Stainless pistol cleaning questions

[Waterboy3313]

I was brain storming this most of the day while I was pulling the press handle and prepping the cases I shot today. I was kind of wrong in a sense but it worked out anyway. I was thinking right before Thanksgiving when my wife bought some cleaner at Lowe's for our stainless appliances. I was thinking it was actually stainless cleaner but it's not. So I tried it anyway and was not disappointed.

I used a very small almost invisible amount of this cleaner and the black stain residue wiped off effortlessly. The 20oz bottle will last me about 3 lifetimes. No damage or change of appearance to the the areas cleaned. The areas that were cleaned perfectly match the areas that I didn't touch.

The product is Weiman glass cook top cleaner and polish.


Once again the lighting is horrible but in person it looks much better than the picture.

 

[Targa]

Nice! I never would have thought about that, looks great.

 

[Waterboy3313]

So I just finished reassembling this thing. I pulled the trigger group out gave all the pins a drop of oil, cleaned it, might of changed a spring or two and put it all back together.

Now it's looking as good as the day I brought it home. Trigger feels a little better but we will have to see how that plays out.

 

[Obturation]

The Birchwood Casey lead removing cloth is all you need. Cut a piece off and use it to clean the whole gun. I've seen guys unfold it and use the whole cloth at once too. Got to keep the cloth wrapped up , doesn't work well when it dries up. I haven't found anything easier to clean a stainless gun. Will remove blueing. It doesn't strike me as an abrasive cleaner but I guess it is, or it cleans very well without abrasion . I don't know but it doesn't seem to harm stainless finishes at all.

 

[CraigC]

All the lead removal cloths are abrasive and will alter the surface over time.

IMHO, people worry too much about this stuff. If it doesn't come off with an oil-damp rag, I don't worry about it. Especially the carbon scoring on the cylinder face. But then again, I'd rather be shooting than cleaning.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I'm not going to detail after every time I shoot. I normally give it a quick once over and call it good. Most of my experience is shooting semi auto pistols. A lot more going on than in a revolver and just out of my experience a dirty semi auto can have it's issues. Just out of habbit I like my guns to be maintained so I don't have any unnecessary failures.

Using the Weiman cleaner I think spent less than 5 minutes cleaning the dark stains off. In all of my time I spend shooting, prepping my targets, cleaning guns etc I would have to say I spend the majority of the time in the reloading stages. I spend 2-3 hours at the range which equals a long day. I go early in the morning home by 10:00 am work on clean up and brass prep until about 5:00 pm.

Then I spend probably another 6-10 hours throughout the week after work finishing the reloading process. I devote quite a bit of time to my shooting hobby.

 

[Obturation]

All the lead removal cloths are abrasive and will alter the surface over time.

Dimensionally or just the finish? I don't have any polished guns so maybe it makes no detectable surface finish change on a brushed gun, or I'm just not that observant or picky.

 

[CraigC]

Dimensionally or just the finish? I don't have any polished guns so maybe it makes no detectable surface finish change on a brushed gun, or I'm just not that observant or picky.

In a test, I took a 400grit brushed finish to a bright polish in 2mins on a low RPM lathe. Equivalent to just as much hand rubbing. I just don't see a benefit to doing this and there is potential to causing harm.

 

[Obturation]

In a test, I took a 400grit brushed finish to a bright polish in 2mins on a low RPM lathe. Equivalent to just as much hand rubbing. I just don't see a benefit to doing this and there is potential to causing harm.

I'll do mine about once per year to knock the burn rings off, maybe I'll start doing it every 5 years...
I'm not very concerned with shining up my guns and I know some carbon deposits tend to prevent flame cutting on top straps so I generally leave the top strap alone . years ago I would go nuts cleaning my guns but the older I get the less I clean. Thanks, your advice is valuable to me.

 

[CraigC]

I did too. When I was a teenager, into my 20's, I would break down and thoroughly clean all my guns right after a range session. It's something that gets ingrained into people and I was no different. It wasn't until I started thinking about it and talking to some folks who knew a lot more than I did (ahem, John Taffin) that I started questioning it. Now life is much better........and easier. Now the only guns I clean with such discipline are front stuffers.

 

[Dan-O]

I gave up cleaning the carbon a long time ago. Whatever I can get off with a quick wipe is good enough for me.

 

[0ne3]

Waterboy, I have a stainless revolver. Bought some Weiman cleaner to day. Going to try it.

 

[wagonburner]

The last pistol I bought was a Ruger GP 100 in stainless. I have had all blued guns until this one. I actually decided on the stainless thinking it would be easier to keep looking good. My blued carry pistol is only about 3 years old and looks pretty well worn from sliding into and out of a kydex holster. The kydex holster was made locally and was probably less than perfect. It had some burrs that scratched the bluing pretty bad when new. So thinking about that I bought the last pistol in stainless thinking it would be more resistant to scratching and less maintenance to keep looking clean.

The cylinder and areas around the cylinder of the stainless revolver seems to be turning a dark color. I have taken this pistol to the range maybe 5 times since buying it new. The first 2-3 times the black color wiped off rather effortlessly during cleaning. The 4th time it would not wipe off its like a stain. I have used several cleaning solvents to try to clean this stain off. But no matter what I use it does not come off.

I have not used anything abrassive and I was hoping to avoid anything abrassive or any kind of polish. If anyone has any recommendations on how to remove this blackish stain I would greatly appreciate it.

I'm not trying to make it look better than new I just don't want this gun to look dirty or neglected.

Hoppes and green scotch-brite pads. Take your time. It all comes off.

 

[solman]

When I first started shooting many years ago I would clean and scrub the gun down to almost new. I soon realized this was not really necessary and probably did more harm than good.
Now I do a quick wipe down, run a patch or two thru the barrel and cylinder and call it good. I have been doing it this way for many years now without any detriment that I can see. Once in a while I might do a more detailed job if I feel energetic or bored.

 

[Waterboy3313]

Waterboy, I have a stainless revolver. Bought some Weiman cleaner to day. Going to try it.

Let me know how it turns out.

When I bought my stainless revolver I had one thing in mind. It was not because I like bright things that stand out. I have had blued guns because I carry most of them or plan to after I get them on ccw. I would much prefer something that doesn't stand out and draw attention. I figured after seeing my carry guns get scratched up from being in and out of holsters that a stainless gun would be more durable and all the carbon would wipe off easier.

I like my stuff clean but I'm not usually ocd. I plan to clean the carbon off once or twice a year.

 

[CharliesHammer]

There must be big differences in lead-removal cloths. I couldn't find Lead-Away locally but the store had the Hoppes version. I used it on the cylinder face of my 686 and after tons of scrubbing it barely made a difference. Unless the Lead-Away is vastly different, I'm not sold on it. The only thing that worked was soaking the face in CLP for a couple hours and attacking with a stiff nylon brush. I could have used more aggressive methods but I was shy about altering the finish.

The Lead Away clothes work but not nearly as well as they did 20 years ago. They used to be more potent, they would lightly burn your hands if you forgot to wear gloves.