How do you clean your revolver?

[K.R._Rabbit]

I may be posting this in the wrong forum, but my experience here has been so good I want to try you guys.
OK, I took the new 1917 out the other day for some range work. The gun shot fine, I was happy with the groups. Shot standard 230 gr. FMJs, then at the end some 230 gr. cast bullets. Some leading, not to bad.
I get the pistol home and start to clean it and I find the cleaning brush is getting damaged cleaning the cylinder. By the time I am done with the cylinder, the brush is pretty worn and is a loose fit in the barrel. I don't want to buy a new brush every time I need to clean this revolver. Also, the lead on the front of the cylinder does not want to come off. What do you use to get the lead off of the front of the cylinder? I thought about 0000 steel wool on the front of the cylinder but I don't want to do any harm. What is your sure fire way to clean your revolver?

Thanks,
Rabbit

 

[hobby-gunsmith]

First of all, buy quality copper brushes. Quality is very affordable. Brushes ware out and they do have to be replaced. Run your thumb over the bristles and if they do not spring up, then replace it. For a cleaner, I have been using MPRO 7 bore gel to get the barrel and cylinder clean, the use the cleaner for the outside and forcing cone. I use their lubricant for the final protection. As far as the ring in front of the cylinders, I use lead free cloth on stainless guns, On blue guns, use the MPRO 7 with a copper brush or nylon brush. Start with the nylon and work yourself up. You may have to work at it but it is worth it.
Nick

 

[OKFC05]

Suggest:
1. Get some cylinder brushes (Brownells)
2. Use a solvent that facilitates removing copper and lead (like Hoppes Copper, Shooters Choice, etc)
3. Consider a lead removal cloth or Lewis lead remover: NOT the steel wool. The burn rings on the face of the cylinder are harmless, IMHO not worth scrubbing off.
4, Clean ALL the copper out of the barrel before shooting lead, and vice versa. Lead and copper stick together really well.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Ok you asked for it, prepare to be bored! With an old tooth brush and Hoppes scrub inside the frame around the back of the barrel and back at the recoil shield and breech face and wipe clean. I'll start with lead ammo first, Hoppes #9 and a proper size bore brush and run it through the bore twenty time's, then run patch's with a proper size jag through the bore until clean. Then useing the Lewis lead remover (read and follow thier direction's for use) I'll run it through the bore untill no lead remain's, then clean the forceing cone useing the forceing cone cleaner attachment. Then back to the bore brush for a few passes with the hoppes again, then following with the jag and patch's until clean. Then useing CLP Breakfree on a patch, I will make a few passes through the bore. For the cylinder charge hole's same procedure skipping the Lewis lead remover. Egad's that just about put me asleep!
Now for just jacketed ammo, I use Butchs Bore shine and a proper bore brush for twenty passes, then jag and patch's untill clean, then with a saturated patch with Butchs run a patch through and let set for a few min and then run a clean patch throgh and look for a blue tinge on patch, if so repeat untill no blue tinge on patch, then saturate a patch with CLP Break free and run through the bore. Same for the cylinder charge hole's except you are not looking for the blue copper tinge any more, just until clean. Then wipe down the gun inside the frame and outside and presto, a nice clean serviceable firearm.
You can use the Hoppes or any other bore cleaner with a nickel plated gun, just wipe it off and dont let it lay on the finish.
That's my way and of course you can use any suitable solvent's and lube you want, just about all of them will do the job!

 

[Skeeziks]

I have been using MPRO 7 bore gel to get the barrel and cylinder clean

Hey Nick.... Does that MPro-7 Gel really work well? I just picked up a bottle in hopes that it'll work as good as Hoppe's but without the toxicity.
If you let it set and give it time to work, will the fouling come out fairly easy, or do you have to use a lot of elbow grease?

