And then there's this from a (retired) lunatic fringe collector: It's been called "Ralph's Bath"---applied to each and every nasty, beat up, old S&W target gun that ever came to live here----since forever---or a loooooooooong time.
1. The barrel/cylinder gets clean--no lead, no nothing left in there----takes as much as 4-5 minutes.
2. The gun comes apart----all apart except for barrels and action studs.
3. Everything goes to soak in mineral spirits for a couple 2-3 days, or until he gets back to it.
4. Each and every piece/nook/cranny (and screw hole) gets scrubbed to within an inch of its life, rinsed with with clean mineral spirits, and blown dry with DRY, high pressure compressed air (125 psi line pressure).
5. All of it gets hosed down with CorrosionX, and left to soak for a couple of 2-3 days, or until he gets back to it----and then all of the CorrosionX that will come off gets blown off. (Take note of this CorrosionX business, because it's the only thing in this entire routine that makes any sense when it comes to explaining the BOTTOM LINE!!----which is coming up directly.)
6. All these bits and pieces get stuffed back together, the exterior gets wiped down with Hoppes to remove the last of the CorrosionX, and dried/polished with a soft cloth (because there's nothing nastier looking than a blued gun with oil residue on it)----and the gun finds a place on a shelf in the display cabinet.
There were guns on the shelves of the display cabinet for over 30 years with NO further attention besides getting the dust vacuumed off a couple of time a year ('cause the cabinet wasn't air tight). That's the BOTTOM LINE!!
Now there's a little can of the super wax (and the super cleaner), all "By Appointment to Her Majesty The Queen" somewhere around here, but they've never been opened---'cause they've never been needed. I figure it has to be because of the CorrosionX. I figure it must soak in or something. I figure that because there's nothing else to figure.
To repeat myself,--------over 30 YEARS----with no further attention!
Go figure!!
Ralph Tremaine