Cylinder cleaning

[MoreIsLess]

I have a Ruger Security Six that I bought about 6 months ago, used. It's worked fine up to now but I have noticed that cylinder doesn't turn very easily like it did when I first bought it. I figure it must be all gunked up with something. My friends at the range are telling me to remove the cylinder and soak it in __________ (fill in the blanks) over night. Is it necessary to do this or is there another way to clean it without disassembling the cylinder? If so, what to soak it in? I've tried spraying break free in the cylinder assembly to no avail

 

[Hanshi]

No; not unless you dunk the whole gun, which is unnecessary. Get someone knowledgeable to show you how to disassemble and reassemble the gun.

 

[Remllez]

Moreisless,

Your guns are very easy to disassemble for cleaning....go to YouTube and check it out. You could always take the grips off and soak the whole gun in Ed's Red, then blow it out. That way you know your pieceis clean and ready to go when needed.

You should learn to field strip all your guns for simple maintenance, or minor repair. It's part and parcel of our hobby.

 

[BCRider]

Brake cleaner works well but it tends to evaporate fast. If you're not quick at spraying it on and working the action to aid it in flushing out the goop it may not work that well. Especially in hotter conditions where it evaporates all that much faster.

That's where I like a "slower drying" solvent. Or my favourite cheap and easy general purpose gun cleaning mix, Ed's Red. The recipe is an easy Google or Bing or whatever away.

The trick with this is to soak down the cylinder with it and then spin the cylinder and repeatedly work the ejector. Continue dipping the cylinder and crane into a dish of the Ed's mix or some other solvent and working the cylinder by spinning it and working the ejector repeatedly until it has a chance to work out all the gunk. If it's really bad it may take a few times. So be patient and keep repeating this dip and work until it frees up. Then repeat it a few more times just for good measure. Then tip it up and allow all the goop inside to drain out.

No solvent is good for our skin or internal organs. Especially if we'll just about be bathing our hands in it. Wear nitrile gloves when doing anything like this and your body will thank you later in life.

 

[MoreIsLess]

Brake cleaner works well but it tends to evaporate fast. If you're not quick at spraying it on and working the action to aid it in flushing out the goop it may not work that well. Especially in hotter conditions where it evaporates all that much faster.

That's where I like a "slower drying" solvent. Or my favourite cheap and easy general purpose gun cleaning mix, Ed's Red. The recipe is an easy Google or Bing or whatever away.

The trick with this is to soak down the cylinder with it and then spin the cylinder and repeatedly work the ejector. Continue dipping the cylinder and crane into a dish of the Ed's mix or some other solvent and working the cylinder by spinning it and working the ejector repeatedly until it has a chance to work out all the gunk. If it's really bad it may take a few times. So be patient and keep repeating this dip and work until it frees up. Then repeat it a few more times just for good measure. Then tip it up and allow all the goop inside to drain out.

No solvent is good for our skin or internal organs. Especially if we'll just about be bathing our hands in it. Wear nitrile gloves when doing anything like this and your body will thank you later in life.

Thanks for the tip. Are you talking about removing the cylinder from the dun and then dipping it or leaving it in the gun.

 

[k4swb]

I just keep mine spinning by cleaning and lubing them after every range trip using Hornady One Shot Cleaner & Dry Lube.

Used to be a lot more time consuming before I started using this stuff.

 

[oldbear]

Moreisless, make sure that the ejector rod is not starting to "back out", a stick cylinder if often a sigh of this. If a loose ejector rod is the cause it's easy to tighten. I don't know if it would be a left hand thread like Smith and Wesson's are.

 

[Fishslayer]

Residue on the face of the cylinder and on the forcing cone can cause this.

Get one of the tactical OD toothbrushes and scrub the front of the cylinder and around the forcing cone with Hoppes.

Unburnt powder under the extractor star can also bind things up. Make sure to clean under there. Easy on the oil after cleaning. If left wet it can actually grab & hold undesirable chunks. I generally spray with Remoil & wipe off all I can get to. When ejecting the spent brass, always point the muzzle straight up. This help the dirt fall free & not get hung up.

As mentioned, the extractor rod can back out. Make sure of the thread direction. It might be a left hand thread.

 

[bikemutt]

Someone else on THR shared this one: a plain old white pencil eraser does a bang up job of keeping the cylinder face and forcing cone looking good, the carbon just disappears. I have also found that for stainless and nickel guns, Mother's Mag polish seems to remove a lot of carbon.

 

[nofishbob]

Please be careful with pencil erasers on blued guns!

Some of these are abrasive and may get your cylinder a little too clean, as in the bluing is gone, too!

Good luck!

Bob