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New 1866 Winchester/Moruki(sp?) brass needs polishing


Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439

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Got it last week and there is hardly any part of the brass that doesn't have a patina of "tarnish". So after raising hell with the vendor I got it from I called Winchester to find out how I can rectify it. He told me to buff all the brass with a plain buffing wheel?  But since I have worked on other metal pieces, including brass and used "rouge" or polishing compound, I thought I would get a consensus here on how I should do it. All suggestions are appreciated.  

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There are lots of things that will clean brass.  Try some Flitz.  I would not use a buffing "wheel" unless you know what you are doing.  Some Flitz and a rag should do a nice job.

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I think that  you may still have the thin clear plastic on the receiver.  Once you take that off the true finish of the gun may become apparrent to you.

 

 

receover with plastic.jpg

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Polished a lot of brass in the Navy. 

 

We used Nevr-Dull you can get it at Pep Boys or other auto parts stores.  It is wadding that comes in a can. 

 

Tear off a hunk and polish away, then throw it away when it is all black.

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Ok I will really feel stupid if there is plastic!  Even the rep at Winchester didn't tell me that!

 

its just the butt plate is almost black and the forearm cap is as dull. But I will definitely pull it out of the box tonight and look for plastic!

 

thanks for the other suggestions, I was going to take it easy but am still afraid I might "burn" the finish with the wheel. 

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And others want to know how to achieve that look......

 

Bugler

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I think the plastic cover is just an Uberti thing, and that only in recent years.

 

Neverdull works well and a can of it will last dang near forever.  Flitz is good but will take the blueing right off of screws if they are charcoal blued (some Uberti '66's have charcoal blue screws, don't think Miroku does).

 

As mentioned, some folks go to pains to get rid of the shine and have the brass patina.  On a brand spanky new rifle I can understand you wanting to see how shiny it can get. :)

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What about Brasso?  I don't polish my '66, I like the patina it has, but Brasso was what we used in ROTC.  Has it fallen from favor?

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I got a new Winchester '66 a few weeks ago & it had a few lite tarnish spots on it.

I would NOT use a wheel !!!!!

 

Brasso works good, I used it in the Navy also.

But the BEST brass polish by far that I've ever used is Simichrome....

It's friggin' Awesome Stuff, it just takes a tiny dab on a soft cloth and lasts a Long long Time....

last year I Finally had to replace a Tube of it that I'd had since about 1977....

 

this is it.......

https://www.amazon.com/Simichrome-390050-Metal-Polish-Tube/dp/B0002YUQ4E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516313925&sr=8-1&keywords=simichrome+paste

 

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12 minutes ago, Silver Sam, SASS #34718L said:

I got a new Winchester '66 a few weeks ago & it had a few lite tarnish spots on it.

I would NOT use a wheel !!!!!

 

Brasso works good, I used it in the Navy also.

But the BEST brass polish by far that I've ever used is Simichrome....

It's friggin' Awesome Stuff, it just takes a tiny dab on a soft cloth and lasts a Long long Time....

last year I Finally had to replace a Tube of it that I'd had since about 1977....

 

this is it.......

https://www.amazon.com/Simichrome-390050-Metal-Polish-Tube/dp/B0002YUQ4E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516313925&sr=8-1&keywords=simichrome+paste

 

 

Does a fine job on Triumph, BSA and Norton header

 exhaust, too!

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5 minutes ago, Goody, SASS #26190 said:

 

Does a fine job on Triumph, BSA and Norton header

 exhaust, too!

 

YEP :P

 

Sun Fun Cycles is where I 1st found out about Simichrome.... You remember Them I Know :D:D

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2 hours ago, Silver Sam, SASS #34718L said:

I got a new Winchester '66 a few weeks ago & it had a few lite tarnish spots on it.

I would NOT use a wheel !!!!!

 

Brasso works good, I used it in the Navy also.

But the BEST brass polish by far that I've ever used is Simichrome....

