Question regarding cleaning GP100 Match Champion

[Bushwack]

Took receipt today of a Match Champion (my first revolver). As I do with any new pistol, I strip it and clean it (with Ballistol) before heading to the range.

After cleaning (and drying) the MC, for the first time I used Flitz to polish. Using medium pressure, I noticed that the white cotton pad I was using (with a dab of Flitz) was turning black (finish on the MC looks fine). That can't be normal, right? Where is the black coming from?

I've never used Flitz before. I'm wondering if this is a chemical reaction from the revolver's finish. I have other stainless steel and blued pistols (that I keep clean but have never polished). I am hesitant to "Flitz" them until I understand what's happening.

Would appreciate any input.

 

[22/45 Fan]

The "black" is metal the Flitz has polished off the gun. The amount is infinitesimal but that's where it's coming from. It's not a chemical reaction but abrasion from the very fine grit in the Flitz. I would never use an abrasive metal polish on a blued gun unless you want to eventually remove all the bluing.

 

[hittman]

Only use an abrasive if you want it to look polished, like chrome.

If those guns have a brushed finish you'll remove the brushing.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[woodsy]

One more thing: If Ruger passivates their stainless (don't know if they do) then you are also removing the passive layer, which is protective, by design. (Used to do passivation on surgical instruments I made)

 

[schloss]

That's an expensive way to use Flitz for the first time.

Flitz polishes by removing metal, as others have indicated. I honestly would not use that stuff on my guns. I'm sure yours will be fine. In short, just don't use that stuff for cleaning.

 

[Bushwack]

Well, does anyone want a used container of Flitz? Don't think I'll be using it.

My thoughts on (hand) polishing originated with my 24 year old blue Colt Mustang. It stayed in the safe for 23 years (until last spring). It was just wrapped in a cotton towel sitting on a shelf. A friend recently mentioned it probably has surface rust on it and I should use Flitz. I thought I'd first try it on stainless before a blued pistol.

So, if there is surface rust, is there any special product to use or just stay with Ballistol?

 

[hittman]

So, if there is surface rust, is there any special product to use or just stay with Ballistol?

A drop or two of gun oil on 0000 steel wool. Gently. Others will surely have their home remedies.

 

[roylt]

Well, does anyone want a used container of Flitz? Don't think I'll be using it.

I'm sure you are more joking than actually offering but I'll take it.

 

[Bushwack]

Thinking aloud (and I'll probably give this a try), I am going to try Flitz on my (blue) Beretta 21a. It has also spent most of the past 20 years in the safe. I would think using light pressure, I would first see brown rust (if there's rust) on a thick cotton pad before black. Does that make sense? I'll try it this weekend and post the results.

 

[hittman]

Does that make sense?

Yes. If your goal is to remove the blue.

 

[Bushwack]

I couldn't wait for the weekend and this morning lightly applied some Flitz first to the trigger guard of my blued Beretta 21a. Sure enough, rust (I assume so as it was brown) did appear in the cotton patch. Using light to medium pressure, I applied Flitz to the same area three times (waiting a couple minutes between applying and drying) until the first sign of brown turned to black.

I then did the same to the front of the frame. It took 5-6 applications before the brown on the patch started turning black until I stopped. Didn't have time to do the remaining parts of the pistol but there was no discoloration (using a magnifying glass) on the areas that were Flitzed.

Getting back to the revolver, after viewing some YouTube vids, looks like people use Mother's Mag and Aluminum paste to turn their stainless pistols into a chrome finish. That not being my objective, I'll use Flitz on my blued pistols to gently get any rust off. As for stainless, I'll continue using Ballistol and Hoppes oil. No Flitz or Mothers. Thanks everyone for the feedback.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Flitz is good at removing the black carbon stains that get on stainless revolvers. You know, on the outside and front of the cylinder and on the inside of the frame even the end of the barrel. Use sparingly unless you want to polish your gun.

 

[ra]

I have used Flitz paste to polish blue guns and never removed the bluing. Here is the company page for the product, it is non-abrasive and safe to use on hot blue guns.
http://www.flitz.com/flitz-polish-paste/

Roger

 

[diyj98]

I know Flitz says "non-abrasive", but I don't see how anything can "clean, polish, deoxidize" without being an abrasive.

 

[sailorb]

I have had really good luck with a product called Never Dull. It's a cotton wadding with some sort of solve /cleaner on it. It will remove carbon and fouling, yet not damage either blueing or stainless. It will get the stubborn stuff off cylinder faces and the inside of frames pretty well. It will work on just about any metal, but does not have abrasives it it.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Stainless Steel develops a thin protective layer on it's own, that layer is an oxide (rust). That oxide seals the surface and prevents further oxidation, if rubbed off (polished) it normally comes off as a black/gray smudge. Passivation and other treatments are used to either normalize the stainless surface or remove imbedded and deposited iron (red rust). It is normal for stainless parts to be passivized not only to reset the surface (remove the current oxide layer and any abnormalities) to allow a new and evenly distributed preventive oxide layer to develop but also to just degrease or clean the surface after machining or other processes.

 

[woodsy]

Stainless Steel develops a thin protective layer on it's own, that layer is an oxide (rust). That oxide seals the surface and prevents further oxidation, if rubbed off (polished) it normally comes off as a black/gray smudge. Passivation and other treatments are used to either normalize the stainless surface or remove imbedded and deposited iron (red rust). It is normal for stainless parts to be passivized not only to reset the surface (remove the current oxide layer and any abnormalities) to allow a new and evenly distributed preventive oxide layer to develop but also to just degrease or clean the surface after machining or other processes.

Almost a perfect description. What is slightly wrong is that deliberately applied passivation actually creates the passive surface, rather than simply "waiting" for it to happen. The application of heated nitric acid for a certain length of time to the stainless surface is what forms the passive surface layer. A combination of two other acids (hydrochloric and sulfuric) does the actual cleaning, before passivation.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Stainless Steel develops a thin protective layer on it's own, that layer is an oxide (rust). That oxide seals the surface and prevents further oxidation, if rubbed off (polished) it normally comes off as a black/gray smudge. Passivation and other treatments are used to either normalize the stainless surface or remove imbedded and deposited iron (red rust). It is normal for stainless parts to be passivized not only to reset the surface (remove the current oxide layer and any abnormalities) to allow a new and evenly distributed preventive oxide layer to develop but also to just degrease or clean the surface after machining or other processes.

Almost a perfect description. What is slightly wrong is that deliberately applied passivation actually creates the passive surface, rather than simply "waiting" for it to happen. The application of heated nitric acid for a certain length of time to the stainless surface is what forms the passive surface layer. A combination of two other acids (hydrochloric and sulfuric) does the actual cleaning, before passivation.

I over simplified on purpose, red acid heated rinse is a standard process but percentages and actual make up of 300 series stainless add so many pitfalls that I felt discouragement of any home remedies for perceived issues would be prudent.

I've written technical papers on varieties of stainless steels and exposure to different substances and combinations that cause some very strange issues in field usage. You would be shocked at what an ultra purified water can do to 304SS after just a fair amount of exposure coming right after a proper red acid passivation application.

 

[PriseDeFer]

The gun cleaning mania shows an underlying disconnect with, and fear of, the elements of fire and brimstone that are the physical and spiritual basis of the non-socially subjugated animus of the firearm.