How to clean blued revolver?

[rwsmith]

Normal solvent...

If you shoot the gun regularly, forget about removing the "burn" marks on the cylinder front. Just clean with your normal solvent and a brush or patch to remove any residue. The burn marks would just show up after every shooting, and if you try to clean them off from a blued gun you will eventually be down to bare metal.

Good ole Hoppes #9.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I'm sure it's a stupid question but I've never had a blued revolver before. On my stainless guns I can easily clean the carbon off the cylinder with a Magic Eraser, but I assume that's terrible for blueing. I'm buying a blued Model 10 and want to keep it clean while preserving the finish.

Magic Eraser?????

Sorry, but cleaning is not complicated AND I do not believe in using anything that is not specifically for firearms.

A bore brush dipped in a nitro powder solvent is used to clean the inside of the barrel, the inside of the charge holes, and using a nylon type of toothbrush, to scrub the ash and firing residue off of areas such as the barrel shank, the lunette, the top strap, the face of the cylinder, and the exterior of the cylinder, the recoil shield, and the area under the extractor star.

A good gun oil is used to lubricate the exterior and to put a light coat of oil on the surfaces of the inside of the barrel and each charge hole.

It is not necessary or desirable to attempt to remove the powder burn marks from the face of the cylinder.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I clean every gun exactly the same way. Use brass bore brushes dipped in Hoppes #9 on the cylinder and barrel of a revolver, many times to scrub it. Then patches soaked in Hoppes until the patches come out without any black residue. Then a toothbrush dipped in Hoppes to scrub the outside of the barrel and the area around the cylinder. Finally spray the entire revolver with Gun Scrubber to remove the Hoppes. I wear rubber gloves to keep chemicals off my hands. I change paper towels under the gun when it is sprayed with gun scrubber. The wood or rubber grips are removed during cleaning.

Pretty much the same procedure I’ve used for nearly 60 years. When I’ve cleaned it thoroughly with Heppe’s and Gun Scrubber I lightly oil all surfaces with LCP and make certain any friction points are lightly oiled with a needle oiler. Gun Scrubber removed all oil and it’s important to have a thin film to protect and lubricate.

I learned from my day and over his lifetime and the near 60 years of my choosing hobby neither of us ever had a rust spot on a gun.

One thing my wife discovered, before shooting a once over with a silicon cloth makes cleanup much easier and a quick once over while the gun is warm at the end of a shoot with the silicon cloth removed a great deal of fouling and makes the final cleanup much easier.

 

[Matt_X]

A bore brush dipped in a nitro powder solvent is used to clean the inside of the barrel, the inside of the charge holes, and using a nylon type of toothbrush, to scrub the ash and firing residue off of areas such as the barrel shank, the lunette, the top strap, the face of the cylinder, and the exterior of the cylinder, the recoil shield, and the area under the extractor star.

A good gun oil is used to lubricate the exterior and to put a light coat of oil on the surfaces of the inside of the barrel and each charge hole.

It is not necessary or desirable to attempt to remove the powder burn marks from the face of the cylinder.

Sounds good.
Pretty much the same as S&W recommended on their instruction sheet.

Hoppes #9 is a nitro solvent, and there are other brands.
As far as I know, most do not provide any rust protection.

Rifle Bore Cleaner was a water based cleaner specifically to wash away corrosive primer residue and provide a little bit of rust protection. Not the sort of thing needed for the ammo your using.

Gun oil should be a low viscosity (light wieght) oil with preservative in it.

CLP, or at least mil-spec CLP, is a nitro solvent and gun oil combined.

 

[Model19man]

Pretty much the same procedure I’ve used for nearly 60 years. When I’ve cleaned it thoroughly with Heppe’s and Gun Scrubber I lightly oil all surfaces with LCP and make certain any friction points are lightly oiled with a needle oiler. Gun Scrubber removed all oil and it’s important to have a thin film to protect and lubricate.

I learned from my day and over his lifetime and the near 60 years of my choosing hobby neither of us ever had a rust spot on a gun.

One thing my wife discovered, before shooting a once over with a silicon cloth makes cleanup much easier and a quick once over while the gun is warm at the end of a shoot with the silicon cloth removed a great deal of fouling and makes the final cleanup much easier.

True, I wipe off every gun after reassembly with a non static cloth.

 

[James K]

I generally start with a bore snake and then mineral spirits for cleaning and mineral oil to preserve. Hoppes #9 is primarily mineral spirits with more smell.
Ren Wax works well, too.

 

[Nick B]

Sounds good.
Pretty much the same as S&W recommended on their instruction sheet.

Hoppes #9 is a nitro solvent, and there are other brands.
As far as I know, most do not provide any rust protection.

Rifle Bore Cleaner was a water based cleaner specifically to wash away corrosive primer residue and provide a little bit of rust protection. Not the sort of thing needed for the ammo your using.

Gun oil should be a low viscosity (light wieght) oil with preservative in it.

CLP, or at least mil-spec CLP, is a nitro solvent and gun oil combined.

Not to sound like Mr. Know It All but there’s nothing “nitro” about todays Hoppes . They stopped using Nitrobenzene in the formula many years ago .

 

[STG38]

I wouldn't use paper towels on the polished blued surfaces - they are abrasive. How do you think I know this? (sadly, experience)
I use pieces cut from an old T-shirt on these surfaces.
Just my 2-cents....

 

[Elroy]

They stopped using Nitrobenzene in the formula many years ago .

Do you mean something like this?

 

[Elroy]

Hoppes #9 is primarily mineral spirits with more smell.

It's a minor point but I beg to differ.

 

[Matt_X]

Not to sound like Mr. Know It All but there’s nothing “nitro” about todays Hoppes . They stopped using Nitrobenzene in the formula many years ago .

