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I was told to use Flitz polish on a barrel that has some staining etc on it. I googled “FLITZ” and see a real assortment. Could someone help me with the correct one to buy and does Flitz have a light cutting compound and a polish in it if you know. Help appreciated. Peter
Good subject. Never heard of the stuff but I have an old Model 1886 that has streaks diagonally across the barrel, as if someone had wiped RIG on it and left the barrel untouched for generations. Did some research on Flitz and came up with this: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-004&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla&p=flits+polish#id=3&vid=258aca521b3f803ef963854cebaf89a8&action=click
Watch around the 38 second mark.
Think I’ll give it a try.
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
I wasn’t aware that there were more than one Flitz, but I’ve used this one:
psc=1
For years as a final polish for internal surfaces on my SAA’s and other firearms when I want to “slick up” the action a bit. I’ve never tried it on blued surfaces, but it is a very gentle abrasive polish and is almost always used as a final step as it is the most gentle of all of the polishing/lapping compounds I commonly use.
I bet it would work, but as with anything, I might try on an obscured area first.
Steve
WACA Member. CFM Member. NRA Lifer.
November 7, 2015
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I have an old tube of Flitz. Used it about 30 years ago to polish the flats of a 1911 after having an Armalloy (e-nickel) finish applied. I always thought it had a mild abrasive but the ad copy says otherwise. I suppose they could have different products or the formula may have changed.
I have used Flitz on and off for a number of years. NEVER use it on Color Case Hardening or on fire blue. It is safe on blued surfaces and nickel. It will take a cloudy nickel finish and make it bright again. It will clean off minor dirt and oxidation from blued surfaces. Just like everything else do not overdo it.
THIS ALL STARTED WITH JUST ONE GUN!
Old Guns said
I have used Flitz on and off for a number of years. NEVER use it on Color Case Hardening or on fire blue. It is safe on blued surfaces and nickel. It will take a cloudy nickel finish and make it bright again. It will clean off minor dirt and oxidation from blued surfaces. Just like everything else do not overdo it.
Good to know about the CCH and fire blue. Any experience on what it does to old patina, as in the case of my photo above?
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
I have used Flitz on aluminum aircraft skin, it works like rubbing compound removing the oxidation. You end up with chrome like color that looks great on a propeller spinner or a classic bare aluminum airplane. The chrome look would not look good on nickel 73. When it first came out I bought some at a gun show booth, didn’t like it. I like my antique guns to have an aged look to the brass, nickel, and other plated finishes. On blued finishes I prefer it to be clean but not shiny like a mirror. When I’m considering buying a gun I use a Larry Light on the blue, you can look into grain of the antique rust blue and see the grainy red depth of the blue. This does not work on modern blue, after 1920 ish. With a Larry Light you can walk up to a gun at a low light gun show and tell if the blue is original in a few seconds. I once appraised 153 Winchesters in 8hrs., the high intensity LED light allowed me to see cold blue areas instantly. I clean dirty blue with 10W30 motor oil, the detergent in the oil over time cleans the dirt, soot, harden oil and greases. I put the oil on a cloth patch and apply to blue and case areas ONLY, not on wood, don’t let it seep into the wood. Let it set for a couple days and wipe off with a clean dry towel, a little rubbing will help. The down side is it gradually removes the screw and edge hallows that gives the gun the unmessed with look. This method is not abrasive. I then degrease carefully and wax. I apply Johnson paste wax, a clear off yellow old fashion furniture wax. I apply it to the entire gun including wood let it set for 30 minutes and buff out. Do not use white waxes they get in the grain of the wood and dry white. The wax gives it a good shine, lasts for months, and protects the gun from salty finger prints. All that being said I have never turned a brown gun into a blue gun or a rusty gun into a clean gun, If I could do that I would be rich. T/R
Flitz will remove a brown patina. Even a well seasoned patina will be removed. I used Flitz on the little colt below. When I got this gun the nickel was cloudy with natural oxidation. A quick polish with flitz removed the oxidation and left the gun looking like it does below. On a gun like this it improves the appearance immensely. On a gun that has more patina and partial nickel it would make it look worse. Old blue can also get a dull film on it that looks better removed. The Colt 1905 Officers Model was also cleaned with Flitz. Both of these guns had sat for many years with zero care and old dried WD-40 on them. In both case the original finish was nearly all intact but had a film of oxidation. Once the oxidation was removed the original finish was restored to it’s near new appearance. Something else to note is that both of these guns had an original high polish finish. It can make a gun with a lesser finish appear a bit too shiny. Had either of these guns contained a partial brown patina it would have removed the brown and left it very close to bare metal. In my opinion both guns were greatly improved by the use of Flitz. It’s use on many guns in not a good thing. You need to get some and try it on a few things to get a feel for just what it will do. Use an old rusty tool to see how it affects a brown patina just so you will know. Find an old dull nickel or chrome plated tool in your workshop and try it on that.
