Shot my 686 and 629 today both were dead on AMAZING
Now the question : How do I clean the Black off the stainless steel without damaging the finish


















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I always use Hoppes #9.
'Course I also use it for aftershave.
Jim

Hard to damage stainless. I use a copper brush

Lead Away works great. So does Mother mag polish. How soon will you be shooting again? That black ring will reappear every time. Builds character.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

I just use Hoppe's, rubbed vigorously with a plain cotton cloth, sometimes aided by an old toothbrush.

I've seen some folks recommend scrubbing with a copper bristle brush. Personally, I can't imagine cleaning the exterior of any of my guns with any sort of wire brush.

I will also admit I've sometimes used toothpaste, usually Colgate Optic White, for that fresh minty look and smell.

This cloth works well removing the gunpowder residue.

Attached Images

lead remover cloth.jpg (36.8 KB, 107 views)

At most gun shops you can pick up a Lead Away cloth, have used them on mine for years!
And yes the black rings will reappear!

Those carbon rings on the front of the cylinder will come back the next time you shoot. I do not bother to clean them off as it is a waste of time. If you are selling the gun, well that is different and well worth it to do. Hoppe's to do the heavy lifting cleaning and a wipe down with an old T-shirt will be fine. Ifn you want to get all fancy like, Mother's Mag Polish does a FINE job.

Thanks All for the advice on the cleaning

With your logic there would be no need to clean any part of the gun since it will get dirty again...or take a shower, or...

Ha! Yesterday I cleaned five revolvers I had taken out shooting over the last couple of weeks. Four j-frames (one an 8 shot model 63) and a k-frame. That's 29 cylinder holes and five barrels. I also had to clean my Shield and XDS.

When I got through there was no way I was going to clean five cylinder faces to "shiny new" just so they can all be blackened again by shooting a couple of rounds!

I bought a 3 brush set from Gander Mountain. 2 levels of stiffness for nylon and one bronze brush. I use Hoppes #9 or CLP and scrub first with the nylon brushes. Mostly inside and around the forcing cone. I have hit the end of the forcing cone with the bronze brush if the nylon brushes don't do the trick.

I suppose you could ignore the the cylinder end but I don't. I use the bronze brush (lightly) with Hoppes and comes off fine. I don't see any damage or marking on the cylinder end.

On the outside of the gun like the side, the grime usually wipes clean with a a white cotton t-shirt and Hoppes #9. I haven't felt the need to use the nylon brushes but I would only use the nylon brushes on the side. I doubt the bronze would mark it up but somehow it just doesn't feel right so I don't do it.

If you happen to buy a set with a stainless steel brush too I would toss that in the trash so it doesn't accidently get used. A stainless steel gun and a stainless steel brush are not a good combo in my opinion.

Not an expert by any means. But it works for me on a stainless steel revolver. Blued gets only the nylon brushes and I do not try to get the cylinder end stains off. The blue hides it and I would not want to take the chance of wearing the blued off.

Standard bore brush for the barrel and cylinder holes with Hoppes #9.

Never tried a lead away cloth but I have seen others recommending it.

I use Mil.Comm synthetic cleaner, oil, and grease. For the black rings on the cylinder face, I use the cleaner with a Bronze brush That takes about 80% of the ring residue off, the remainder I don't worry about. Keeping a good coat of grease on the metal makes future powder residue removal much easier, sort of like Teflon.

***FLITZ***

I have found that once you get the cylinder face spotless, it is easier to keep clean if you leave a light coat of Corrosion-X on it. After shooting, most of the carbon will then wipe off with a little Hoppes No. 9. What doesn't wipe off gets a good dabbing with a cotton swab wet with Hoppes and the revolver is stood up vertically overnight to let the solvent work. After that, if there still is any carbon left it will likely be small trace amounts and a little Flitz finishes the job. This method requires very little elbow grease or scrubbing with a bronze brush, nylon works fine.

+1 on those yellow cloths like Lead Away and the other brands. I've been using them for decades for my stainless revolvers. You can even cut them into patches.

Flitz. As amazingflapjack has previously mentioned.

Where does one get this stuff please...

Flitz and the like are very fine abrasives.
Not sure if, over a lot of cleanings, a measurable layer of metal could be removed. I would not want to open up the barrel to cylinder gap any more than when my gun was new. Not even .001 inch.
I soak with Hoppes #9, and scrub with cloth or a nylon brush.
Around the rear of the barrel, Hoppes and a bronze brush.
I live with what remains. I just want to prevent any buildup that could affect function.

Best,
Rick

I use lead away and Mother's, my guns are really shiny though. If you want to keep the satin finish, just use the lead away.

Metal Polishes like Flitz and Mother’s Mag are designed to change the surface of metal. They make it shinny with very fine abrasives. The holy grail of gun collectors is originality, including the original surface appearance of stainless revolvers. You polish them at the expense of present or future collectors’ value.

Cleaning them with bronze wool and your favorite cleaning solvent is no more work and does not alter the factory finish. A $7 bag of bronze wool pads from Ace Hardware, Brownell’s or a marine hardware store lasts a very long time.

