Oven drying a c&b revolver??!!

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DMShag514

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Took my NMA out for its first range trip yesterday. 26 shots and now it’s super dirty. I’m going to clean it today. I’ve got a 10/1 solution of water and balistol that I used for the initial cleaning and degreasing and had planned to just go that route again. However, I read on another forum that plenty of hot water works just as well and also doesn’t leave any residue. Also, in the same thread was someone saying that after they’ve cleaned their revolvers in hot water, they dry them in the oven on a wire rack at ~220 degrees for an hour. Then let them cool, lightly oil, and store. !!! Anyone have experience with this method? I wonder if the guy saying it was just a nutter or if his method is a common practice. I’m no metallurgist, but I would think prolonged exposure to above average temps might have off effects on the finish of the gun or maybe even the temper of the metals. But then again, to temper spring steel you have to hold it at 600 degrees, at least, for a while before it’s quenched. And it’s the quenching that does the realigning of the molecules to create the temper, not just the heat. At least, that’s what we use to do when forging new springs for pops old beaver traps.


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:)I sincerely doubt if there would be any change to the steel. Critics welcomed. I like be educated. You can expect however some “flash “ rust in the bore. Nothing more than a coating. a pass with an oily bore mop will remove it.
Been there done that as well as the dish washer routine.

Edit: If one sprayed the revolver down with Ballistol it’s water soluble, while wet. then dried in a low oven the results may eliminate the flash rust. The aroma might not be appreciated by the better half however.

LOL. While on the subject of drying, recently I’ve tried air frying my wet tumbled, well rinsed brass in my AirFryer. Works well, no water spots.
 
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I wash my black powder rifle in hot soapy water and then rinse in hot (as hot as my tap will make it) clean water. This warms the metal enough that if I shake it off good and run one or two dry patches down the bore it dries itself from the residual heat. On a few occasion I just use an old hair drier to finish the drying process, especially around the nipple/flash-hole. The air flow is probably as effective as the heat, you could probably blow it dry with a blow gun on an air compressor. After it's dry I wipe it down inside and out with a light coating of bore butter.

Depending on the alloy and the hardness the manufacture was going for the temper on most steel gun parts is done between 400-700 degree Fahrenheit. As long as you don't go up into that range you will not effect the heat treat of your parts. A 220 deg oven would be safe for almost any steel part's heat treat.
 
I tried oven drying and I also got flash rust. Now I clean with a mixture of about 20%Ballistol and 80% water, wipe it semi-dry and then coat with pure Ballistol. The only thing I make sure is 100% dry are the screw and nipple threads. I also put a small amount of Tetra Gun Grease on all threads to prevent sticking. Ballistol is water soluble so there can be a small amount of water left on the gun and it will still prevent rust.
 
Count me in the crowd of oven dry/flash rust. It comes right off if you catch it right away, but I still don't like it, so I don't do it. I'm also in the hot water and Balistol crowd. It's worked fine forever.
 
It would seem from the mess in front of the cylinder, photo, your a grease it up over the ball type shooter.
I did that way back when I first started shooting, and some do and swear by it, to each his own, but after one shot most of the grease on either side was just a liquid puddle. So I switched to lubed felt wads under the ball. Much cleaner, basically speaking, on the outside and I think in the bore also.
 
220 for an hour is a little much IMHO. I put my pistol parts on a foil lined baking sheet for 250 for about 20 minutes and that thoroughly dries them out. The parts take 10-15 minutes to cool to the touch but I start lubing them as soon as I can hand-hold them. I've been doing it that way for decades but this coming black powder season I'm going to try going Ballistol and see how that works out.

When I clean black powder fired cartridge cases I decap them in a Lee decapping die, agitate in a gallon milk jug with warm water and a squirt of dish detergent, then flush them with cold water until the soap is dissolved, then spread those on a baking pan for about the same time/temp. After that they are pretty tarnished but a few hours in the vibratory case cleaner and they come out looking like new and ready to reload.
 