It's friggin' Awesome Stuff, it just takes a tiny dab on a soft cloth and lasts a Long long Time....

last year I Finally had to replace a Tube of it that I'd had since about 1977....

 

this is it.......

https://www.amazon.com/Simichrome-390050-Metal-Polish-Tube/dp/B0002YUQ4E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516313925&sr=8-1&keywords=simichrome+paste

 

This is one of the best.... I would be careful using Toothpaste, much of it is too abrasive.  Simichrome is very smooth and works great.  

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Last weekend I had the chance to examine a Miroku 1866 at a local Cabelas store. All the brass on it from the receiver to the buttplate looked like a 50 year-old tarnished lamp. I can understand some folks wanting their guns to develop that sort of patina over time, but I was shocked to see it on a brand-new $1300 rifle.

 

Anyway, my favorite spit n' polish solution continues to be Never-Dull. It's simply the easiest product to use without making a mess.

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In the Navy we used Nevr-Dull on Brass. It works great.

 

After I got out of the Navy I discovered Simichrome. Much better and it doesn’t leave residue behind like Nevr Dull.

 

Brasso contains ammonia - don’t use Brasso on cartridge brass and I wouldn’t use it on brass gun components. Ammonia is a main ingredient in copper removing gun cleaners.

 

Years ago I discovered Meguiars Chrome Polish. It works great on brass and it polished and dries like car wax. It seems to leave a protective wax coating once polished dry.

 

So, on tarnished brass use Simichrome followed by Meguiars Chrome Polish. If it just needs a shine just use the Meguiars.

 

Meguiars works great on polishing you brass in a tumbler too. It contains no ammonia. Just squirt some into your media and let the tumbler run for 5-10 minutes then add your brass. Don’t add Meguiars to media that you’ve already dumped your brass into.

 

 

 

 

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Howdy,

Ive had a couple 66 over the years.

I stripped off clear coat and such.

Then I stored it in the kitchen where all sorts of 

vapors would add to the tarnish.

BECAUSE I wanted my repro to look like the $15,000 originals

that I saw in CADA gun shows.

ymmv.

Best

CR

 

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If you want the shine, brasso and an old cloth diaper or torn white t-shirt, watched dad polish his buckle every night, I only did mine the night before inspection. My wife's 66 gets the shine mine only gets black powder has a nice old look to it.

Rafe

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Thank you all for your advice. I wouldn't mind the patina if I had the rifle for 5 years but I just bought it and would like to see it shiny & new!  Yelled at both the vendor and Winchester for their lack of quality control. Looks like I got some polishing to do, not only on my rifle but on 2, 3 foot tall brass lamps that desperately need polishing and then the wax to keep them that way!

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You have every right to be upset. I sure as hell would be. I can’t believe that passed through so many hands and nobody caught it. I’d send it back and make sure Winchester fixed it. I have one of their 73’s that was pristine in every way so there’s no excuse for that

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The supplier had 10 rifles when I ordered it. But the go out in the warehouse grab a box and take it to shipping. No on looks to see if it is even the right gun!  And yes I could have refused it and wait to get one possibly worse!  If it had someplace I could have taken to and exchange I would have stayed until they brought out a nice shiny one, but they had my money and I had already waited 5 business days for them to ship. No I will be happy to polish it. 

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In all honestly this is not a big deal.  Real brass tarnishes.  Period.  By the time the thing gets shipped on a slow boat from Japan, sits in a warehouise and winds up on a dealer's shelf it is many, many, months old.  Some manufacturers coat the brass with lacquer, Uberti has been using plastic to help keep the tarnishing down.  Winchester left the brass in the raw.  Makes it easier to clean up.  Ever tried to polish a lacquer coated receiver?  PITA.

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2 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

In all honestly this is not a big deal.  Real brass tarnishes.  Period.  By the time the thing gets shipped on a slow boat from Japan, sits in a warehouise and winds up on a dealer's shelf it is many, many, months old.  Some manufacturers coat the brass with lacquer, Uberti has been using plastic to help keep the tarnishing down.  Winchester left the brass in the raw.  Makes it easier to clean up.  Ever tried to polish a lacquer coated receiver?  PITA.

