What a difference a cleaning makes...

[Waveski]

I am also a side plate up guy. It will work loose when on top , and it is much easier to observe progress and regulate the strikes with the plastic hammer. Internal parts stay put too.

Be patient ; this technique works.
And this cannot be said too many times - NO PRYING! You will be tempted .....

 

[kraynky]

If I haven't been out to shoot for a while, and therefore nothing to clean, I'll sometimes just stop at the cleaning bench and open one of the Hoppes #9, and let the aroma fill the air.

Ahhh, much better now. It never fails to remind me of Dad cleaning his 22 rifle after a trip to his parents farm. By the time I got my own rifle (around 13 years old, maybe?) I got to clean them both, as he watched, and sniffed the air. LOL!

Amazing what memories are tied to our sense of smell. Hoppes is one of the best, right behind Grandmothers yeast rolls coming out of the oven on Sunday after church. Oh what I'd give to relive those days.........

 

[Buford57]

If you really want to test a relationship try cleaning a black powder firearm indoors.

One of my favorite smells was a freshly fired paper shotshell. Plastic doesn't compare. I lost my sense of smell over 20 years ago, but still had some paper shells in inventory. I occasionally take a box to a shoot and let the young guys who've never known paper shells sniff them afterward. Their eyes always light up.

Some of the fun of shooting is gun maintenance. it helps you get to know and better appreciate your firearm.

 

[selmerfan]

Well, I couldn't leave it alone. I found a good disassembly/reassembly video (but I didn't pry...) S&W .38 M&P Postwar 5 screw Armorer level disassembly - YouTube

Now the innards look like this. And the function is absolutely fantastic. Crisp and light single action break, very smooth DA pull and break. I'm very, very pleased with having learned how to take apart another gun.

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[selmerfan]

And fully assembled. I do have the magna grips for it, but don't care for them when shooting.

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[Waveski]

I would be using those target grips too ; good shooters.

Enjoy.

 

[RWPBR]

Kroil smells better than ballistol (sp?)

I actually like the smell of Ballistol, Kroil not so much.

 

[rct269]

"I used Kroil to loosen the lead------------."

My first thought was what a God awful mess that must make----this chap needs help. Then a little voice said leave it alone---you'll catch hell for criticizing him---or tootin' your own horn---even though it's not your horn. Yeah, well like I said, this chap needs help.

Go to the Notable Thread Index in this section. Go to "lead in barrel".

Enough said!

Ralph Tremaine

 

[selmerfan]

"I used Kroil to loosen the lead------------."

My first thought was what a God awful mess that must make----this chap needs help. Then a little voice said leave it alone---you'll catch hell for criticizing him---or tootin' your own horn---even though it's not your horn. Yeah, well like I said, this chap needs help.

Go to the Notable Thread Index in this section. Go to "lead in barrel".

Enough said!

Ralph Tremaine

[emoji23]. I love me some Kroil!


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[selmerfan]

Also, the leading was not primarily in the bore. Most of it was carbon and lead build up around the forcing cone area. My boolits are sized and lubed properly to prevent any significant leading in the bore.


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[mike from st pete]

I actually like the smell of Ballistol, Kroil not so much.

To each his own. Neither are aromas that please my nose, but ballistol smells like vomit to me.

 

[jeffrefrig]

There was an article in American Rifleman about cleaning the bore on rifles; how the stuff you can barely see will throw off the point of impact, and what he used to clean it. Remember on the 1st Police Academy movie, Tackleberry gave his new lady friend some cologne, she was putting a little behind her ears & asked what it was. He proudly said it's gun oil. She loved it. Yeah, as mentioned, scents & smells really do leave a lasting memory. Baked bread, chocolate chip cookies, burning leaves...

 

[Green Frog]

Back to the OP's revolver... a 1948 vintage K-38 has had over 70 years to accumulate built up grunge, but once that's been taken care of by whatever safe and gentle means he chooses, he has one of the iconic S&W revolvers of all times, ready to go to work again! I'm not sure how many of these immediate post-War beauties we have here among our forum members, but for some reason this exact model and vintage seems to show up here often, and all of us that have one love it. Mine was bought somewhat serendipitously at a small local auction about a decade ago and has come to be one of my all time favorites.

Froggie

 

[RAMS]

KROIL

I take it that Kroil will not harm old (1955) bluing if left to soak a while; right?

 

[crsides]

no problem with the bluing. A smith with some mild 'freckling' (rust to some people) can be soaked in Kroil and it will soften the rust. Light use of Chore Boy 100% copper pads while wet with Kroil will remove much of the remaining rust. Pits are pits, but light rust scale can be dissolved.

 

[JohnRippert]

I used Hoppes for a long time when I was growing up. When I found the recipe for Ed's Red (minus the lanolin) I never looked back. Like the smell, too.