I think it is a valuable tool in your box that under certain conditions can do a spectacular job. You just have to how and when to use it.
THIS ALL STARTED WITH JUST ONE GUN!
Are all of you applying with a small brush in the hard to get places and a soft cotton rag in others? Good replies. Thanks! Peter
Michael, I personally like my guns to show their age, a little patina, the antique cloudy nickel, and the mellow butterscotch brass. All of my guns were made before 1890 and the majority before 1880. I like a dark deep blue and my experience was Flitz lighten the color. Personal taste, I always found it easier to sell a old Winchester with hallows around the screws and a little residue sealing the wood to the metal. When I buy it takes me longer to make up my mind if the gun is squeaky clean than showing storage. You can always clean a gun but you can never replace the screw hallows and sealed wood that took 125 years to happen. personal taste T/R
A soft cloth, a brush, and a Q-Tip can be used.
TR I agree 100 percent with you and if you saw my collection it would reflect what you say but there are a few cases where it can help. I have used it on less then 10 guns in my collection and that is a very small percentage. I have lots of brown to grey guns that I would never apply Flitz to but they did need to have active rust removed. Patina takes years to develop and can be removed in mere minutes. I have some new in the box Colts from the 30s and they are still as new and look exactly as they did 80 years ago. I have some that are the same with no box. These guns are 100 percent original and have never been cleaned or taken apart. They need nothing but a good wiping down every so often. Some guns like this have been stored in less then ideal conditions and have developed a film of oxidation, not a patina. It needs to be removed and that is where I use Flitz. I have a lot of old cloudy nickel guns that i would never dream of using it on. See the gun below. It is a 100 percent correct all original Colt 44 Rimfire serial number 16. It has a patina throughout and was at some point cleaned a bit hard but this is a gun you take any way you can find it. This one was most likely a New York Nickel Plate with added Ivory and an Inscription on the back strap. Wipe it off with a soft cloth and leave it alone.
THIS ALL STARTED WITH JUST ONE GUN!
Like TR, I like my guns to show their age, but it is apparent that some folks like their guns to be cleaned. I think Flitz, properly applied will remove the patina on a gun. I also like the appearance of cleaned guns. The first one that I ever recall seeing was a beautiful 28 inch barrel Model 94, and it was only about an 80% gun, as I recall. The store owner spoke about patina vs cleaned guns and stated the latter were preferred as he saw it. This, despite what appraisers and collectors say to the contrary where greater value is concerned. Either way, they are really nice as I see it but, again, I like my guns to show their age.
James
Long before there were so many products to polish aluminum we used this for our wheels and valve covers and such. Never tried to use it on a gun. Did use Mother’s on a S&W once.
November 7, 2015
Offline
Chuck said
Long before there were so many products to polish aluminum we used this for our wheels and valve covers and such. Never tried to use it on a gun. Did use Mother’s on a S&W once.
That’s OK, I use 105 Lubriplate on the shiny bits of my O&U shotguns. 
Works as good as that $30/oz stuff.
Mike
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