Breakdown/cleaning on a Single Action Army

[Atom Smasher]

I just recently acquired a really nice Uberti 1873 Cattleman and having never owned a revolver, let alone a SAA clone, I have no idea how to clean the sucker or what cleaning schedule to stick to. Obviously people have different ideas about cleaning guns; some clean after every shoot (especially for .22lr!), some clean once-or-twice a year. Personally, I clean my 9mm autoloader about once every two or three shoots, but I've read that SAAs need a little more TLC. So a few questions then:

1) Should I be cleaning the gun after every shoot? I'm not shooting any black power, this is a cartridge gun.

2) Is there a good way to clean it without disassembly, or will I have to take the gun apart? I have no problem pulling the gun apart, I just don't want to make things hard on myself.

Thanks, all!

 

[Hammerdown77]

If you're not shooting black powder, cleanup is no different than any other revolver. Pull the basepin and remove the cylinder. Take your favorite cleaning solvent and run patches through the bore and through the chambers in the cylinder. Wipe off any powder residue around the inside of the frame window, around the forcing cone, and around the recoil shield (back of the frame where the pawl/hand slot is). Drip some oil on the basepin, the front bushing of the cylinder, and the ratchet, and put the cylinder back in. Done.

If you need to put some oil on the action inside the frame, just cock the hammer back to full cock and dribble some down on the front of the hammer in the frame. It will run all over everything that needs it.

Once a year you can break the whole thing down and clean all the individual action parts.

 

[CraigC]

In general, no firearm shooting modern smokeless powder needs to be cleaned after every shoot, period. Those that do, do so because they think they're supposed to and most will never try any other way. I own two dozen rimfires and never clean a .22LR's bore. A complete disassembly is almost never required on a single action revolver, particularly so just for cleaning, resist the urge unless absolutely necessary.

Wipe it down after shooting with a soft, oil-damp rag. Every several hundred to couple thousand rounds, you'll need to swab your chambers. At the same time clean and oil the basepin hole. Clean your bore when it is leaded. This is how I maintain a collection of two dozen single actions, some of which are expensive customs and eight double actions.

 

[rcmodel]

Pull the base-pin and take the cylinder out.

Your gun has a push button base-pin retainer.
Put the gun on half cock, open the loading gate, pull the base pin out far enough for the cylinder to come out, and take it out.

No further disassembly is necessary, or desirable.

After you take the cylinder out, clean the chambers & bore with a bronze bore brush, solvent, and patches. Then put the cylinder back in and wipe down.

I clean every gun I own every time I shoot it.
Old habits, beat into my head by my father, and the U.S. Army, die hard.

rc

 

[Orion8472]

I generally clean after each outing. Not detailed, but just a bore snake or two and wiping off the excess dust. I figure I'd rather do light cleaning than have to tackle a buildup.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

1) Should I be cleaning the gun after every shoot? I'm not shooting any black power, this is a cartridge gun.

No, you don't have to clean after every shooting. A wipe down with an oily rag to make sure sweat and body oils don't rust the gun is all that's needed.

2) Is there a good way to clean it without disassembly, or will I have to take the gun apart? I have no problem pulling the gun apart, I just don't want to make things hard on myself.

All you have to do is remove the cylinder -- which is easy -- so you don't get a cleaning patch stuck between cylinder and breech.

 

[skt239]

I clean my guns after every shoot but it's not because I think I have to, I do it because I want to.

 

[Greg528iT]

If you are used to cleaning your auto.. once you pop the cylinder out of your SAA, you won't imagine leaving it in. if you do any kind of wipe down it just too easy to pull it out and run some swabs thru.