Revolver cleaning

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kidneyboy

kidneyboy

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It's been a while since I've been able to clean some of my revolvers due to some remodeling here. Dust and dirt is everywhere! Today I couldn't stand it anymore and took about an hour to clean out an area in the shop where some serious gun cleaning could take place.
Old t-shirts, shop rags, 2 cleaning kits, Ballistol, hundreds of patches, pipe cleaners, qtips and some music came out and a couple and a half hours later these 4 are a little more respectable. ( the pic is when I started).
While doing this I started wondering how some of you clean your revolvers. I use Ballistol, a little patience and brass tools if needed. However, the revolvers seldom go more than a couple hundred rounds between cleanings so cleaning is more like maintenance.

IMG_2984.JPG

FWIW, I like cleaning guns.....
 
I do much the same as you except my guns get cleaned after each range session regardless of how many shots were fired.
 
I have become a huge fan of G96 products. To me the gun cleaner smells like bubblegum. Everything they produce seems to be top quality and priced no more than most other products on the market. They also have very high end synthetic oils.

http://www.g96.com

I use their Cleaner Degreaser, Gun Treatment and their Synthetic CLP Gun Oil. I'm happy with their products.
 
I clean after every range session. I used to have problems with getting carbon rings out of the chambers of my revolvers. I haven't tried Ballistol, but have tried several products and settled on G96. Spray it and let it soak for an hour. Then, a brush and patches. That's it.

My patches all are from used T-shirts.
 
I spray some Birchwood Casey foaming bore scrubber down the muzzle and chambers, let sit for 20 min while I go do something else. Then I scrub them out with a brash brush wrapped in strands from a copper cleaning pad - this really scrapes lead and fouling out of the gun and leaves the barrel looking like a mirror. Then I go over the inside of the frame and under the ejector with a toothbrush and Hoppes #9. Wipe everything off with paper towel, push an oiled patch down barrel and chambers, and I'm done.
 
I'm another who cleans after a shooting session. Wet patch with #9, soak for a bit, then bronze brush, dry patches until clean, lightly oiled patches to finish the bore.
Wipe down with ratty t-shirt to cut the exterior crud, final wipe with oiled rag made from cloth diaper, and put away in the safe until next session!
 
I don't clean after every range session, but I don't let them get filthy either. After a few hundred rounds, they get a good cleaning.
I grew up with my father religiously cleaning. If it got fired one time, it got cleaned.
He would be ashamed. lol

I use ballistol as well. If I've been shooting .38s in the .357 I take a copper brush to the cylinders to avoid building up a carbon ring.
 
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Mod 65 Hoppes and Rem oil and bronze brush. Loop with a patch in the charging holes , Jag and patch through the bore. If just shot a few rounds clean up with CLP
 
Howdy

I do not clean after every shooting session. And I gave up long ago trying to remove the carbon rings from the front of the cylinder, they are just part of shooting revolvers.

As far as Ballistol is concerned, there are much better solvents for Smokeless Powder. Ballistol works great on Black Powder fouling, but almost any Smokeless solvent will require less elbow grease than Ballistol. I have always used good old Hoppes #9.
 
I am a cowboy action shooter, 99% black powder. I clean my guns and brass after I get home from a match. Why would you not?

I like removing dirt and fouling; I enjoy handling the guns after a match; I like the smell of Ballistol and soapy water and Bore Butter and CLP. I enjoy putting my guns back into their racks after cleaning them and thanking them for a fun day at the range.

I do NOT clean my guns to preserve resale value. I don’t figure on ever selling them. I clean them so I can shoot them for years to come and hopefully wear them out!!

How? Dawn dish detergent, Ballistol, Breakfree CLP, lots of patches, cheap terry cloth towels from Harbor Freight. Two revolvers, one lever rifle, one double barreled shotgun, one hour in the garage. A hot shower and a glass of Jamison’s afterwards.
 
My dirty revolvers are like a badge of honor. I don't clean them until the cylinders starts binding up or I get tired of getting soot all over me from handling them.
 
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Usually I clean guns once a week. Whatever was shot in the last week gets cleaned, even the Glocks :)
Ballistol is great if you clean often and aren't getting a lot of buildup. I haven't had to scrub out leading for a couple of decades.
 
Hoppe's and brass brushes.

Spend about 45 to 60 on each one every time I shoot them. I consider it quality time with the family.
 
I spray the bores and chambers with solvent, let them sit for an hour, then put them in the dishwasher. Blow dry them, then oil the action. :D
 
Solvent, copper brushes for bore, stainless brush if stainless steel firearm for chamber mouth and top strap, otherwise copper brush. Light coat of CLP afterward.
 
These days:
Breakfree CLP
Brass or nylon bore brush (nylon for titanium cylinder)
Nylon GI toothbrush
Patches
Rod
Rag or paper towel
 
Clean after they are shot. One round or 200 doesn’t matter. For revolvers, patch soaked with Hoppes (I have other cleaners and they all work, but I can’t stop using Hoppes. It’s what I learned with. Guns just don’t feel clean unless they smell like Hoppes) down barrel and in each chamber. Toothbrush soaked with Hoppes over entire gun. Grips always off. Let soak for 15 minutes or so. Attach brush to drill and 5 seconds in each chamber and it is mirror clean. 10-15 passes with brush on rod ( no drill of course) down barrel. Follow up with Hoppes soaked patches down barrel and chambers. They come out black. Few more until no residue on the patch and then a dry one down barrel and chambers. Toothbrush on exterior of gun. Bronze brush to forcing cone. Wipe dry and light oil. Done. 20 minutes per revolver. And I do use a lead removing cloth on cylinder face. So effortless, so why not?
 
Day 1. Range day. Day 2. Gun and brass cleaning day. Day 3. Reloading day. Repeat.
Products used for gun cleaning. Hoppes No.9 , Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber, Remington Rem Oil. Assorted patches , mops , brushes and cotton swabs. Polish stainless steel and brass with Flitz or Mothers Polish.
 
After every few range sessions, I open the cylinder and spray ballistol generously into the chambers and the barrel, I let sit for about 20 minutes, then I use a boresnake to clean through the bore and chambers, I use q tips and mothers mag polish on burn rings. Most of the time however theyre only wiped down in a silicone cloth after the range.
 
I went to buy copper Chore Boy? at Wal-Mart and all they had was copper coated something. I assume copper coated would not be ok to use.
 
I have Shooter's Choice, Cleanzoil, Safari Charlie's and brake cleaner to choose from for spraying the barrel and cylinders. Bronze brush, about 5 back and forth scrubs, patch with one of the above and a jag; typically no more than twice. Spray gun with Remoil or similar and wipe down with a microfiber cloth that has only been used for gun oil (and probably has enough impregnated in it anyway). Put guns back in their silicone socks and back in the safe they go. Takes about 8 minutes each.
 
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