If I didn't have a good way to clean them off, I'd leave them because I've worked on them a long time with various products that didn't phase them. I use a product from Shaklee that is made for cleaning burned crud off kitchen metals that easily takes the scorch marks off the front of my cylinder. It used to be called 'At Ease' but now it's 'Scour Off'. But don't worry, it hardly scours at all. It does have a fine grain to it but you only have to rub it a minute or so to get the marks off.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I use this all the time and it works great. The first time I tried it was on my Model 60 no dash 38. It had black rings that have been there since I bought it at the end of the 70's. It now looks like I just took it new out of the box. That's why I guess love stainless guns so much

If it's stainless, just remove the grips and put it in the dishwasher.

Just kidding.....

I agree. I used to scrub away, but finally figured out I was scrubbing some metal away as well as lead and powder. Now an old toothbrush is as abrasive as I get on the cylinder face.

My only problem (no matter what I use) is the "forcing cone" area with attention to the top of the round area. Gosh, that area drives me bunkers!

You bet! I use a lot of toothpicks and plastic dental probes!

FWIW, I use a piece of cloth impregnated with Hoppes 9 (or Flitz) and slide it between the top of the forcing cone and top strap, working it back and forth as if I were buffing my shoes - works good for me. However, why bother as it will only get dirty the next time you shoot it.

I use Nev'r dull.

Lead Away cloth works great, just DON'T use it on blued guns.

You are correct, the previously mentioned polishes and lead removal cloths all contain abrasives that remove metal, that is why they make the area look so shiney. Don't know how long it would take to adversely increase the B/C gap, but those products will remove metal from the front of the cylinder face, so be informed and use those at your own risk. I contacted the manufacturer of the Lead Away cloth last year and asked them this very question and they confirmed that the cloth does remove metal when used on a gun.

The most aggressive material that I use on my stainless revolver cylinders (and around the forcing cone area) is a bronze brush with synthetic cleaning solvent.

But when your cleaning it and you leave it dirty, you know you left it dirty!
That would bother me and then I couldn't sleep! ...

Removing powder burn stains from off the front of cylinders that are used to fire jacketed bullets is a waste of time but it doesn’t take long with bronze wool and solvent. Bronze is softer than steel so no metal is removed. My most fired gun, a 617 with a .002” flash gap, requires regular lead removal off the front of the cylinder and rear end of barrel or it will bind. I swab it with M-Pro 7 solvent, let it sit, then rub the lead off with bronze wool. I get a clean silver cylinder face whether I want one or not.

I've been using 3M fine scotchbrite pads and Hoppes #9 . Just some gentile rubbing and the blast soot comes right off and you still retain a nice polished stainless hue on the cyl face.

Here is a M63 I took a lead away cloth to to revive it, not gloss it up but you do have to be careful as the reality is you are removing SS finish. I took of the latch, cylinder and grips and went to town by sampling it's results in the bare grip, liked it and did the entire gun with light to medium pressure. It had spent a lot of time in the holster but was free of any major scratches or dings which I probably would have left for character. I used a very small 2" square piece and finished it with a coat of Ren Wax. Photo 1 before and 2 is after.

Attached Images

	S and Wesson model 63 no dash trans 003.jpg (94.8 KB, 51 views)
	S and Wesson model 63 no dash trans 009.jpg (77.8 KB, 53 views)

Here is another police trade in that showed tons of holster wear that I cleaned with the Lead Away cloth and finished with Flitz polish. It gave it a new life and almost went over the top with the shine I obtained. This was my first Flitz polish experience and I liked the results and the fact it was so easy to work with. The point for showing this is after seeing the gloss and smoothness of the cylinder which isn't well pictured I think cleaning the cylinder in the future will be a snap. S&W M66 NO DASH

Attached Images

	S and W M66 No Dash 4 inch 357 Mag 022.jpg (86.7 KB, 39 views)
	S and W M66 No Dash 4 inch 357 Mag 005.jpg (52.7 KB, 40 views)
	S and W M66 No Dash 4 inch 357 Mag 010.jpg (89.3 KB, 44 views)

Looks good, Raylan!!!!

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So long ... Ken

I have never scratched a S&W revolver with a bronze toothbrush (blued OR stainless). That brush plus Eezox with QUICKLY removes burn rings and lead with just a little scrubbing.

Lead remover cloths are unnecessary, and WILL damage the finish. Stick with a bronze toothbrush and a good CLP. Trust me.

Also, NEVER use a lead remover cloth on a frosted/matte stainless finish gun.

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10,13,15,64,66,351,640,681

Blitz cloth - takes very little effort. Amazing stuff.

"Stick with a bronze toothbrush"

My gums started to hurt just reading this. :-)

Best,
Rick

I usually dab some Hoppes #9, let it sit for a few minutes then scrub with a brass or bronze brush. It removes most of the lead and burnt powder deposit but still leavs the dark rings around each hole. I don't bother getting it spotless cleas as its only going to get dirty again the next time I fire it.

OK, I already know that everyone is going to beat-up on me. Go ahead.

On any stainless revolver I own, I clean the front of the cylinder, the area around the forcing cone and also the breech face with solvent and a stainless toothbrush. I have been doing this for 25+ years and have never damaged a revolver or seen any visible or measurable wear.

I have read that the stainless steel in the brushes is actually quite soft when compared to the stainless in a S&W revolver. I conclude it is harder that the brass in the brass toothbrushes because it cleans off the burned on fouling much better.