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.
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