I have oven dried revolvers. I put it on the absolute lowest temp it will go, like 150, put the parts on a beat up old cookie sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes. It's no hotter than a closed up car in summer. Lube and assemble immediately afterward. No problems.
 
dave951 said:
I have oven dried revolvers. I put it on the absolute lowest temp it will go, like 150, put the parts on a beat up old cookie sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes. It's no hotter than a closed up car in summer. Lube and assemble immediately afterward. No problems.
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I do the same, but I set the gun cylinder on a cloth on the cookie sheet. I have also cleaned guns in a tub of warm soapy water, then pour boiling water over it and shake it off. It will mostly dry on its own, but I will spray some wd40 into the internals to displace any drops that may still be in there. When it dries, I spray in a little remoil.
 
Tommygunn said:
I tried oven drying once years ago and got flash rust
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YES
You're going to get flash rust. I've gotten it when rinsing with a lot of boiling water. At a temp below 212 you might not get it very bad. IF you're worried about residual water, then after you water rinse and dry, rinse with 90% denatured alcohol, which will mix with any remaining water molecules and speed evaporation but not raise the temp. Then a good rust preventative.

As for messing with the metal, you're not going to do that unless you get the parts up around 400-500 degrees (depending on the methods of tempering that I've read) and for certain amounts of time. Still there is no need to get the metal that hot.

LD
 
Howdy

Back when I was shooting a lot of Cap & Ball in the 1970s I used to put the gun in the oven. It was a long, long time ago, I suspect the oven temperature was just a bit higher than boiling water. No, it will not alter the metal. Yes, you will get flash rust, that's why I stopped doing it.
 
I use a very hot water and Ballistol mix to clean, then put the parts on an old cookie sheet in the oven with it set as low as it goes (150˚?) and with the door cracked open. They're dry in about fifteen minutes. Never had any flash rust on my Uberti 1861 Navy doing it that way.
 
OP you are confusing hardening with tempering. Either way to temper steel it is usually 300+ degrees. That said I still would not put my guns in 220 degree oven for any time since there is no need to and you are going to get flash rust if you don't at least dry it anyway. Just clean it with water and Ballistol afterwards. If there are nooks and crannies you can't get dry a hair dryer works wonders if you don't have hot sun and air to sit the gun out in for a few minutes.
 
If using a oven just to touch up most of the water will have to be off already or you can get rust or hard water scale. If possible use hot rain water or distilled water for your final rinse this avoids scale and heats up the metal. Blow dry quickly preferably with a air compressor but lungs will work the risidual heat in the metal should be enough to dry 100% but it does not hurt to leave it in a warm dry place like next to fireplace or radiator.
 
Totally unnecessary. In 20+ years of shooting blackpowder rifles and revolvers I have never used an oven or hair dryer to dry my guns after cleaning. You are welcome to inspect them for rust or corrosion or anything else whenever you wish.
 
J-Bar said:
Totally unnecessary. In 20+ years of shooting blackpowder rifles and revolvers I have never used an oven or hair dryer to dry my guns after cleaning. You are welcome to inspect them for rust or corrosion or anything else whenever you wish.
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It is necessary if you want to reload your gun right after cleaning it.
 
Gadsden2A said:
It is necessary if you want to reload your gun right after cleaning it.
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Sorry, but I disagree. An oven is not necessary. If the chamber is dried completely with patches the gun can be recharged successfully immediately. I’ve done it countless times with percussion revolvers and muzzleloading rifles while at the range. Popping a cap on the nipples before pouring powder is sufficient, and even that may not be absolutely necessary.
 
J-Bar said:
Sorry, but I disagree. An oven is not necessary. If the chamber is dried completely with patches the gun can be recharged successfully immediately. I’ve done it countless times with percussion revolvers and muzzleloading rifles while at the range. Popping a cap on the nipples before pouring powder is sufficient, and even that may not be absolutely necessary.
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I use the hair dryer, not the oven, but I believe you. To each their own.
 
I dry mine in the oven pretty low like 175 and not for particularly long 15-20 min as im just drying it fully don't really need much more than that, I do get some flash rust but that's taken care of with a quick wipe with oil
 
Not needed. I used to use a heat gun on the loading lever hinge - worried some water might be trapped in there. But after a few years, never saw any problems. Ballistol and water and my guns are good to go.
 
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