Cleaning that barrel...

[Phoenix357]

Could someone give me the proper technique on cleaner a revolver barrel?

I've read that you only use the wire brush for revolvers that have been neglected... same for Bore Cleaner solvents.

I've heard that you can over clean a revolver???

How spotless does a barrel have to be?

Any advice would be 'greatly' appreciated. I just want to take care of my revolver properly.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Boy, just about everyone has a different idea on this one. For my two cent's, it all depends on what kind of ammo you are shooting, lead ball ammo requires a different approch than shooting jacketed. First for the lead, use a bronze brush with Hoppes number nine, about ten passes, run a dry patch through till clean, then a few runs through with a Lewis lead remover to get rid of any lead in the barrel, then run a patch with solvent followed with a dry patch until clean, then a patch with CLP Break Free to prevent rust. Now for jacketed, run a patch with Butchs Bore shine through a few times and let set a bit, run a dry patch through and follow with a wet patch and repeat till you see no blue color on the patch, run a dry one through and follow with a patch with Break Free CLP. For the cylinder a brush with plain old Hoppe's will do, then a patch with Break Free CLP. Hope this helps a bit and remember, results will vary!

 

[tgwillard]

A revolver barrel is the same as any other barrel. However since you will be cleaning from the muzzle, you do need to be careful not to damage the crown.

Regarding cleaning too much. As long as you are using a brass brush, which is softer than steel, you will not harm the barrel. If you can see the rifling and there is no pitting in the barrel, you probably are good to go. If you are concerned about lead build up, you can use one of several products to remove lead.

Don't forget to keep the chambers in the cylinder clean as well as the bore.

 

[Dale53]

Proper lead loads do NOT lead. I have a number of revolvers and pistols in various calibers from .22 rimfire, .32 S&W, .32 H&R Magnum, .38 Special/.357 Magnum, .44 Special/Magnum, .45 ACP/.45 Colt. I have shot them tens of thousands of rounds. My guns do NOT lead, period. I clean every 300-500 rounds whether they need it or not >)). I use little more than a powder solvent and tight patch with a preservative afterwards.

I DO cast my own bullets for all but the .22 rimfire and load all of my own. The bullet alloy and size are tailored to the caliber. It is not brain surgery, either. Anyone with some mechanical ability and a willingness to "Pay Attention" can do the same.

FWIW
Dale53

 

[6pack]

Vulcan Bob gave some solid advice!!!


I've been using Butch's Bore Shine on my rifles for years.

It takes a lot longer than you may think to get a clean patch to come through. It's a great thing to do multiple guns at once. You can always be in motion while the solvents are doing their thing.

Make sure you neutralize the solvents like he said with BreakFree or simular.

 

[Bullseye Smith]

When you get above 800fps with lead - will lead the barrel up. Copper is a pain. VB and some other told you the best way to go. Break-free and CLP are a waste of time in my point of view, I wax everything.

 

[Yurko]

Had a gunsmith show me - run a dry brass brush through 10 times. That'll get a LOT of the carbon & soot build out. Then wet it your solvent of choice. I started with Hoppe's No 9, but it just plain stinks too much. I live in an apt complex, so I don't have a back yard to clean my guns in. Anyway I use Break Free CLP, run that through 10 times. Then run patches through til it's clean. I usually run 4 or 5 patches with jacketed or plated bullets - with lead sometimes it takes a few more.

As others have said, don't forget to clean the chamber(s) as well.

 

[bountyhunter]

Could someone give me the proper technique on cleaner a revolver barrel?

I've read that you only use the wire brush for revolvers that have been neglected...

I agree. I only use nylon brushes.

same for Bore Cleaner solvents.

Not really, on a swab it can be used as much as you want.

I've heard that you can over clean a revolver???

You can over clean the bore of any barrel.

How spotless does a barrel have to be?

Not very. A little fouling in the grooves is OK.

 

[Chuck Jones]

I like to clean over a towel. I usually lay the open revolver on its side and spray some CLP in the barrel and chambers then I turn the gun over to coat everything. Then open the cylinder and do about 10 scrubbing passes with a bronze brush on each chamber, I usually loose count or do a chamber twice so it normally works out to more. Then I scrub the barrel the same way, back and forth, and take a brush to the forcing cone and cylinder face. Then the extractor end of the cylinder and the recoil shield on the frame. This gives the chambers and barrel time to soak, then I scrub them again, wipe everything down, get a patch and do the chambers. I do this a few times 'till the patch is pretty clean. next I run a patch through the barrel followed by a few more till they're pretty clean too.

Then I check under the extractor which can get way over lubed and under cleaned, and square that away.

Then I'm pretty much done, 10-15 minutes in all.

