I was cleaning a stainless revolver today and was wondering what is best to get the carbon off the face of the revolver. I have had fairly good results, with work, using Bore Tech Carbon Eliminator. Anything else out there that is better? I know we all seem to have our favorites, and I progressed thru the years with Hoppes, etc. Just wondering.

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Kevin in Oregon

I generally just use a brush to clean the muzzle face of the cylinder & don't worry much about removing the stains but when I do I really like Flitz Bore Cleaner.

It does a super job of cleaning powder burn residue & carbon off of cylinders.

I know it says it's for bores but I've used it all over my revolvers that had stubborn residue needing removing & it works quickly without damaging any finish I've used it on, which is many.

Gun Bore Cleaner | Flitz

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Waiting for the break of day

Flitz works. Cheaper, and works just as well -- Brasso polish. Both are micro-abrasives (Like toothpaste) and can remove finish if used too aggressively, but usually very light rubbing will wipe away the carbon with no harm to the blue.

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Pisgah

I wrap a miracle cloth around an old credit card. Gone in 30 seconds.

Mothers Aluminum Polish on a soft Dremel low speed gets it off in a second. It is not abrasive enough to scratch the finish. The tool I use is a 3\4" Nylon Bristle brush #403-02. Go lightly as always until you get the feel.

Lots of good information in this thread,
Clean cylinder face

I have all the stuff you fellers mentioned above, But it ain't worth my time as they come back the next time you pull the trigger.

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S&W Accumulator

Birchwood Casey has a miracle cloth for removing carbon from stainless steel. We used to be issued stainless guns and it beats any of the methods we had available at the time.

On a stainless steel ...0000 steel wool and just about anything , light oil ,
J-B Bore paste , valve grinding compound , Flitz , Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and Rust Remover .
Just scrubbing with a small brass brush (think brass toothbrush used by gunsmith's) and any bore cleaner will get'er done .
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I don't know about other Flitz products but I've used the one I mentioned above on (I think) every finish S&W commonly makes & it's NOT abrasive.

Apply, let is sit a bit, & very little rubbing will remove stubborn burnt on stains that resist removal with any bristle brush.

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Waiting for the break of day

^This^ Stubborn carbon deposits that won't come off with normal gun cleaning solution and scrubbing just wipe right off with this.

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What could possibly go wrong?

I use Mother's Mag on the face of my 686 cylinder. Carbon stain comes right of. Of course, comes right back next time you go shooting.

Lead cleaning cloth and a Pink Pearl eraser. Cut the cloth into sections about the size of the eraser, place the cloth down on the face of the cylinder and put the erasee on top of that, scrub and its clean. The soft rubber eraser really grips the cloth and is much easier to grip, plus it uses the entire surface of the cloth. It really helps, I swear.

Brasso. Cheap, one can=lifetime supply.

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Pisgah

Another vote for the Birchwood Casey cleaning cloth.

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

I recently "re-discovered" the magic of the Birchwood Casey lead remover cloth.

I bought one a few weeks ago and used it to clean several of my stainless guns...worked like magic. When I opened the package, the "vanilla" smell immediately took me back 45 years to cleaning guns with my dad as a kid, and I realized, "Aha! That's what he was using!"

I concur with the Birchwood Casey lead away cloth and similar. I also cut some into a patch - great lead remover from barrels and forcing cone. Just a note I have not seen mentioned - as noted on the package DO NOT use on blued guns. Only stainless.

KleenBore makes a Lead Away cloth and Birchwood Casey makes a Lead Remover cloth. Both work very well IMO and remove carbon, lead and copper buildup.

The lead removing cloth wipes the heaviest lead and carbon buildup quickly and it works on the cylinder face as well as around the barrel forcing cone.

CAUTION: Do not use them on blue guns, it will remove the bluing.

Lead Away™ Gun Cloth | Kleen-Bore

Lead Remover & Polishing Cloth - Birchwood Casey

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

With the exception of a handful of Stainless and Nickel guns, the Lion's share of mine are Blue. Blued guns don't show the carbon rings as badly as brighter finishes do and they will also not stand up to repeated carbon removal with Lead Removal products - long term.

When I finish a shooting session I always clean the guns I shot and I use a soft toothbrush with some solvent to clean of the loose dirt, carbon and lead off the Cylinder face What remains there I just leave alone. I shoot many of my Revolvers on a very regular basis and if I routinely cleaned the face of the Cylinder the bluing would be long gone. I keep it clean enough that I never have any drag issues but to get the gun so clean it looks unfired is sort of silly since after one cylinder full of ammo it would be back to square one.

That said, the only guns I was fussy about were my M60-7 and my M65. Both were former EDC guns and I did like their cylinder faces clean. After shooting them I'd usually use a pencil eraser to remove carbon and lead. Since I shot them less often than guns like my M15, 19, 586, 10 etc. (weekly shooters) I did not have to do that on a weekly basis.

Thanks Arch for repeating my caution and let’s repeat one more time in case someone didn’t read the full postings:
DO NOT USE THE LEAD CLOTHS ON BLUED GUNS !!!! They note it on the package. Will remove finish. Only use on stainless guns!!