does soaking finished parts in hoppes#9 damage the finish?

[silverlance]

i'm planning on soaking my entire gun collection, minus wood stocks and plastic grips, in hoppes #9 for a real good cleaning now that i'm on a short vacation.

with the sks, i'm not so worried - it's a commie gun, after all.

but i'm a tad worried about the sigs, benelli, etc.

is this a bad idea?

or should I just stick to clp and powder blast for all the hard-to-reach areas?

 

[thatguy]

I would not soak any gun in solvent. I scrub with a soft toothbrush using #9 or wipe it with a cloth and then dry it immediately. I think prolonged contact with solvent can damage any finish.

 

[HankB]

I've heard Hoppe's #9 is hard on nickel plating, if left to soak. Otherwise, I see no problem with the metal parts . . . (Hmmm . . . I don't think I'd want to soak one of the "Yellowboy" cowboy guns, or anything else with brass parts, in Hoppe's, either.)

 

[ebd10]

Within reason, soaking a gun in Hoppe's No. 9 won't damage the metal. If it's finished in one of the cheap BakeLite finishes, it will destroy the finish. If you're looking to get your guns super clean, look into the Hoppe's Elite line. That stuff will embarrass you when you see how much gunk comes out of a "clean" gun.

 

[bg]

A lil off topic, but what was the name of that stuff that
came in a bucket where you dipped the firearm into it
for cleaning.. ? I saw it a few yrs back, but can't recall the
name of the product.

 

[gulogulo1970]

bg, I think it was called Dunk-it.

 

[muddyboots]

It will damage stainless steel. I speak from experience.

 

[carlrodd]

damage stainless steel in what respect? i never soak anything, but am i putting my stainless revolver in jeopardy through routine cleaning with #9?

 

[muddyboots]

I mean just finish damage. I submerged the gun in Hoppes and went off doing something else. It must have soaked for two hours. When I pulled it out the stainless steel finish had been marred. It was purely cosmetic. The gun still functions properly...and it was very clean.

 

[AZ Jeff]

It will damage stainless steel. I speak from experience.

I am not calling you a liar, but I am having a hard time beleiving that the Hoppes was the source of the damage.

Modern Hoppes #9 consists primarily of several petrochemical solvents, along with a small amount of an ammonia compound (NOT straight ammonia). None of these chemicals should be injurious to plain carbon or stainless steel.

Now Hoppes that has been contaminated by other compounds.........that's another story.

Nickle plated firearms ARE at risk of plating damage when immerse in Hoppes. The reason there is that the BASE PLATING under the nickle is COPPER, and Hoppes, by design, is supposed to remove/loosen/dissolve copper. It's actually possible to completely remove the nickle plating from a firearm with Hoppes, if it's left in a large enough bath of it long enough.

 

[Standing Wolf]

You can soak steel parts halfway to forever in Hoppe's No. 9 unless they're nickel-plated. I've been soaking both whole guns and parts in the stuff for decades without encountering a single problem.