard Carnuba or Johnson's Paste wax will keep it shiny without damage.
 
Thanks gentlemen,,,

I was fairly certain that any polish had to have an abrasive in it,,,
My initial concern was that of wearing through the plating.

I have some Johnson's Paste Wax,,,
I'll give that a try this weekend when I'm kicking back.

Thanks for the information.

Aarond

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Shiny stainless

I,ve used the wax shop, super glaze, hi-def. for years on all my guns, blue or stainless. but i hear stainless wheel polish is better for stainless, or bright guns. I think I'll try it. In mean time the wax shop product has worked great, leaves no residue around any stampings or engravings. works good on wood too. It's mostly carnauba.
 
Wax isn't "polish" in the sense of doing any cleaning Aarond...

wax won't remove some of the carbon that my revolvers get on the sides or the faces of their cyclinders...
 
Hello BigJimP,,,

I believe you are correct when you say wax doesn't polish (clean),,,
in fact it would probably encase any grime even tighter.

I've had decent results cleaning the nickel plated gun,,,
But the sheen that I would like to see isn't there,,,
In fact the finish is rather dull after cleaning.

So I will clean it very well,,,
Then I'll try the wax to make it shiny.

I like shiny. :D

Aarond

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I'd do the Flitz once to clean it up and followup routinely thereafter with Ren Wax as mentioned, it's really nice. Then Flitz once a decade or something like that:)
 
I like shiny too ....

I had my Freedom Arms 4 3/4" and my Nickel mod 27 4" at the range this afternoon ....( put 6 boxes thru them combined - with some tactical drills on the model 27 ..and some fun with the single action Freedom Arms) ....and I'm heading back in a few minutes to put at least 2 more boxes thru the Freedom Arms ( both .357 mag ) ....and I just cleaned and polished both of them at my desk in my office in the last half hour .....( I closed the door - told my secretary to hold my calls ) ...

I hate to drag around dirty - crummy looking guns...
 
Here's a secret for you..... ALL metal polishes are abrasive. That's what metal polish is.
Click to expand...

This is incorrect. Most metalk polishes work by etching the surface of the metal, and not by abrading it. Abrading metal is to remove the top layer of metal by phyiscally dragging or scraping a (usually) harder substance across the surface, thereby mechanically removing the base metal, much like a chisel removes wood. Etching is aprocess where the top layer of metal is removed by exposing it to an acidic substance that chemically disolves the top layer of metal. The result is the same.... A shiny new layer of metal is exposed. The difference is one is a mechanical process, and one is a chemical process.
 
shiny gun

The only thing I've found, at least around here, is flitz cloths followed by scrubbing the cylinder face with a plastic pot scrubber. Then I floow up with wd-40 rag, and then some carnuba wax. I make sure surface is clean before wax. But getting front of cylinders on stainless or nickle guns require Flitz. Believe me, I've wasted all kind's of money to get powder off stainless guns, bit Flitz works the best for me.
 
shiny gun

I forgot to add in my last post that I've used polishing compound {not rubbing compound] to clean the flutes on my stainless gun occasionally when it gets bad. DO you think it's hurting my gun? It sure shines when I'm done but I don't know the results in the future. For reference, It's an old model vaquero with polished stainless finsih. Also a taurus nickel or chrome plated revolver. I inherited it so I'm not sure what finish it has.
 
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I have a 20yrd old Nickel plated PT99AF and it was really bad. It had stains in it and was as flat and dull as 180 grit sandpaper. I had never polished it. Just light lubricant.

Polished it with Noxon 7 last weekend and it looks new again.
I think Flitz and Noxon are the same company and almost (if not) the same product.
Not sure.
 
Buckhorn:

As long as it's a stainless gun and you're polishing the outside of the cylinder, (not the cylinder face) the only possible damage is that over time the abrasive might blur the sharp edges of the flutes and make them look odd.

If you're using an abrasive on nickel you WILL wear the finish through sooner or later to bare steel.
 
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