Cylinder scraper made from .38 case??

[Jalopiejoe]

Looking for your experience or thoughts on this!
I wanted to clean the carbon from the cylinder face, top strap and around the forcing cone area.
I took a .38 casing and flattened the opening and just lightly rub the cylinder and it removes most of powder ring and carbon.
It seems non-abrasive, do you think this would be harmful to the gun?
I don't want to scratch or remove metal!
Thanks!

 

[handejector]

If that cylinder is aluminum, I would go very lightly.
On steel, I use them all the time for scraping rust, lead deposits, and heavy carbon. I flatten them and sharpen with a very fine file. I use rifle cases cause they are longer and easier to hold.


edited to add-
The brass scraper can still scratch bluing.
I use them mainly to clean lead and carbon around the barrel stub and topstrap.
On rust, I am talking about using a corner only on a big freckle, doing each freckle individually. Or scraping rusty grip tangs under the grips. On a really rusty gun with much blue loss, I might scrape a large exterior area.
DO NOT just start scraping frame sides and the sides of your cylinder. It will leave micro scratches, or worse.

 

[UncleEd]

Jerry Miculek mentioned one
time at least cleaning cylinder
flutes with an empty .38 case.
Didn't mention about flattenng
the mouth.

 

[rockquarry]

I'm not suggesting not to do this sort of cleaning on the cylinder face, but consider the fact that this is getting well into the realm of pure busy work. However, if you don't shoot your revolver, it may be worth doing but it's for cosmetic appeal only.

The carbon on the cylinder face can be adequately removed with Hoppe's #9 or many other solvents and a toothbrush. There's no harm to the metal and the mild surface stain which hurts nothing will be all that's left.There's no need to worry about rusting beneath the stain.

As for the cleaning the forcing cone, I've found two methods that both work well. A Lewis lead remover kit or "Double Tuff" bronze brushes do a good job quickly and are probably better than a homemade tool. These are both available from Brownells and are inexpensive.

Good luck whatever your choices.

 

[ImDrRich]

Let the front end of the cylinder soak for 10 or so minutes and then use this, but gently (around the forcing cone, too):

 

[Hondo44]

Jerry Miculek mentioned one
time at least cleaning cylinder
flutes with an empty .38 case.
Didn't mention about flattening
the mouth.

How could it work if the mouth is flattened!

Think it thru....you need the .38 case mouth diameter which fits the cyl flute radius for it to work.

 

[WR Moore]

If your revolver is stainless, various companies make special treated cloths to remove carbon. They work. I believe the one I've got is Birchwood Casey.

You can also use the brass cloth patches from the Lewis Lead Remover around the forcing cone.

 

[Jalopiejoe]

How could it work if the mouth is flattened!

Think it thru....you need the .38 case mouth diameter which fits the cyl flute radius for it to work.

Not the flutes!
I'm using the flattened end as a scraper to remove carbon and crud from the face of the cylinder of my 617! .22's are dirty!
I thought the brass would less likely scratch the cylinder face.

 

[M29since14]

For your 617 or any other stainless gun, I would really recommend soaking the cylinder in Hoppe’s #9 or something similar, just to get things loosened up before you start scraping. Take it easy and watch what you are doing as you go and I’d think you’ll be fine. I wouldn’t be too keen to try that with a blued gun, or especially a nickeled gun. I think the key here is to watch what’s happening while you’re working, and to err on the side of caution. A strong light source and an Opti-visor helps me a lot when I’m doing something like this. If you’re using a high-powered flashlight, you can move it around at different angles to get a better look at what’s happening to the surface of the metal.

 

[Oldfrt]

I used my ultrasonic cleaner, took the cylinder off put it in the cleaner with some water and simple green for about 20 min. Dried it out and lubed the ejector rod and it worked and looked like new. Total time was about an hour, this also cleared up the cylinder gap problem the 617 was having.

 

[DS-10-SPEED]

I have done the same thing with flattened cases for years on my stainless steel revolvers but I use rifle cases, they're easier to hold.

 

[kamloops67]

If your revolver is stainless, various companies make special treated cloths to remove carbon. They work. I believe the one I've got is Birchwood Casey.

You can also use the brass cloth patches from the Lewis Lead Remover around the forcing cone.

The Birchwood Casey cloths work great
Easiest way I’ve found for clean cylinder face , it’s like a magic eraser !

 

[Hondo44]

Not the flutes!
I'm using the flattened end as a scraper to remove carbon and crud from the face of the cylinder of my 617! .22's are dirty!
I thought the brass would less likely scratch the cylinder face.

Not addressed to you, that was in response to UncleEd's comment:


Quote:
Originally Posted by UncleEd View Post
"Jerry Miculek mentioned one
time at least cleaning cylinder
flutes with an empty .38 case.
Didn't mention about flattening
the mouth."

 

[Sevens]

I believe that more guns are damaged by over-zealous cleaning than by neglect. The trick is to find the happy medium.

If the face of the cylinder isn’t impeded at all, the revolver functions properly and accuracy is as expected, my comfort zone is wipe it off and stay the hell away from “cleaning” an area that operates completely in a dirty environment by design.

 

[Jalopiejoe]

Not addressed to you, that was in response to UncleEd's comment:


Quote:
Originally Posted by UncleEd View Post
"Jerry Miculek mentioned one
time at least cleaning cylinder
flutes with an empty .38 case.
Didn't mention about flattening
the mouth."

I didn't think it was directed to me!

 

[Jalopiejoe]

I believe that more guns are damaged by over-zealous cleaning than by neglect. The trick is to find the happy medium.

If the face of the cylinder isn’t impeded at all, the revolver functions properly and accuracy is as expected, my comfort zone is wipe it off and stay the hell away from “cleaning” an area that operates completely in a dirty environment by design.

I agree!

 

[DeplorabusUnum]

+1 on the Birchwood Casey cloth. Wipes carbon right off. No abrasive ever needed.

 

[Jalopiejoe]

+1 on the Birchwood Casey cloth. Wipes carbon right off. No abrasive ever needed.

On order!