what to polish my brass 1851 with ?

Brasso would certainly work but I'm not sure if it has anything in it that could remove blueing or damage that finish - or your grips if you are going to polish the backstrap. Most hardware stores sell brass polishing clothes or other compounds - check and see what they have. Or, you might try plain old toothpaste which is an abrasive - I've used it on polishing slide grooves/rails on semi autos. Put some on a cleaning patch or a piece of old tee shirt and see what it does. In the end . . brass is brass. What you need to be concerned with is the finish on your grips or the blueing and any possible damage to those finishes with the chemicals in whatever you use. I don't have a brasser but the brass trigger guard and backstrap on my '51 Navy wouldn't know what to do if it ever was polished. Personally, I prefer the aged/used look. :)
 
Blue Magic, Flitz, NevRDull, are all good polishing products. I prefer Blue Magic if I'm going to polish at all.

As a general rule, I don't polish my brass, whether on revolvers or my '66 carbine. I prefer the 'patina' look after much use.

My Engraved 1860 Henry is another matter all together.
 
There are numerous ways to clean brass, including Brasso. I'd suggest you Google "Cleaning Brass" and then choose whatever option you prefer. I personally do not like 'polished' brass on anything. I grain it with very fine Scotch-Brite then clear coat it with laquer, if it's furniture related. For things that I like to handle, like guns, I grain the brass and then use furniture paste wax to temporarily protect it from oxidation. Brasso, Paste Wax, Lemon and Baking Soda, yadda, yadda, yadda. They all require about the same amount of work and brass demands routine maintenance to stay bright. It's your choice.
 
If its a gris-pietta I would check rough edges in the hammer slot especially the devil horns. If rough, file and polish-- and see if hammer hand slot is smooth so spring doesn't break--if not smooth, use a small round file and then polish if not cocking smooth and lining properly . Of course trigger spring has to be right. After doing this it is possible to bugger up barrel, especially octaganal. If you have to touch up barrel bluin without a professional Oxfo Blue (brownings) is good. Work on the barrel edges with time and patience. They are hard to blue.Hopefully you want have to. As far as the brass goes--it will tarnish --brasso applied gently is good and ballestol will make it shine. This is what I had to do with mine. Now don't get me wrong-you might not have to do all this but these guns don't always come perfect.

WBH
 
I pretty much polish a lot of metals. Here are my recommendations:
Remove the backstrap from the gun, THEN polish. Neverdull wadding is probably the most convenient, but I prefer Simichrome polish. Brasso is too coarse. After polishing the backstrap, scrub it woth soap, water and a brush to remove the polishing compound from all crevices. Dry and reinstall.
 
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