Product Review: Big 45 Metal Cleaner

[Dwight Gruber]

First, two disclaimers.

1. I have no connection with the makers or sellers of this product.

2. As noted awhile back by Tom Armstrong, REMOVING PATINA IS A SIN!

That being said...I have heard of this product for awhile, and finally got curious enough to order some up. Big 45 Metal Cleaner is a brillo-looking (metal-ribbon) mass, made of some particular material which is softer than blued-steel. As other sources have reported, the edges of the metal ribbon are made to cut. Reputedly it clears off--"cuts"--a blued surface free of rust and brings it as close to an as-new finish as the remaining blue permits.

I found three guns to try this on.

A 1900 American Eagle, reblued (salt-blued) and hard-used, with decades worth of surface accumulation and some superficial brown rust at the back of the frame which had not actually attacked the metal. I shoot this occasionally, it is definitely not collection-quality.

A 1936 S/42, my regular shooting Luger. It has some pitting and the grip straps are mostly bare; it was beginning to develop a strong case of palm-sweat crud.

An old Spanish Ruby-pattern pocket auto, a shot-out wreck with almost all the bluing gone. I found it in stuck away in the back of a drawer where I had put it probably 30 years before, it having developed a fine brown coat in the interim.

I did not take photographs during the process--the experiment was more to salve my curiosity, and this review an afterthought--so the report will have to do.

The instructions for the product recommend going over the metal several times, depending on the amount of rust on the surface. It recommends, also, that the first few applications be done "dry", without the application of oil. I am -deeply- suspicious of this recommendation, but for the test did as recommended. I suspect the reason for this is that this product is useful for very heavily rusted surfaces, and if oiled the initial work would prove very messy. If I have an opportunity to use this again I will definitely use oil.

Recommended usage is to apply this pad to the gun's entire surface as though buffing, rubbing pretty hard, for 20 strokes or so, clean accumulated rust out of the pad, and repeat as necessary, oiling for the final applications.

So, I used it. At first blush the result was nothing short of amazing. It swept away corrosion as though it wasn't there, without attacking either rust- or salt-blue. For the 1900 it swept away the superficial rust, and revealed that some of the blued surface was beginning to turn brown, which hadn't been apparent before--obscured behind the general surface accumulation. It also revealed bare patches on the grip straps, which had appeared grey and blended into the deteriorating finish.

For the S/42, it cleaned the grip straps back down to metal in an instant.

For the Spanish pistol, it slicked the coat back to a slightly-browned metal surface and clearly reveled the few patches of blue which remain.

Big 45 Metal Cleaner is superb at reviving a blued surface. However, I must temper my enthusiasm for it with a very strong caution, which other reviews I have seen have not addressed. The metal which this cleaner is made from is designed to be softer than blued steel, and it is. However, it must not be used on white--bare--steel. The metal in this pad is harder than unprotected steel, and will leave a very fine brushed-metal appearing surface. It does not appear to attack a blued surface which is turning brown, but this may depend on the degree to thich it has turned. Considering the nature of the guns I tried it on this is an acceptable discovery, but it would be an unwelcome surprise if one's intent is preservation or restoration.

This result has a couple of implications, one specifically for Luger owners, which I tested just before writing this. Big 45 Metal Cleaner will affect strawed surfaces as though they are bare metal, removing the straw and "brushing" the surface. I also tested it on a damaged, cold-blued sideplate. It attacked the finish and brushed the steel surface, demonstrating another characteristic of cold-blue.

I conclude that Big 45 Metal Cleaner is an excellent way to clean up and freshen blued-steel which has been heavily corroded, and useful in the circumstances where a gun is to be "resurrected"; as one stage in the overall restoration of a gun; or in the specific casual cleanup of a working firearm. Its usefulness in the maintenance of collection quality Lugers would appear to be limited: remember, REMOVING PATINA IS A SIN!

Big 45 Metal Cleaner is available from the Big 45 Frontier Gun Shop, in Hill City, South Dakota, 605-574-4702. As a coda to this report, I have to say that buying this was a remarkable step into the past, which I think you all will appreciate.

I called the number and the phone was answered by Bill Nelson, the owner of this store for 37 years and developer of the metal cleaner. I ordered several (a friend wanted some), and asked him for the address and the amount I should send him for shipping, so I could send him payment in advance of the order. He replied that that was not necessary, he would send it to me and when I got it I could just send him a check for the invoice. I am struck by the demonstration that firearms collecting is one of the last places where you can find people who are willing to take a stranger at their word of honor and act accordingly.

--Dwight

[Luke]

Thanks for the information, Dwight. I'm going to try it.

Dwight wrote:

I am struck by the demonstration that firearms collecting is one of the last places where you can find people who are willing to take a stranger at their word of honor and act accordingly.

I, too, have noted this character trait in our forum members over the past 3.5 years that I have been active in collecting. This is a good place to be.

Luke