Routine Maint. of Stainless Finish

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Abby

New member
OK - I feel like an idiot even asking this, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

A friend who is headed..."out of town" just dropped of his stainless 1911 with me. At his instruction, I fully intend to shoot the heck out of it. However, his maintenance habits left something to be desired, and the thing is FILTHY.

I don't own any other stainless firearms. How do I clean the finish? Just my standard Hoppes #9 on a cloth and with a toothbrush?

I don't mind USING someone else's firearm, but I don't want to screw it up horribly. Do I need anything special?
 
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M1911

New member
mete's got it right, treat it like you would a blued gun. After cleaning it, do apply a thin film of oil to the entire gun -- stainless steel can and will rust (just not as easily as a blued gun).
 
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gb_in_ga

New member
Nope, nothing special. You can do the same sort of thing to stainless as you do with blued, and then some. For example, you can safely use those waxy yellow "Lead Away" cloths to remove really heavy encrustations of lead/carbon crud without damaging the finish (as would happen with a blued gun). For that matter, there really isn't a "finish" to destroy at all -- it is just the base metal. Short of going out of your way to abuse it (like taking carbide or alumina abrasive to it, or doing an acid bath, or beating it with a sledge hammer, or some such) you really aren't going to hurt stainless.

Pretty much, you can clean it like you would a blued gun, and then leave a light film of oil on it to prevent that slight tendency for corrosion that even stainless has.

FWIW -- Hoppe's #9 won't hurt stainless. Neither will any non-abrasive cloth, or plastic or bronze brush.
 
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Abby

New member
Thanks, all. One of those questions one feels silly asking, but not as silly as I'd have felt if I "discovered" that a standard cleaning solution had some bizarre corrosive effect.... :eek:
 
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Mark54g

New member
I find that with stainless guns you don't have to worry as much about the finish rubbing off. I use brake cleaner on the inards and then use Breakfree CLP to apply oil to the moving parts (lightly), the rails and a light coating applied via an oil moistened cloth to all the metal/plastic surface areas of the gun

Mark
 
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topspin43

New member
If it's as filthy as you say, why not clean the entire firearm with CLP and a toothbrush, wipe and then relube before reassembly. A nice silicone rag wipedown before you give it back will impress him. He may give you all of his weapons to "use" when he leaves town next time!
 
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Harry Callahan

New member
Rinse, lather, repeat

Don't forget to apply a liberal amount of bluing, paying special attention to the nooks, crannies, and other hard to reach places.;) Watch your friend's face light up when he sees your handiwork! I'm so bad!:D
 
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squirrelsniper

New member
As the others have said, just clean it like you would any other gun. Although most people don't realize it, the types of stainless steel used to make firearms is not rust-proof, it is simply more rust-resistant than bluing. Stainless guns can and will rust if you neglect them badly enough.
 
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oldbillthundercheif

Moderator
Stainless?

If you happen to accidently drop it in filthy, toxic water and leave it there for a few weeks... brass brushes, WD-40, and a liberal soaking in the oil of your choice between scrubbing sessions should do the trick. The bore only required a few thousand passes with a hoppes-soaked patch.
 
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Dusty Dan

New member
+1 for silicon cloths. They're great as a last step in your cleaning routine and do wonders for thoroughly removing fingerprints and "handling smudges" of all kinds.
 
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