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Old August 16, 2006, 03:08 PM   #1
PO-Dan
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Clean / Polish Blueing??

I picked up a well used Browning model 1955. The blueing is about 80-85%. I want to polish it up as best I can. I used breakfree CLP and got the light rust mostly gone. What else can I use? I have some Flitz, but I am not sure if that will work or not -- though the tube says safe for blueing. I just want to clean it up more, polish it, and protect it.

Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks!
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Old August 16, 2006, 08:19 PM   #2
Dfariswheel
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I wouldn't use ANY polish, even Flitz.

While Flitz is used by some people on blued guns, it's still an abrasive, as are almost all metal polishes.
Rub a little too hard and it can remove the bluing.
Over time, even used carefully it will thin bluing.
If you do use it, it should be used very rarely.

Since your Browning's bluing is already thinned, using a polish will degrade it further.
I'd suggest either sticking with the CLP Breakfree, or use a good wax like Renaissance or Johnson's Paste Floor Wax.

I'd be careful about using an automotive wax. Many of them contain mild abrasives to polish out the paint. and again, can degrade bluing.
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Old August 16, 2006, 08:29 PM   #3
rem33
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Try some 0000 steel wool along with the CLP. Shouldn't hurt the blue.
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Old August 16, 2006, 09:55 PM   #4
PO-Dan
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I used the 0000 and the CLP when I first brought the pistol home. It took some of the rust off, I was just scared to rub too much or too hard, I figured it would remove the blueing pretty easily.

I know I have seen a Flitz brand "gun wax", maybe I should give it a try?
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Old August 17, 2006, 03:22 PM   #5
Unclenick
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Get a bottle of Gunzilla. This is a vegetable-based bore cleaner, but it is particularly good at loosening rust. I bought a bottle on Commercial Row at Camp Perry this year and find that if you wet something with it and let it sit for 12 hours, a toothbrush and wiping cloth will then take off rust, carbon, and about everything else that doesn't belong there. It actually dissolves carbon, though it is slower than the SLIP 2000 products.

This stuff leaves a high sheen protective and lubricating coating behind, but I have no experience with how its protective qualities compare to waxes at this point in time?

Nick
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Old August 17, 2006, 03:42 PM   #6
Doubletaptap
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DON'T USE ANY KIND OF POLISH ON THE BLUE.
Remove the rust and shine her up with a oily cloth.
Why would you want to polish it anyway. It'll be a embarrased gun with no character if you do. The thinning blue and the patinaed metal are what gives a old gun it's character and looks.
Old guns ain't supposed to be all shiny and spit polished.
As mentioned above, the more you rub anything on that blue,the more is coming off!
And you don't want highly polished metal on a old gun either. Would be like a 90 year old granny in a mini skirt!! YUCH!!!!
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