I have difficulty in removing the lead from the cylinder face after shooting sessions. The evidence of lead is more prominent on my stainless revolvers, but am sure is the same on the blue revolvers, just not as visible. What is a good effective cleaning agent?

__________________
Kevin in Oregon

Can of worms open....let the discussion begin.

__________________
Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I have a dumb idea anyone ever try no stick PAM cooking spray on the cylinder face and throat area?

I try not to get my guns hot enough to fry an egg on.

Those "Lead wipe away" cloths work pretty well on stainless. Not for blued guns though. A bronze brush and a little solvent works well. Usually, I don't sweat it, and just perform a basic cleaning on most of my revolvers.

Larry

Every so often I use the lead-away cloth that you cut into little squares. It does work but as stated above only on stainless steel. It will most likely remove the blueing from a gun.

I find MPro 7 works great on both blued and stainless guns. Spray the gun and then let it sit for a few minutes, then brush it off with old toothbrush. Lead Away cloths work miracles on stainless guns, but don't use them on blued guns. They'll take the blue off.

In the past I have used J-B bore cleaning paste with good results. It is mildly abrasive. I use it in conjunction with a brass brush similar to a toothbrush.

HTH

JPJ

Years ago I was cleaning a revolver on one end of a table while my daughter was doing homework on the other. Out of frustration for my inability to remove lead fouling, I grabbed her large green rubber eraser. It worked so well that I kept hers and bought her another.

FWIW, I use a brass toothbrush on the front of the cylinder and around the forcing cone before applying the eraser. The bush removes most of the powder fouling and most of the lead. The eraser finishes off the process.

Why? Are you going to shoot your gun again? Perfection -- a life long handicap that prevents you from enjoying the simple things in life.

__________________
S&WHF 366

IMO, this is the best answer, which is to say that it is what I do. If there isn't a buildup, who cares?

The key is here not to get obsessed with a clean cylinder face! If this is a revolver that gets shot with any sort of regularity it is something that will always return the first time it gets shot again. By removing all traces of lead and carbon from the face of the cylinder after each shooting session you will more than likely be doing more harm than good.

If this is a Safe Queen that gets shot once in 5 years then yea the Lead Removal Cloths do work well but their use on Blue guns will take their toll quickly!

What I do is I monitor the build up and occasionally remove some of the rings with a pencil eraser making sure not to go through all the build up into the Bluing. I just leave a light ring so bluing is never removed yet there is not enough lead build up to hinder the revolvers performance. I learned that lesson 35 years ago when I was obsessed with the rings and wound up removed most of the bluing from one revolver's cylinder face. I still have that revolver and look at that cylinder face every time I think of cleaning one farther.

Nickel will fair a bit better than Blue but not as well as Stainless. Even with a regularly fired stainless gun I'd not get too nuts since all Lead & Carbon removers are usually abrasives of some sort.

I have been using the lead away cloth on the stainless revolvers, and using Hoppes #9 with the bronze brush also. I have found this to be as good as anything.
What prompted my question was I decided to clean and inventory the safe guns, some of which had not been fired in years. I just figured there must be some new product that washes away the lead, afterall, we sent man to the moon in 1969, one would have thought a good lead removal product would have been invented by now.
Thank you all for the replies.

__________________
Kevin in Oregon

We sent people to the moon but, unfortunately, they forgot to take along the model 60. No miracle "NASA" cures here.

If you're obsessed, and don't mind a bit of a shine, Flitz brand polish (or Simichrome) works well on the discoloration on stainless finishes. Just be sure to "re-hydrate" the cleaned surface with a little high quality lube or light oil when you are finished. The surface will be vulnerable after polishing.

__________________
Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

There ARE chemicals (Mercury for one) that WILL dissolve lead fast, quick and instantly with absolutely no scratches, but they are quite harmful to living organisms and simply NOT worth the risk!

Think of it as brake dust on your wheels or discoloring of your motorcycle exhaust pipes - - a sign of usage!

I do have a small bottle of Mercury for such purposes. When I use it, I am extremely careful about spillage and spill containment and use it only outdoors. Use of Mercury for removal of lead fouling from bores was once the SOP for many shooters, but not much today. I'm not sure where one could even obtain Mercury today.

I use a bronze brush after every 5-10 shots. Seems to keep the face clean.

FIRST OF ALL. LET ME CAUTION YOU ABOUT AGGRESSIVELY ATTACKING YOUR BLUED GUNS WITH BRASS BRUSHES AND HARSH CLEANERS. YOU WILL EVENTUALLY REMOVE THE BLUE. FLITZ AND A BRASS BRUSH WILL REMOVE THE RESIDUE FROM THE STAINLESS CYLINDERS, AS WILL A LEAD REMOVING CLOTH…...

__________________
'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

I use a 2X2" square cut from a Copper Chore Boy Pad to clean my Stainless Cylinder Faces. I remove the Cylinder from the Frame, and remove the Crane from the Cylinder assembly. I drilled a small diameter hole in my Workbench and insert the ejector rod through the Copper patch and into the hole I have applied a bit of Hoppe #9. I press down on the Cyl. and rotate it against the Copper Patch. This works for me. CAUTION: Make sure that you use a real Copper pad to make the patch. My wife once brought me some cheap Walmart brand Pads. They turned out to be Copper plated steel.

This is usually what I do also, but the OCD and anal crowd....can't stand the , "just ignore it " solution , it's just not in thier nature.

My police academy armor preferred cleanliness to bluing on the cylinder face.

***FLITZ***

THAT'S A GREAT METHOD, nippirdog. CHORE BOY IS THE REAL DEAL ! ! !

__________________
'Nam 1968-69.DAV,VFW,NRA Inst.

Not readily available because of the health risks. Even if it were, completely removing rings that will be back the first time the gun is shot is just not worth the health risk - - - at least to me.