 

[pilgrim6a]

Here is something for your information. Last ten years or so I have been using two products with great success. Both come from Sentry Solutions. The Tuf-cloth (or Marine Tuf-cloth) is used like a silicone cloth. It goes on wet and drys to a film. I have been using these things on carbon steel knives and guns for TEN YEARS , No Rust. It's dry and doesn't attract dust & dirt. A MUST for use under grips.
Now for the NEW thing. Use a small patch of the Tuf-cloth and a jag, and work it into the chambers & bore of your guns.(Can also use Tuf-Glide Dry Lube & Protectant on a clean patch) It makes cleaning a snap, and the empties just fall out. This idea came from the great PFF.
I have a Kimber 1911 conversion with a very tight chamber. It required cleaning @ 100 rds.or I got malfunctions. After the Tuf-cloth, 500+ rds, no problems

 

[vytoland]

cleaner = weapon shield

brush = kleen bore phosphor bronze

get a STIFF nylon brush to clean around the forcing cone, cylinder face and under the star extractor.

don't bother trying to remove every bit of the carbon rings on the cylinder face. you may increase the cylinder gap in the process.

 

[Recoil Rob]

Not to hijack, but it fits in here.
Last year I bought a used ultrasonic cleaner for my rifle parts and also cleaning old fishing reels. Works fantastically, I tore down and cleaned an old Remington M14, you would be amazed at how the interior fire blued and case colored parts look like new.

Any reason not to take the grips off a revolver and put it in the tank for a cleaning, rinse off and lube well?

 

[nutsforsmiths]

I shoot mostly jacketed bullets. I have been using Hoppe's #9 for some 20+ years and it hasn't failed me yet.

My process is similar to Nick's. For stainless guns; I just a good bronze brush with #9 for the barrel and let it sit while working on the other parts of the pistol. I use a lead away cloth for the cylinder face and around the forcing cone, if really dirty. I then used a stainless cylinder bore brush with Hoppe's for the change holes.

For blued guns; The only real difference here is that I use PRO7 Gun Cleaner for the cylinder face and a nylon or bronze brush. This is the best product I have found for the cylinder face. It usually get 90% of the powder burn off the face the first time scrubbed. Sometimes it may take two cleanings to get the residue off the cylinder face. The only pistols I have that this doesn't do such a good job on is my Model 53 that shoots 22 Jet. There is so much residue on the cylinder face that I only give it one scrub and let it stand at that. It looks better, but not great for this gun.

For pistols that have a velocity more then 2,000 fps (the 460 and the Model 53 22 Jet), I first used Hoppe's Bench Rest to remove any copper fowling and then it is the same regime as listed above.

 

[AzShooter]

I too use MPro-7 to clean all my guns. I was sponsored by them years ago and still think they are the best cleaning product on the market. Make sure you buy a Cylinder brush for cleaning your cylinders. They are a little larger than the barrel brushes and last a long time.

Scrub the front of your cylinder with a toothbrush and the MPro-7. If it doesn't come clean right away let it soak in for 15 minutes and go at it again. Everything will come clean.

Then, whipe down the outside of your gun with apatch and MPro-7. A light oiling and you will be ready for your next range session.

 

[reuters]

[lang=sv]This works fine for me since 32 years back and I shoot cast bullets to 90%, about 5000 per year, jacketed fouling is even less hard too get rid off.
No noticed damages to guns from my method, one of them now got over 100.000 rounds through it and was always cleaned by this method

1. Wipe all exterior surfaces clean of the lose lead, powder and lube residue with a thin cotton cloth (old sheets are the best) lightly saturated with any gun oil or mild solvent.
2. Push a clean cotton patch of the above cloth through bore and chambers, brass jag and snug fit with good resistance. Next a patch soaked in Hoppes # 9 a couple of times let sit for minimum 20 minutes but the longer the better
3. With a real tiny paintbrush saturate cylinder exterior, inside of top strap, recoil shield, crane are, forcing cone and rear of barrrel/frame with Hoppes # 9 let sit for min 20 minutes.
4. Scrub all surfaces step 3 with a hard toothbrush where brush is cut down real short so it gets stiffer, then wipe clean, repeat saturation & scrubbing/wiping until clean. NB little scrubbing and wiping is needed Hoppes # 9 solves lifts the leading off in increments until eventually totally gone For the topstrap/barel attachment area a copper or brass brush may be used with moderation for stubborn leading. The hardest area to get clean-clean, is the cylinder face but here I use the cut down toothbrush and rug only, repeat steps 3-4 until clean.
5. Push snug fitting clean patch through bore and chambers, folllowed by a couple of strokes with snug fitting Hoppes # 9 soaked patch.
6. If still traces of leading in bore/chambers I apply a few strokes with a spun or regular SS-bore brush this will not wear/hurt the bore/chambers
7. If still lead traces around barrel attachment to frame and topstrap then I carefully scrape this off with a scrape & pick that I made of soft copper plate/wire, this will not harm the finish.
8. Finally wipe all exterior and cambers/bore with a clean cloth with any thin gun oil.

