Hoppes no.9 can you use it on stainless?

I have used Hoppes #9 on my stainless Security Six and SP101 since they were babies. my Security Six is over 50 now and is no worse for the wear.

It can discolor Nickle Plating but haven't seen any issues on stainless in my experience.

Hoppe's takes nearly as much blame as WD-40. I guess I've heard of it damaging pretty much any sort of gun ever made. I even remember one fellow who swore up and down that the warranty department told him not to use Hoppe's on any S&W if he didn't want to void the warranty.

I personally used the old Hoppe's formulation on all of my guns, including nickel plated ones, without harm. Some folks were concerned that the ammonia in that formula would attack the copper underlying the nickel, but I never saw it. The new formulation does away with ammonia, so even that is no longer a concern. As for stainless? The idea that Hoppe's is going to damage it is just absolutely ridiculous.

horsemen61 said:

Hey everyone I told a gentleman at my lgs that I was going to use Hoppes no. 9 on my stainless guns he said “it’s a bad idea it will discolor them” anybody know if that’s true I’ve heard that it will hurt a nickel finish but not stainless

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Nope, the "gentleman" at your lgs was wrong - at least in my experience. Most of my wife's and my guns are stainless, and we've been using Hoppes #9 on them since I don't know when, and we've never noticed any "discoloration."

Sounds to me like he is confused. In no way will it hurt stainless.

Always believe what someone tells you at a LGS

Rule3 said:

Always believe what someone tells you at a LGS

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I witnessed a LGS owner fire off a Negligent Discharge, but that's another thread.

think bore cleaners can hurt some non steel alloy finishes, but - never seen it happen yet. hoppe's probably isn't too bad, but I'd think ones that are for heavy lead and have ammonia are probably the worst offenders, but I'm not a chemist.

Older nickel plated guns can be discolored or damaged by quite a few of the harsher cleaners. Haven't heard of Hoppes hurting Stainless. And I don't even use the stuff.

If a drop was left on the metal, dried, under heat/direct sunlight, and cooled, blah blah.......yes....it could stained any finish.

Clean, wipe down and use Iossa Gun Brite for the final clean/finish on all metal. I nicknamed it "car wax for guns". Stops any rust that is currently there (you won't see it until you wipe off the application of Gun Brite), prevents further rust from occurring, adds a layer of protection of your skin oil & electrical charge from spalling the metal, AND, leaves a layer to prevent holster wear.

ALL guns love this. Anybody that hunts will LOVE this product - especially around water or inclement weather.

GunBrite | Iosso.com

Hoppes was around when the Army only had two commands... ‘Mount and dismount’. It’s bound to have an old wife’s tale or two associated with it.

My stainless guns have been getting a Hoppes spa day after almost every usage going on 3 decades. No worse for wear.

I typically just use Hoppes No 9 in the chamber, breach face and the bore of my guns (not on the exterior). Bushnell sells a mild cleaning solution that I use on the exterior of guns and as a secondary cleaner for the chamber, bore and breach face.

I only use Hoppes No 9 on all my guns. I'm careful not to get it on wood, plastic and rubber. Not sure if it will damage it, but if I do get it on those three surfaces I wipe it off. I'm sure I'm just being a little over cautious but I figure it can't hurt.

Fine on stainless.

Sounds like BS to me. I have used #9 for 50 years and never had an issue on any of my guns. Not my blued, or Nickel plated S&W 2232 kit gun, or any of my SS revolvers. Its a great product. You hear a lot of BS by old timers who think they have some inside track. WD40 is one that gets me. I have used WD for 50 years on guns and its only done what it should do. A light lube, and does protect the metal. I took a half a cup of the stuff [I buy it by the gallon and put it in a spray bottle as needed] put it in a dish and let it set for two months. It got thicker about as thick as 3in1 oil but it never "gummed up" as some will tell it will do. I also took a spoon full and put it on a fry pan and on low heat evaporated it till it was gone. Never left a thing behind as far as gum ect. If you listen to 90 percent of the gun people especially the old set in their ways crowd, you will hear a lot of BS. I was told that WD was water based and will rust your guns, that it will turn to gum and not come of very easily. The only thing WD will do is to loosen up the crud you don't clean because of it being in crevasses and other places then drip out to the exposed area and as the WD evaporates it will leave the concentration of old crud it flushed out. I have used it for ever for lub and metal protection. In fact I took out my first gun I ever bought in 1971. A H&R Plainsman 865 to see if I had the curved or straight mag as they make now repops and I wanted to pick one up while still cheap. The gun looks like the day I carried it out of Giantway shopping center in 71. The metal is as perfect as the day I bought it. I used Hoppies 9 on the bore and WD for lube and surface protection.

Long term #9 user. No ill effects on stainless or blueing. I only use it to remove the powder burns and clean the barrel.

Of course it's also one of the best colognes out there.

I suspect the old Gentleman confused Nickel with Stainless. Stainless by its very virtue is very resistant to most things.

alfsauve said:

Long term #9 user. No ill effects on stainless or blueing. I only use it to remove the powder burns and clean the barrel.

Of course it's also one of the best colognes out there.

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Yeah, I'll walk in from the garage and my wife will wrinkle her nose and say "you've been cleaning guns again, haven't you?"

It’s called stainless for a reason.

It’s all I use on my stainless Vaqueros.
They look alright to me.

I have used Hoppes #9 on my stainless Ruger Security Six for decades with no discoloration.

I suspect the lgs gentleman had nickel plated confused with stainless.