I have an model 66 with carbon built up around the forcing cone, Ive tried a brass brush soaked with hoppes, and a lot of scrubbing with a toothbrush, and while it knocked half off its still hanging on ,I suspect it hasn't been cleaned off in 30 years, It doesn't really bother me it being a little dirty but I would like to get it nice and shiny ONCE, is there any solvent a little more aggressive or is an abrasive the only choice?

A Birchwood Casey Lead-Away cloth is what you need as it will remove carbon and lead build up. Do not use the cloth on a blued gun as it will remove the finish.

A small, perhaps 2 inch square of lead-away cloth wrapped around the bristles of an old tooth brush works well for getting into that small area.

I firmly believe, that a lot of split forcing cones, in K frames, were caused by this excessive build up.

A Lewis Lead remover works well.

Homemade Lewis; wrap some copper Chore Boy strands, around a cleaning brush, and rotate the thing.

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NRA Instructor

Another forum member suggested this in another thread. I'm sorry I can't remember who it was.

I've had great success in keeping my 681 and 686 forcing cone area clean and bright with a metal cleaning product called Brasso! You can get it at Walmart or about anywhere and it's cheap. I ONLY use it on the cylinder face, forcing cone area and bottom of the top strap. Get a small cloth patch wet with Brasso and start polishing the build up away. I'm going to use Papa John's suggestion of wrapping my wet Brasso patch over a toothbrush for the detail work. And, if you have one of those cool vintage brass S&W belt buckles like I do, it makes them look brand new.

One small caveat is the aroma. It has a strong chemical/ammonia smell.

I've heard the lead clothes tend to polish the gun. It a a 1977 no dash that while I bought it to shoot it's also a bit of a collection piece so will it devalue the gun using it around the forcing cone?

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Good advice, works well for me and, if you keep after it, cleaning is very easy. A big build-up takes a little longer. There is a warning on the package that says not to use on blued metal. Only problem I see is that as soon as you take the gun out and shoot, the build-up starts again. But, we all like to clean our guns right?

Soaking the areal with Hoppe's or other good cleaning agents for long periods, (overnight) and then cleaning off will soften it up and it will be easier to clean.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Another vote for the Lewis Lead Remover. It has an separate attachment for cleaning the forcing cone. I have also used it to polish the forcing cone by removing the brass screen and replacing it with a patch with some Flitz on it. This will not remove any tooling marks but will slick it up a bit.

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Stay safe people!

In the forcing cone or AROUND the forcing cone?
If you are talking about fouling deposited on the barrel shank and inside of the receiver ring, a few Magnums will blow it off.

Don't do that if you have leading or heavy fouling inside the forcing cone. As JohnK says, split barrels have been blamed on bullets slamming into heavy fouling in the barrel breech.