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Old 11-14-2011, 08:23 PM
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How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.  
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Default How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.

Back in July I posted a question as to how to clean up some galling on the cylinder of my model 624. The word galling as I
understand it is the raising of burrs on the cylinder surface caused by the cylinder stop dragging on the cylinder. This would be
more common on stainless guns than carbon steel blued guns.
Here is the original post for those that are interested:

Model 624 cylinder ring galling - WHY?

Below is a "how to" article for those who would like to do some light revolver maintenance. Thanks to all those that responded
with ideas on how to repair this issue especially HONDO44 whose procedure I pretty much followed.

Shown below are the tools I used to do this procedure. The small white square on the sandpaper is 3M Scotchbrite in the
finest grade which is white in color. Other tools include a precision screwdriver set, a small file,
a rubbing stick (rubber type material with a fine grit mixed in. Maybe a little coarser than an ink eraser), white buffing
compound, and hard felt buffing tips for use with a Dremel tool.



After removing the grips and setting them aside, I removed the crane retaining screw. Make sure you use an exact fitting
driver blade to avoid "buggering" the screw slot. Set this screw aside.



Press the cylinder release forward and gently open the cylinder only enough to clear the frame side and slide the
cylinder and crane assembly towards the muzzle and then away from the gun. Slide the cylinder rearward and off of the crane as shown.



I wrapped a piece of the 600 grit paper around my file and gently stroked the file over the turn line in the
direction of the cylinder rotation. I did not sand front to back. Just a few passes to remove the "spurs", then I switched to
the 1000 grit paper and continued sanding around the diameter of the cylinder staying behind the flutes. Again, very lightly,
keeping the file and paper flat against the side of the cylinder and sanding in rolling motions on the turn line.



This is the cylinder after sanding.



The next process was using the ScotchBrite to polish the sanding marks out. I cut a 3" x 4" piece and laid it on the bench.
I know it is hard to see against the white cloth.
I then rolled the cylinder as I dragged it towards myself, repeating this process until the cylinder was evenly polished to a
fine brushed surface. This took about 5 minutes to achieve.



Here is the cylinder after the ScotchBrite polishing. Hardly any turn line remains.



Ok, that was the easy part. Now we are going to polish the cylinder stop.
First I cleaned the area that I would be applying tape to with alcohol to remove any oil. Then I used blue painters tape to
cover the area's around the cylinder stop to protect the frame.
I secured the gun in a woodworkers clamp or you could use a padded vice.



Here is a close up of the cylinder stop before polishing.



Using the rubbing stick, I gently polished the top face of the stop moving from front to back and keeping the stick flat
against the face. I am only removing microns here, you really can't even see any removed material , just softening the
sharpness a bit.
Then, using my trusty Dremel tool on the highest speed, I polished the stop until it was shiny. I did not round any of
the edges, just applying very light pressure.



Here is the cylinder stop, cleaned up and ready to go. It is like a mirror on top and even though in this picture there looks like
something wrong with the edge, I assure you it is just a reflection. The sides of the stop are still square and even.



Since I had the gun apart I gave it a rub down with MAAS polish to bring up a little sheen and to match the cylinder to
the frame. Used just like rubbing compound but this product is so fine that I use it on my Nickel guns with no damage.





Don't forget to clean everything well and lubricate the bearing surfaces. Just reverse the order of diss-assembly to put
everything back into place.
Here is the cylinder reinstalled in the frame. Everything looks great, and that should solve the galling issues.





Good luck with your project and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Good shooting, Bob
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Old 11-14-2011, 08:34 PM
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Hearsedriver Hearsedriver is offline
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How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.  
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Nice job! Bet you had a good time doing it too !
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Old 11-14-2011, 08:42 PM
Dragon88 Dragon88 is offline
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How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.  
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Excellent write-up and pictures! So, you like Maas better than Mother's or Flitz?
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Old 11-14-2011, 09:00 PM
jepp2 jepp2 is offline
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How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.  
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Great write up! The way you documented each step with pictures is priceless.

Any particular reason why you didn't remove the cylinder stop to do the polishing rather than do it in place? I always polish the cylinder stop on my revolvers (SS and blue) when I am doing an action job on them. After polishing it almost totally prevents the turn line from forming after 1000's of rounds. As you mentioned, the key is to not dimensionally change the stop.
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Old 11-14-2011, 09:29 PM
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MAG-NUM MAG-NUM is offline
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How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.  
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Dragon 88, I have never used Mothers or Flitz so I really couldn't say. This product was recommended by a friend to polish Nickel which it does quit well and a bottle this size goes a long way. Maybe when it runs out I give one of the others a try. Thanks, Bob
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Old 11-14-2011, 09:31 PM
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How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns. How to remove and stop cylinder galling on ss guns.  
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Jepp2, I have no problem removing the side plate to get at the stop, but I figure this way is quick and the small stop is held in place as it is. As they say...."works for me". Thanks for the kudos, Bob
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Old 11-17-2011, 03:22 PM
Drail Drail is offline
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I would think about replacing your cylinder stop. I have worked on stainless Smiths for years and I have never seen one make those marks. It should make a smooth straight line around the cylinder. Sanding the cylinder down it merely treating the symptom, not the cause. It is my belief that this will happen again. Let us know how it holds up.

Last edited by Drail; 11-17-2011 at 03:44 PM.
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