I periodically read users of S&W revolvers mention using lead away cloths when cleaning their revolvers. I am curious if those doing so have check the cylinder gap after use over time and noted any increase in the gap.

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Hook686

They are abrasive, just not that abrasive. I doubt you can shoot enough to increase the cylinder gap, but I guess it may be possible.

Not possible. The only way to increase your cylinder gap during cleaning or polishing would be if you used a steel brush on a drill or dremmel and went crazy on it.

My impression is that much of their cleaning activity is chemical - a chemical which will remove lead fairly quickly but will also remove bluing just about as fast. Hence the usual recommendation to limit use to stainless or nickel finishes, or at least to be very brief and gentle if you use one on a blued surface.

Lead away cloth isn't THAT abrasive and I can't imagine hurting a gun with one, but I haven't much luck with them on cylinder faces.

My experience with lead remover cloths is to use them externally on stainless guns. It still takes a lot of elbow grease to get the cylinder face clean. I have cut pieces, and used them with a gun cleaning rod to remove leading from inside barrel and forcing cone areas. Bob

I have had great success with the metal cleaning product called Brasso. I learned about it here on the forum. It too is an abrasive but it can quickly clean up cylinder faces to like-new with very little effort. I take a cloth patch and get it wet with Brasso. Makes my 681 look new after each shooting session. As mentioned above, I wouldn't use it on a blued gun. Oh, it also makes my vintage brass S&W belt buckle look new too!

Wow, never thought of Brasso for cleaning guns. We used it for polishing brass belt buckles in Boy Scouts about 50 years ago.

I remember they had one called Silvo for polishing tarnished silverware (thank goodness for stainless flatware)

Brasso is something I used many years ago on brass but never thought of it for cylinder faces. I'll have to try it. I now use Iosso Gun Brite Polish, which looks, feels and smells just like the SimiChrome I used on single-wall motorcycle pipes back in the '60s, on my stainless revolver cylinder faces before cleaning the chambers and external surfaces. It works very well but like most any polish, requires enough elbow grease that my arthritic hands hurt afterward. One scrubbing with it takes off all but those last gray rings and they are the hard ones to remove.











I buy it from MidwayUSA but I'm sure other places carry it.

Ed