Engraved silver plated 1866|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

You don’t want to clean or polish silver plated guns since its thin and you will eventually wear through it. Anybody that knows silver knows it turns dark. They make some kind of treated paper that keeps silver from tarnishing if sealed in a bag with it. I get metal gaskets for high temps that are silver plated and it has that paper in the bag. I don’t know how it would work with guns with wood.

Bob

If I were going to polish it, I’d do it all by handle only. If it has any flaking to it whatsoever, I’d leave it well enough alone. Whatever silver cleaner you use, don’t get it near any wood or other metal parts that is not silver plated. 

All that said most collectors will probably want an untouched / uncleaned gun. 

Sincerely,

Maverick

I would not polish it either, like old silver coins, leave the patina alone! A cleaned or polished coin is a killer!

How about posting some pics? So we can see  how bad it looks

 I have a nice engraved, signed, and silver trim. It is a survivor, uncleaned, (not polished) and it will stay that way as long as I own it. When you clean yours my value goes up and yours go down. The Henry and 1866 models values are based on uncleaned, original brass. T/R 

Bert H. said

wolfbait said

Thanks. I agree, but blackened silver is not like patinaed brass. It hides the engraving, and, unlike patinaed brass, blackened silver looks like neglect.

  

Actually, it is the same.  All silver will oxidize and turn black due to regular (normal) exposure… it has nothing to do with being neglected.

It is your rifle, so do whatever you want to it… but if you do try cleaning the silver plating to make it “shiny” again, you will cause a substantial value loss.

Bert

  

My concern is that blackened silver is oxidation. Does that oxidation constitute deterioration? If so can it be stabilized to prevent further damage? I understand it is different from the silver flatware and glassware my ancestors have entrusted me with. Our duty is to preserve, should we stop the oxidation or let it proceed?

Mike

Bert H. said
Mike,

The silver oxidation process essentially ceases (becomes stable) once the black oxide forms.  In a sense, it is similar to the bluing/browning process.  Once it is  formed, it seals the raw silver and prevents further oxidation just as bluing stops further oxidation of the steel in a neutral environment.

Bert  

Absolutely!  There is silver that has been tarnished for centuries.  If polished, there is ZERO deterioration.

The WORST thing the OP could do would be to polish his firearm.  Leave it alone!

Nany of you may recall silver plated silverware that has been polished too much, leading to the exposure of copper beneath.  This will be the OPs end result—exposure of the layer beneath, possibly—plus the loss of original oxidation, which is priceless!