[supmayn]

About 30 days ago I got my first handgun, a nickel plated Browning BDA .380. The one I have is of a special 1,500 run that was made a couple years ago, and these have a bright nickel finish, unlike the satin, or matte, nickel finish of the more common 1980-1997 production run.

More to the point, what should I use to wipe the gun down, cloth-wise that is? I've heard people mention that certain finishes can be harmed by using, or not using, particular cloths on their firearms.

I haven't shot the gun yet, but will be very soon, though I have cleaned the gun as the manual stated was necessary prior to the first shooting. And I don't thin I'm seeing things, but there appears to be a very faint light brown discoloration in a small area of nickel on the slide. It doesn't rub off, and I only used Hoppes lubricating oil when i cleaned it.

Any thought on what this might be? Anyone familiar with this particular nickel finish?

[DnPRK]

Nickel is a delicate finish, especially when exposed to aggressive gun cleaning solvents designed to remove copper fouling from the barrel bore. This is because nickel plating is the last step in a multi-step process. The bare steel is first plated with copper, then plated with nickel. The bore solvent attacks the underlying copper and can cause the nickel to flake off. I would Google "nickel cleaner" and stay away from aggressive bore cleaners.

[Stinger]

Lighter fluid works great to clean nickel.