For a more thorough cleaning I'll remove the sideplate, yoke and cylinder. More cleaning, the lockwork comes out too. Each piece is cleaned checked for wear and any scratches from rubbing the frame, I usually stone the rebound slide, re-lube and re-assemble.

For leading I like the lee lead remover and a good soak with Birchwood Casey bore solvent. That combo always does the trick. In general I like CLP since the one product can clean and lube. I have found that some of the new water based solvents are great on stubborn carbon fouling but lubing everything after using them is almost the same work as using CLP from the get go.

The only thing you really have to be careful about are Stainless Steel bore or chamber brushes, re-lubing after a water based solvent, and Hoppes on nickle. I've used SS brushes on REALLY bad leading, but working very carefully. Soaking and a lee lead remover is less risky and really works well for me.

/c

 

[HEAD0001]

I shoot cast bullets almost exclusively in all my handguns. Revolvers and pistols. I cast and size all my bullets. I run a lot of them alot faster than 800 fps. Velocity has absolutely nothing to do with whether a cast bullet leads a barrel or not. What causes leading on a barrel with cast bullets is either mis-sized bullets or the wrong lube.

I get very little leading with properly sized and lubed bullets, and as stated above I run alot of them higher than 800 fps-even in rifles I get minimal leading.

Now to cleaning. I rarely if ever use any brushes of any type inside the bore of my handguns. I use a solvent that is appropriate with the projectile. Then I use a good quality spin-jag and good patches. That is all you should ever need. If you need a brush to clean then there is something wrong that is causing you to get too much copper or lead in your barrel.

However I do use a brush in my barrels to start with. And apply a good hand lapping to the barrel before I ever shoot the first shot through it. Then my barrel is good and smooth and rarely "catches" copper or lead build up. Tom.

 

[Phoenix357]

You can over clean the bore of any barrel.

BH what occurs if you over clean?

 

[7P's]

BH what occurs if you over clean?

You just waste time I would guess. Dale 53 has it about right IMO, as if you shoot hardcast (lead bullets) you may never need to clean your barrel unless you just want to for the looks.

I've personally known bullseye shooters who were just a couple points shy of 2600 who might have cleaned their barrels every couple of years and they looked it too, but accuracy was never affected. Shooting jacketed bullets, you may want to clean the barrel a little more often than with lead. Sweet's 7.62 will get the carbon & copper out as good as anything out there.

 

[bountyhunter]

BH what occurs if you over clean?

The barrel bore wears. The pro shooters I used to listen to said that most bore wear occurs as a result of cleaning, not shooting. They also said that they NEVER clean the bore during the shooting season, only clean the gun. The theory is that each successive round clears out whatever should not be there. I do clean mine after each use, but the point is we should not use abrasive tools or cleaners just to make the bore look like new every cleaning.

I recall either Barsto or Scheumanns had a warning about over cleaning barrels once upon a time.

 

[Skeeziks]

You can over clean the bore of any barrel.

You cannot overclean a barrel.... Like Jerry Sienfeld said: "You cannot overdry. Once something's dry...it's dry!"

You can, however, cause damage from improper cleaning. Careless and aggressive use of a metal rod has ruined the accuracy of many rifles & handguns by damaging the crown. This is probably what the "well-meaning" individuals that you heard that from meant.

I threw away all my cleaning rods over 15 yrs. ago (except my wooden ones for shotgun.) I use the Otis cleaning system (flexible cable) so I'm able to clean from breech to muzzle on all my revolvers and rifles. I would never go back to rods.

 

[bountyhunter]

You can not possibly damage a bore with a rod if you use a brass or rubber cone flange at the muzzle end to keep it centered in the bore. The brush keeps the other end centered, so the rod can never touch the bore.

And, yes, you certainly can damage a bore through overcleaning. Any cleaning process requires some level of abrasion, some very little and some very large. I long ago pitched metal bore brushes for the simple reason I can clean very well with nylon which is less abrasive. The amount of scrubbing it takes to get a barrel 100% clean is IMHO excessive to use after every outing.

I believe you will not damage the bore by passing wet patches down on a brass jag unless you do it obsessively.

 

[bountyhunter]

Here is why I no longer use metal brushes (from Scheumanns website):

"Certainly DO NOT ever use a stainless steel brush to clean out a barrel. The stainless bristles are much harder than the steel bore and the result will be to create deep scratches in the bore surface. When we use our IPSC pistols like sub-guns, as we often do, we apparently can raise the bore surface temperature up to the annealing range, based on the color I have seen on some barrel bore surfaces. Therefore, the bore surface of our barrels likely has been preferentially annealed, and could be quite a bit softer than the barrel outer surface would test. Even the brass/bronze brushes, which have bristles which are as hard as mild steel, or the lead removers, which use a hard brass mesh to scape the lead from the bore, may well be able to scratch the bore
surface of a stainless steel barrel."


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