66-3, before and after cleaning

[loveaffair#686]

This is a used 66-3 I've had for a while. It was rather grungy when I bought it, and I really couldn't get it clean with Ballistol, brass brush, and elbow grease. The cylinder face was a disaster, and there was also a good bit of crud on the side of the cylinder as well. The top strap was coated with lead, carbon, and was just generally gross. I didn't want to clean it too aggressively, though, for fear of...messing it up in some way. Destroying the natural patina, something like that.

Anyway, the other day I got out some Flitz, Break Free CLP, and (again), the brass brush and the elbow grease. The cylinder face came clean with a good CLP scrubbing with the bronze brush, as did the top strap, which surprised me. I guess Break Free is way better for that than Ballistol. The side of the cylinder/fluting got the Flitz treatment and were finally clean. I used Q-tips for that. Then I figured, "Ahhh, what the heck" and gave the rest of the gun a light Flitzing.

So here's a couple pics. The first is the "before" pic...not great, but the best pic I had.

Please let me know if I "did good" or bad by stripping away years of history. I should add, I come from a coin background, and cleaning is, in most cases, strictly verboten.

 

[DR505]

Looks fine to me.

 

[markeb]

You done real good on that 66. You obviously went easy on the Flitz, it's not real shiny. Are the grips Ahrends?

 

[billlenk]

what is the cat's name?

 

[KLYDE]

Looks good. Just enough cleaning without polishing up too much. The Ahrends boot grips look the bomb on it. What wood is it.

 

[markeb]

what is the cat's name?

That is a Kentucky Wildcat, if you are referring to my avatar.

 

[loveaffair#686]

Thanks for the comments!

The grips are indeed Ahrends concealed carry boot stocks in FB(?) Maple with black stain, according to the package. I don't know what the FB means. I'm not sure if these are "THE" grips for the gun; I think they look good but I guess I'm always looking for something better! I just ordered a set I thought would look nice on this gun, from the Altamont site (only to learn the next day that they're not actually "in stock"...sigh). And that's Jack, named for Jack Bauer because when we brought him home, he jumped out of the box and stood right up to the other cats and the dog. So he's tough like Jack Bauer

 

[Texas Star]

I think you did right to clean it. My M-66-3 is probably my favorite all-round handgun. It wears Pachmayr Presentation grips, which have held up very well and which lessen recoil with full .357 ammo.

 

[ridgewalker]

Hey it is entirely your decision. If you like it better this way then you did the right thing.

In my opinion, I like the original finish better. But personally I am not a fan of the polished look. When I first opened this thread, I was surprised by the before pic since I expected something pretty ugly from the title. That pic just showed me a gun that has been shot (like all my guns.)