I guess I'm in the minority, but I remove the cylinder much less frequently than everyone else that has replied to this post. When I was shooting in a police pistol league, I would "field" clean my revolver, either a Model 14 or 15, depending on whether it was bullseye or combat, after every shoot. This means that the cylinder, yoke, chambers, bore, and frame would be cleaned of all lead and powder residue; critical areas lubed, and the whole gun given a general wipe-down. At the end of the season, I would completely dismantle, clean, lube, and reassemble. Generally, I did this twice a year for competition guns, and once a year for carry guns; we qualified once a quarter with a 60 round course. I never had a reliability problem with any of my guns.