Howdy. I've been shooting black powder nearly 7 months now and I reckon I'm getting pretty good. I'm the proud owner of that Uberti Dragoon I keep bragging about on here : )
I'm after cleaning tips.
I clean my pistol the hard way. After a typical shoot of 50-100 rounds it's pretty dirty. And the black powder gets everywhere, in the trigger mech and right down into the grips (how it gets in the grip is beyond me). So typically i strip it down to the last screw, and scrub every single part individually. Then dry and oil liberally, reassemble. Let me tell you, this takes 2-3 hours. I have 5 cylinders to clean, so thats 30 nipples and 30 chambers. Admittedly, I 'overclean' it. I love my pistol and hate rust. But I dont wear off the blueing or unduly damage it.
I cant bring myself to just take off the barrel and dunk the parts whole (minus the wood grip that is) in boiling water. Last time I did that, i found watery sludge and minor rust in the trigger mech and areas the water/solvent missed. The only way I know for sure is the hard way.
But I'm looking for shortcuts now. Especially since I'm looking at getting a second Dragoon. Some people say to use kerosene/metholated spirits because it cuts right into the fouling and leaves an alcohol coating which just evaporates afterwards. Some people laugh and say try a sonic bath or something. Funny as it is, i'm tempted to try something like that. To save myself 2-3 hours every week i'd buy a machine to wash it. I've even considered buying a second dish washer for my pistol, and just chucking it in after the shoot! I'm up for any crazy idea at the moment.
Just toss in any ingenious strategies you guys use. I'd really appreciate it!
I'm after cleaning tips.
I clean my pistol the hard way. After a typical shoot of 50-100 rounds it's pretty dirty. And the black powder gets everywhere, in the trigger mech and right down into the grips (how it gets in the grip is beyond me). So typically i strip it down to the last screw, and scrub every single part individually. Then dry and oil liberally, reassemble. Let me tell you, this takes 2-3 hours. I have 5 cylinders to clean, so thats 30 nipples and 30 chambers. Admittedly, I 'overclean' it. I love my pistol and hate rust. But I dont wear off the blueing or unduly damage it.
I cant bring myself to just take off the barrel and dunk the parts whole (minus the wood grip that is) in boiling water. Last time I did that, i found watery sludge and minor rust in the trigger mech and areas the water/solvent missed. The only way I know for sure is the hard way.
But I'm looking for shortcuts now. Especially since I'm looking at getting a second Dragoon. Some people say to use kerosene/metholated spirits because it cuts right into the fouling and leaves an alcohol coating which just evaporates afterwards. Some people laugh and say try a sonic bath or something. Funny as it is, i'm tempted to try something like that. To save myself 2-3 hours every week i'd buy a machine to wash it. I've even considered buying a second dish washer for my pistol, and just chucking it in after the shoot! I'm up for any crazy idea at the moment.
Just toss in any ingenious strategies you guys use. I'd really appreciate it!