fouled cyclinders in 357 after shootinf 38

[happymech1]

hello

been so long form me to post I had to make a new acount.

I inherited a 28-2 highway 357 few years ago from my uncle he took great care of it.
I shot 100 rds of 38 remington hollow points out of it yesterday.
Now the cylinder fouled like i never seen before. fouling is from the end of 38 case to the step.

I search found the expanded case to clean cylinder
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-smithing/104060-looking-cylinder-hone-guy.html

I have been using copper solvent and a brass brush lots of it is coming out I also be roatating the brass brush by hand. But there is still some stubbron stuff left.

My question is should i keep on working it the way i am or does anyone have any suggestion?

thanks Michael

 

[sar4937]

You can expand put a 357 brass to use as a scraper. I have mostly stainless revolvers, and I chuck a dry bronze cleaning brush in a cordless drill.

 

[cp1969]

Can you chamber a .357 in it? If so, it's clean enough.

 

[1 old 0311]

Can you chamber a .357 in it? If so, it's clean enough.

+1. 90% of the ammo I shoot in my .357's are .38's. Swab a Hoppeys soaked patch through the chambers, let it soak 30-40 minutes, finish with a stainless bore brush.

 

[happymech1]

it will chamber a 357

Oh yeah it will chamber a 357. just would like to have it clean, may not be necessary

thanks michael

 

[lebomm]

Try a .40/10mm bore brush on a drill set for low speed w/Hoppe's

Larry

 

[M29since14]

If it is not corroded, you can get it clean - it just takes time and determination.

First, mount your brush in a low-speed electric hand drill. I use a cheapo Riobi I bought at Home Depot on sale for less than $20. It doesn't have any power, but you don't need any. Low-speed is the ticket. You don't want 2000 RPM.

Let your cylinder sit in Hoppe's over night, then take it out and clean it with a new brush in your drill. Rotating does a lot more work than back-and-forth.

Throw it back in the Hoppe's and do it again the next day. In a few days, you will have it in good shape. You can use .40- caliber brushes, as suggested earlier, and there are also "Tornado" brushes (also available in .40-caliber). I sometimes use those on really bad cases. They are most commonly seen in stainless, but you can get them in brass too. Be careful with stainless brushes.

The other thing you can do that is tedious, but sometimes works when nothing else does, is to use your Lewis Lead Remover on the cylinder. Once you get the brass screen formed to fit the chamber, carefully adjust it a bit larger and pull it down to the area you want to clean. Rotate it with your electric drill.

I have cleaned many .357 cylinders that took me a week to get back in shape. The solution is to not shoot .38s.

If you are queasy about leaving your cylinder in Hoppe's, just make some plugs of paper towel and saturate them with Hoppe's for the soaking operation.

 

[AzShooter]

I only shoot .38s in my .357s and don't have a problem. When it's time to clean them I use a .375 rifle bore brush and MPro-7 as a solvent. If it's tough fouling let the MPro-7 sit for 15 minutes and then scrape everything out.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

Lewis lead remover kit and or a 357 chamber brush.

Use with elbow grease. Pretty simple really.

 

[dfariswheel]

The fastest way is with a bronze chamber brush.
These are not only over-sized, they have special extra-stiff bristles.
Buy bronze chamber brushes from Brownell's. DO NOT use stainless steel brushes.

To use, "Screw" the brush into the chamber and rotate it a turn or two. Push the rest of the way through, then pull back out.
Usually this will clean the chamber perfectly clean.

 

[happymech1]

thanks

I wouldnt mind knowing how to take the cylinder out if it not to complicated? it looks like their is a stop on the side of the frame. look like i would have to open the side plate not into that.

i check into that brownells brush.

thanks
michael

 

[M29since14]

I wouldnt mind knowing how to take the cylinder out if it not to complicated?

On the right-hand side of the gun, the screw in the frame just above the front of the trigger guard holds the yoke in the frame. Carefully unscrew and remove it. Open the cylinder normally, then carefully pull the yoke away from the cylinder and frame (toward the muzzle of the gun). You'll end up with four pieces - frame, screw, yoke and cylinder. Put it back together carefully. Don't let the screwdriver slip and scratch up your frame.

 

[cmj8591]

Get a Lewis Lead Remover. It will be the best investment in cleaning equipment that you can make. They are available from Brownells.

I tried the drill method on my Model 28 but was a little too aggressive and it turned into a Model 25!

 

[Alk8944]

The best way is don't let the fouling get set in the first place. Take a cleaning rod and .375 Rifle brush with you (for .357) when you go shooting. Every two or three cylinders run the brush through each charge hole three or four passes before shooting anymore. Do this again as soon as you are done shooting and you shouldn't have any problems with heavy fouling.

It may not seem intuitive, but fresh fouling is not nearly so hard to remove while the gun is still warm as it is after the gun has cooled and the fouling had time time to set.

Same works for all calibers. If you have a .22 Rimfire revolver try the same with a 6mm brush every few cylinder loads and you will eliminate most of the extraction difficulty so often reported. In every case use a brush one size up from the standard for the caliber.

In rimfires, and when shooting cast bullets, make 4-5 passes down the barrel when doing the charge holes and you will eliminate most leading problems at the same time.

This isn't just one of those "Sounds Good" ideas, I have been doing this for many years. It is one of the reasons I often wonder why so many have so many problems with leading issues. When I clean my guns it usually takes 2-3 patches using Break Free and about 5 minutes to clean a revolver thoroughly. If there is any residual leading I use Mercury, let the barrel sit for an hour or so, and most times all the leading simply wipes out with a dry, tight fitting patch, and then the barrel is oiled.

If you are afraid of Mercury then don't use it. I just happen to be from the times before the media and tree-huggers had terrified everyone of those Demonic minerals, Lead, Mercury and Asbestos. Yes , there can be ill effects from all of these, but virtually everyone who has had problems has worked directly in the respective industry!

 

[HEADKNOCKER]

I've posted this before BUT..

I made myself a scraper from a spent 357 Brass Case that I drilled the primer pocket out to accept a 8/32 screw & put a nut on the outside & cut the bolt down so I could attache it to a cleaning rod, I then expanded the case & sharpened the inside casemouth with a tapered reamer & now have a great tool for starting the carbon removal process in 357 chambers..
The 686 I was cleaning had saw several hundred rounds of 38spl without the ledge being cleaned & was caked on something fierce.. I spent over two hours on the cylinder soaking it with Hoppes #9 with a Q-Tip & useing my "Tool" then a piece of Bronze Wool/Chore Boy around an old 30cal brush chucked in my cordless drill on slow speed + Lots of Hoppes got it all but spotless, I then followed up with the Brownells Flex Hones to give the chambers a very uniformed crosshatch pattern..
I bet I used 50 patches total..
I was looking down each chamber with an eye loupe with a borelight & could see all the carbon that had built up like a stairstep..
Thought I'd share the Tool made from a spent case..
It realy worked well, Much better than a Bore brush for getting the main burnt on carbon out of the cylinders holes..
Here's a Crappy Pic of it I took while doing the cleaning
Now I gotta make one up in 38 Super for cleaning my 940 after shooting 9mms..
Gary/Hk

Gary/Hk