 

+1  

Tarnish on a brass receiver is not a flaw in workmanship or quality control.

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No offense to those who want their shootin' irons to look 150 years old, but you gotta remember back in the Old West guns back then looked just like the new ones do now. The Colt SAAs had a nice blued finish and color case-hardened frames, and Winchesters had shiny brass frames and clean stocks mostly free of dents and scuff marks. Holsters were soft and supple, not dried and cracked. Clothing was clean and devoid of mildew and moth holes. That's why I can never understand the so-called "original" finish on some new guns... you think you're going back to the Old West but you're really planting yourself back in the present day with an artificially-aged firearm. Imagine running around today with a Glock 19 that has what looks like 150 years of age and abuse... it wouldn't make any sense. If it looked that bad you'd either refinish it or throw it away and buy a new one.

 

Now, for a firearm that simply has that "this one gets used" look to it as opposed to looking fresh off the rack, I can fully understand.

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+1  

Tarnish on a brass receiver is not a flaw in workmanship or quality control.

 

im in this court , while i don't necessarily want mine to turn green , i have no issue with a little patina , i have both an 1860 and 1866 with brass frames , neither looked any different new than yours does in the photos , my objection if i had one , would be the lack of uniformity and i suspect ill get used to that as it slowly gets uniform with age , 

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I do Civil War Reenacting and many times I have seen reenactors that have aged there guns to look like originals.  But when reenacting I have the view that a Civil War soldier would not have been issued a 150 year old looking gun but rather a brand new one. 

I do Cavalry and use an original Sharps & Hankins that I had modified to fire blanks made from 44 mag. cases.  It always looked like an original gun with most of the finish gone.  One winter I took the gun apart, polished all the metal and sent the pieces out to be case colored or blued (depending on the piece).  And when I re-assembled the gun it looked like it had when it had just been issued to a soldier in 1863.  It has seen about 15 years of use since then but still looks like a recent issue gun and I keep it looking good with regular maintenance.  I also have an 1866 lever gun that I use for Cowboy reenacting and I keep the brass on it nice and shinny.

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12 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

In all honestly this is not a big deal.  Real brass tarnishes.  Period.  By the time the thing gets shipped on a slow boat from Japan, sits in a warehouise and winds up on a dealer's shelf it is many, many, months old.  Some manufacturers coat the brass with lacquer, Uberti has been using plastic to help keep the tarnishing down.  Winchester left the brass in the raw.  Makes it easier to clean up.  Ever tried to polish a lacquer coated receiver?  PITA.

 

+1

If you like it shiny you're going to have to polish quite often. This is just the first time of many. Consider it practice.

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Well if the Winchester rep hadn't said they usually buff up the brass before it goes out and must have missed this one then I guess I would agree with the comment about a slow boat from Japan. But on a he website and every review/article I look at I am seeing a bright shiny finish!  And in both Robert Duval westerns, Broken Trail and Open Range, the 1866's were also shiny!  So I will shine it up with the materials above and enjoy a "new" gun look. 

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I also wonder how many people would buy sterling silver place settings at a department store that was all tarnished? I am not complaining about an antique, I am talking about spending over a $1,000 for a brand new rifle and getting one that is tarnished. If I was buying the same one that had been sitting in someone store for 5 years I wouldn't have an issue. So to me it is an issue of quality control!  I went out this weekend to Lowes, WalMart and Autozone and could find nothing but Tarnix!  So I am going to have to order from the internet. So for those of you who like "conditioned" guns, great!  Want to short stroke them be my guest!  But to tell me that the 1866's should not be shiny is like telling me it would be ok for all the guns that come from Moriku are akay to have cosmetic issues because of the "ocean voyage". Sorry I don't buy it nor do I have to!

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