Cleaning an old Luger
 

I just acquired a First Issue that has been lying around in someones basement. What is a good way to overall clean it without damaging any finish or strawing? It has minor surface rust in a few spots and the front and rear grip metal is still blued but "dirty/dull" in appearance. Thanks for any help.Jim

I have done well with just a good scrubbing with gun oil and a cloth. You are wanting to take the rust off of it (many times that is the clouding you'll see).

take the grips off before you do this, and even then, be very careful in removing them, many times I have heard of them getting damaged because of over handeling.

Ensure you do not use anything that will scratch the blueing.

Ed

What Ed said about removing the grips....

Also - I use Flitz, which will NOT harm original blue (it does a job on cold blue and "permanent black magic marker, though)... Next - treat with a good oil and reassemble....

HTH,

John D.

John,
What is Flitz and where can I get it?

Hey Jimmie.!

Flitz (http://www.flitz.com/) is sold as a "metal polish" that is sold in a number of places in my area? I think I bought mine at a local gun shop (which is VERY LARGE!). However - I've seen it in chain stores before (I think it was KMart and an automotive store for polishing chrome??)?

If you have difficulty finding it locally - let me know, and next time I go to those places, I'll try to find some more and send it to you, OK??

In your local area - you may want to try either auto parts stores, or some of the larger firearms stores???

Best to you,

John D.

Thanks for the help. Another question. The hold open was added to this Luger but works intermitently. As this has a correct period magazine but not a matching one, might that be the problem?

Jim, To clean the rust and patina off a rust blued luger, I'd recommend some solvent, a stainless steel brush and elbow grease, before trying anything stronger. For the hold open, first try other mags to see if this improves the operation. If not, remove and check for burrs and clean out frame area. Th

Thanks to all for the replys. Jim

jimmiej,

An old time collector taught me when I first started in this game the following...

Remove grips and soak the piece in kerosene for several days. The kerosene softens the oxidized metal and loosens it. Then rub vigorously with coarse cloth (what we southerners call "croker sack"; repeat as necessary. It is a little more time consuming, but it is impossible to do damage.

Tom A,

Flitz can be found at West marine or Boaters World. It is sold as a stainless polish and works very well. I have never used it on firearms, but it works great on the stainless rails on my boat.

Why would you need to polish stainless, since it doesn't rust? If your rails are polished stainless steel, you can save your money on expensive polishes and use plain old Windex to clean. Later..................B

Actually stainless does rust, just not as bad as carbon steel, and it does get nasty on a saltwater boat in short order. Flitz is called a polish, but I suspect its more of a cleaner and preservative.

You are half right, a lower grade of stainless is less resistant to corrosion. Most bolts and hardware though are Type 304 and DO NOT rust. Must be the marine industry is supplying sub-par components to their customers, or you bought chrome plated fittings under the guise of stainless. But do a search for stainless rusting and you will find that true stainless does not rust. If you have pitting and rust spots, you have chrome!!!!

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by ratdog:
<strong>You are half right, a lower grade of stainless is less resistant to corrosion. Most bolts and hardware though are Type 304 and DO NOT rust. Must be the marine industry is supplying sub-par components to their customers, or you bought chrome plated fittings under the guise of stainless. But do a search for stainless rusting and you will find that true stainless does not rust. If you have pitting and rust spots, you have chrome!!!!</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Sorry to jump in here and dissagree. But having worked on a dairy farm in my youth,stainless will rust! We had to use food grade metal that was approved by inspectors and some would show rust. When I ask the inspector about it he said "It says stainless,not rustless".

Stainless looks like it's rusting when it gets a scratch in it and particles of steel lay in it. True stainless WILL NOT RUST!!!!!! Look it up............B

Stainless is called stainless for a reason. It will stain less. It is not called stainproof. The closest to stainproof steel I've seen is Tennifer treated carbon steel. I have cleaned rust from stainless gun barrels that someone thought needed no protection. When Glock choose Tennifer treated carbon steel, they ran test against all sorts of steels treated, and stainless steels, one test involved a year under saltwater. No stainless made it. Even the tennifer treated carbon steel showed some rust, but the part still showed it had integrity. I have a stainless Luger, but I'm not about to let sit with no protection on the surface...

http://www.ssina.com/publications/salt_corrosion.html
This may help the open minded.
Tom

WD40 and fine steel wool (3-0 or 4-0) will remove surface rust without harming the blue. Personally, I prefer a product named RB17 that I purchased at a local gun show. Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner also works well.

I am not a metalurgist but I would guess that under the right (wrong?) conditions that any iron compound will corrode. Burning gunpowder is going to create all sorts of compounds that are deposited on the gun. Add in oils and salts from your hands, moisture from the air and who knows what will be created.

That said, stainless steel is going to MUCH more forgiving than blued carbon steel!

Just an uneducated opinion.

Excellent observations by everyone, and special thanks to Tomathvl for the great link. Just goes to illustrate that no matter what steel is used in the manufacturing of a firearm, care must be taken to preserve the finish.

Although Flitz, Maas, and other metal polishes which contain jeweller's rouge, powdered tripoli and the like are indeed great polishes However they WILL harm rust blued, nitre blued, strawed and fireblued metal. Although the labels state these products can be used for cleaning firearms they often neglect to mention that they are referring to modern salt blued pieces. IF you have to use these polishes I would recomend opting for the liquid instead of the paste as it's action is milder. BRONZE WOOL and some CLP or a light penetrating oil works wonders. Soak the parts overnight and rub the metal down the next day (lightly!!!) with some bronze wool. Don't go nuts with the scrubbing. Just do enough to loosen any crud and then wipe it off. Repeat this for several days and if you're careful only crud and loose oxidation will be removed.

I like to use 0000 steel (bronze is safer but softer) wool and nearly any kind of oil. You want to stay away from WD-40 (IMHO) as it sometimes causes more harm than good. Better off with just some motor oil.

No matter what you use, just make sure you don't use the steel (or bronze) wool dry. That will be bad news....

We've been down this road before here on LF, after 30 years in the gun smithing business, having cleaned more guns then I care to remember, the only thing to use on even the hightest quality Colts and Lugers, is very fine oil, I like "Snake Oil", and a Brillo type pad made of nickel/silver and even the hard of direct scrubbing on salt/rust blue surfaces and it will not scratch or dull the finish, can also be used with Hoppes and the like....the pad is from the Big .45 shop and available from Brownells and sold also at major gun shows.....try it.

I've also used the pad from Big .45 and have nothing but praise. I've tried similar items from Brownell's, the Outer's Rust Ridder, and the item offered by Midway. Hands down the Big 45 item wins as it "cuts" better and lasts longer. In my remote part of the world however Bronze wool is easier to find. A review of the Big 45 offering can be viewed here:

http://www.cruffler.com/accessory-re...vember-00.html