So the problem still is..... How to you clean/maintain an Aluminum cylinder and how aggressive to you dare get before doing damage to it.
Pete
Hey Pete!
I know that my wife's 22 revolver collects enough crusty, waxy buildup from between 100 and 150 lubricated rounds from Eley, Aguila, or Fiocchi ammunition that it needs attention. It will go many hundreds of rounds with CCI Mini-Mag ammo that does not seem to have any lubricant applied.
If the bullet lubricant residue is also your issue, you might want to try something that dissolves the wax. Brake cleaner and WD-40 remove it quickly, after which I use conventional gun cleaning lubricants, like WeaponShield. I am not pushing any specific product. Anything that contains a non-polar solvent will work well to remove the wax. That would include most oil based cleaners.
Scrubbing is less of an issue for me with a steel cylinder, but I have to admit to doing almost none and to using a nylon 22 caliber brush most of the time. A good wax solvent does the hard work, in my experience.
As I understand it, the layer of anodizing on aluminum is fairly hard. I do know that, during the process of applying an anodized finish, the clear layer resulting from the electrical anodizing process is dyed to whatever color is desired. So, I would avoid anything containing bleaching agents, like ammonia. Sorry, but that is not based on first hand experience, just normal care of anodized aluminum gear, mostly for bicycling.
Fortunately . . . with any luck, someone who has one will come along with more "real world" experience. At least, I hope so. We have a lot of talented and experienced people here.
