[Lone Star]

It has been repeatedly stated on forums that nickel finishes are eroded by most gun solvents, including the old standard, Hoppe's No. 9.

I have never owned a nickled gun. Too flashy and trashy... But I AM thinking very seriously of getting a Bersa.380, and many of those are fully nickled or have nicklel frames, over aluminum alloy.

Is this dull nickle finish any more safe to clean with solvents containing ammonia than is standard "bright" nickle?

Can I employ Break-Free CLP as an exclusive cleaning and lubing/protective solution without damage to these guns?

Thanks,

Lone Star

[birddog]

I don't want to dispense crappy advice or pretend to know things that I don't...All I can say is that I've been using CLP on my nickel Thunder .380 for two years. I'll check in the safe....hold on....yep, still looks ok.

:D

[wally]

I've several electroless nickle guns and have been using Hoppe's and Break-Free CLP for over 20 years without problems. If you soaked your gun in Hoppe's the ammonia might eventually cause problems but not in normal cleaning use. CLP is a total non-issue.

--wally.

[dfariswheel]

Most cleaning solvents are designed to attack copper fouling.
Nickel plated finishes have a copper undercoat, and nickel itself is also a metal that these solvents can attack.

For this reason, you don't want to allow bore solvents to soak for long periods of time.
Just clean the gun as normal, and be sure to wipe all the bore solvent off.

CLP Breakfree is largely misunderstood.
The "C" of Cleaner-Lubricant-Protector actually means that Breakfree has a solvent that will keep CARBON and POWDER fouling soft, and allow it to be "swept" out of the way of moving parts.
This allows the weapon to be at least partially "self-cleaning".

CLP contains no copper solvent, and does little to remove metal fouling from the bore.

You can use CLP all you want on all nickel finishes without fear of damage, since there are no chemicals in it that can attack nickel.

[Ala Dan]

"Break Free CLP", good stuff! :D I've been using it for many, many year's,
and I highly recommend it; regardless of the weapons finish~ :uhoh: :)

FWIW, I even use it too protect my expensive reloading dies and other
equipment.

[Lone Star]

Thanks, guys. Just wanted to be sure before I made a boo-boo.

Been using CLP and Rem-Oil with good satisfaction on blued and stainless guns for years, by the way

Lone Star