The above may appear a struggle but the more frequent you clean the less work. I typically do this after every second to third shooting session and then I do like five guns at the time. By this I can minimize the waiting for the Hoppes # 9 to work and it will all be done in less than an hour

I avoid any steel wool or steel brushes on exterior surfaces since this may wear the blueing or polish up the SS-guns and even round sharp edges in the long run. Tried a bunch of solvents but for me Hoppes# 9 is the winner. I avoid plastic jags since the thread breaks off when pulling, at snug fit patch they are good for pushing only. It is my opinion that snug fitting brushes and jags is the trick of the trade when it comes to lead removal of bores, one can really feel and hear when it catches the leading and then drags it lose.

I rarely take off the grip panels when cleaning unless it was raining hard but I do indeed make sure that the grip frame part is coated with a thin coat of oil or grease.

For stubborn cylinder face leading/carbon e.g. severely neglected cleaning it is sometimes worth to dismantle the cylinder from the frame, this make the rubbing and scrubbing easier.

Never ever scrape lead off with any steel tools like knifes or screwdrivers VERBOTEN!

Never clean heavy leading out of bore by firing jacketed ammo, this can severly damage bore/barrel thread may even brake off thread. The lead becomes like a wedge between the bore and the jacketed bullet and nowhere to go so pressure increases. This was a common practice over here among magnum shooters and resulted in destroyed guns, even one "indestructible" GP 100 was destroyed by this practice

The Lead removers are excellent tools but with my method I do not any longer feel that I need them.

Avoid lead removal cloths on blue guns exterior. Avoid the cleaning pastes since they can be slightly abrasive, they are hard on blueing and they polish glass bead or brush finish SS-guns shiny. However for the bores they are fine..

Hope the above can be ofsome guidance and it is not as much work as it may appear, with some practice it will not take too long.

Kindest Regards,
Svante[/lang]

 

[K.R._Rabbit]

Thanks guys, great replies. I will get one of those brushes that do all of the charge holes in the cylinder at one time, seems like a real time saver to me. I too use Hoppes and I have to admit, after trying a lot of oils, I have gone back to 3-in-1 oil. It seems to stay on longer for me.
Thanks,
Rabbit

 

[haggis]

My competition guns are stainless, mostly 625's, and this is my cleaning regimen.

After a match, I wipe down the gun with Break-Free, run a .50 brass brush through the charge holes, run a .45 bore brush through the barrel, and then run a bore snake through the barrel and chambers. Depending on how much crud is there, I may wait for a second match before cleaning. Since I generally shoot a match about every week, this procedure gets used every one to two weeks.

Now before someone starts ragging on me about a lousy cleaning job, remember that this is a stainless gun, and I'm only worrying about perfect functioning at the next match.

Once a year (every 5000 to 10000 lead rounds), I detail strip the revolvers to their individual parts, clean and lube everything, replace springs and small parts as needed. I then use a Lewis lead remover on the cylinder throats, forcing cone, and barrel. Very little lead is usually present (matching bullet hardness to cartridge pressure level doesn't leave much).

My blued guns, and those used infrequently, immediately get a much more thorough CLP regimen.


Buck

 

[ditrina]

I've always favored a front loading MayTag...

 

[K.38]

One other tool that is a time and gun saver is a good sized bench vice. I have one mounted on my work bench with heavy leather pads on the jaws.

I will secure the revolver with the muzzle up and with a rag over the firing pin hole to keep the crud out. I use the same general procedures as everyone else MPro 7 and or Hoppes. For the cylinder I turn the revolver over and place the open cylinder in the vice and clean that way.

A friend showed me this process years ago and it works like a charm. Just don't crank overly hard on the vice, just tighten enough to hold the revolver.

 

[bumnote]

For normal cleaning, MPro7 works well for me. A couple of times a year I'll use my ultrasonic cleaner, but it involves a complete strip-down afterwards to remove any moisture and to relube all the parts.