It's good to have a discussion about these things.
It was my impression that "Nitro" was a reference to removing residue from powders based on nitrocellulose. Of course now that you bring this up, I can't find the field or tech manual where I saw that.

So I took a look on the web to see what I could find and the best at the moment is a 1972 US Army report from Aberdeen.
AD0748807.pdf

It appears that with Hoppe's #9, Nitro could have been a reference to 6% nitrobenzene in it(see Appendix A). Although it could also be the product description, "Hoppes Nitrosolvent #9", a similar product name is Frankford Arsenal Nitrosolvent #8. The FA product did not contain nitrobenzene. So I think its fair to say that "Nitro" in product name is ambiguous and could simply represent a claim to being a powder solvent. That might explain why the fairly recent box of Hoppes #9 has "Nitro" on the label even though there is no nitrobenzene content (per the SDS).


Also in my digging it turns out that RBC was one of many products that was defined by a performance spec, rather than a content or manufacturing spec. So US military Rifle Bore Cleaners from different manufacturers and eras can have different contents.

In any event the OP should have no need for removing corrosive salts. But some powder solvents products, like the Hoppes #9, have warnings about possible damage to finishes. Hoppes states not to use or get #9 on nickel plating. Interesting.

 

[BE Mike]

It's amusing that there are so many detailed responses to cleaning a blued revolver. It ain't rocket science. Clean it like your stainless revolvers, except don't worry about getting rid of carbon stains on the front of the cylinder.

 

[stansdds]

But some powder solvents products, like the Hoppes #9, have warnings about possible damage to finishes. Hoppes states not to use or get #9 on nickel plating. Interesting.

The potential issue with Hoppes #9, and any solvent that contains ammonia or ammoniated compounds, is that it dissolves copper and some nickel plated firearms do have an intermediate layer of copper between the aluminum or steel and the nickel plate finish.

S&W did not use a copper layer, but applied the nickel finish directly to the underlying aluminum or steel, so they are safe with such solvents. Other firearms manufacturers and some aftermarket refinishes may have the copper layer.

 

[daveboy]

I use this for everything. Furniture, clothes... I always have a can on-hand.

That, Hoppe's for the bore, and then Minwax.

I'm happy this works for you. But, I have no idea why you'd need lacquer thinner to clean a gun. Sure, it will remove ALL traces of dirt and oil, wax, etc., but that could be setting the gun up for rust in the nooks and crannies that you miss getting the new wax into. How does the finish on your wood stocks hold up to this? For that matter, the front sight insert, white-outline on the rear sight, or rubber grips? On the plus side, if you don't have good ventilation, you can get a cheap high.

 

[djohns6]

Some folks believe that the more complicated a process is , the better it must be .

 

[SmithNut]

I like my revolvers to be so clean that you can't tell if they've been shot. My go-to solvent is good old Hoppes #9.

I keep a coffee can on my bench, just pour Hoppes in and let the cylinder soak. Pull it out and brush the face of the cylinder with a brass brush. If you don't get it clean the first time, soak it some more. Soak and brush, do it as many times as it takes the cylinder to get clean.

Use the brass brush to clean the frame area above the forcing cone and the recoil shield using Hoppes, elbow grease really helps.....

Once done, don't through away the Hoppe's in the can, just put the lid on it and stash it somewhere safe as you will likely need to clean your guns again.

Some folks use Ed's Red, a mixture of a bunch of things... look it up.
I have an ammo can full of an Ed's Red mixture, but frankly I've only used it a few times so I can't confirm it's utility, others may chime in.

BTW - this works for blue and stainless guns, never tried it on nickel guns as others have cautioned against that as it might damage the nickel, along with the fact that I no longer own nickel guns...

Happy cleaning....

 

[413Maxwedge]

It's amusing that there are so many detailed responses to cleaning a blued revolver. It ain't rocket science. Clean it like your stainless revolvers, except don't worry about getting rid of carbon stains on the front of the cylinder.

This is my favorite answer so far. Up until this model 10 arrives on Black Friday, I only have experience with stainless or black scandium revolvers. My blued shotguns get boresnaked on the inside but I don't have anything "really" dirty like a revolver gets.

For my stainless revolvers I don't strip and scrub between shootings, just a basic wipe-down to get the "loose" carbon off the outside (to keep hands and soft cases clean). My little black M&P 340 has over 1000 rounds through it in the last 12 months and it's never been cleaned, besides rubbing the inside of my pocket. I don't expect to ever sell it so I don't mind the dirt and finish wear, as long as it works.

BUT, when I'm going to photograph them, or considering selling one, I do a good detail clean. Including a magic eraser across the cylinder face on the stainless ones. I don't plan to go crazy cleaning this blued model 10 either, but on the rare occassions I do clean it up for a photo shoot I don't want to ruin the blueing. That's why I asked.

I am shocked by those of you telling me to use a wire brush to scrub the face of the cylinder. That sounds like using a brilliant pad to wash my car.

 

[cleger]

I'm happy this works for you. But, I have no idea why you'd need lacquer thinner to clean a gun. Sure, it will remove ALL traces of dirt and oil, wax, etc., but that could be setting the gun up for rust in the nooks and crannies that you miss getting the new wax into. How does the finish on your wood stocks hold up to this? For that matter, the front sight insert, white-outline on the rear sight, or rubber grips? On the plus side, if you don't have good ventilation, you can get a cheap high.

I haven't got any revolvers with plastic or painted parts, and I remove the stocks.

I don't "need" to use lacquer thinner, but like I wrote before, I use it as a general-purpose cleaner, especially on textiles, I always have some on hand, and it gets things clean. Anything else that I can buy at the local hardware is somewhat less effective.