I was cleaning my Ruger GP100 and Browning Buckmark .22 with the Aerosol form of CLP. Prior to today, I had always used the drip bottle CLP, and I prefer the drip form. I do not know if this makes a difference.
I did some scrubbing with a bronze brush after spreading the CLP to get excess grime off the firearm, followed up by a toothbrush scrub. I used cloths to get through the barrel and finished up with removing excess CLP and letting it sit under a fan for a few hours.
I have some pictures here of the finish of both handguns. I cannot remember or tell if the finish is supposed to be the stainless steel or the black/blued look. While cleaning the firing pin area of the Ruger, the blackish finish began to wear and turn into this silver finish. I cannot tell if I cleaned the firearm in an improper way, thus wearing the finish or doing some other damage, or if this is perfectly normal and OK the way it is.
http://tinypic.com/r/1z2gmdh/8 -- RUGER - Overexposed photo due to FLASH
http://tinypic.com/r/e64lf6/8 -- RUGER - Even more overexposure from FLASH, shows barrel too
http://tinypic.com/r/23w6eo/8 -- BROWNING - A little overexposure
http://tinypic.com/r/282gor7/8 -- BROWNING - Natural lighting, shows the slide rail wear
http://tinypic.com/r/2zz3x1t/8 -- BROWNING - Alternate photo of the slide
http://tinypic.com/r/34dop79/8 -- BROWNING - Photo of the feed ramp and chamber area
Please let me know if this is normal or if somehow I have ruined the finish of these firearms.
I know that I need to invest in a solid cleaning kit, and I definitely need to learn more about cleaning firearms before I go on to clean the other 3 I need to get to. Please let me know ASAP so I can get to cleaning the remaining firearms.
The Ruger has between 600-800 rounds total fired through it in its roughly 13 years of me owning it.
The Browning Buckmark has probably upwards of 1,500+ rounds through it.