I looked online and found a local store that carries them. I will definitely be trying some this weekend.
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.
Your blued guns have the same thing. You just don't see it. Until the cylinder gap is affected, it is harmless in my experience. However, moments ago and on Wednesday I cleaned a stainless cylinder face with copper scrubber, and it took little time to get down to stainless color. I have a lead remover,stainless polisher cloth, but the cylinder face is too dirty to foul the cloth, and it takes too long. Good finisher though.I just found it odd that the this pistol looked like new until about the 4th time I shot it. Everything wiped off clean. Now it after cleaning it doesn't look clean. I was almost Wondering if I cleaned it and then waxed it if that would help keep it clean. I do shoot a lot and this is my top two favorite pistols.
Also this is my only pistol that has never had factory ammo in it. Everything I have shot through it has been reloaded by me.
As some of the guys have said; a tube of Flitz and an old rag and the gun looks like new in about ten minutes. No more chamber rings, no carbon residue on the outside of the cylinder, etc. I don’t use it often, only when a stainless gun needs a good going over.
Once it’s all clean I’ll use a bit of Mothers mag wheel cleaner and a soft cloth to really spiff a stainless gun up.
Stay safe.
There is a big difference. This one works great but only use it on stainless steel. I cut it in 1x1 inch squares. Even when they get black they still work. The right side is about 1 minute of rubbing on my Vaquero cylinder with the lead cloth cut into a square. The left side was with a bronze brush and Hoppes #9 and lots of scrubbing. I'm hooked. View attachment 888434 View attachment 888433
There is a big difference. This one works great but only use it on stainless steel. I cut it in 1x1 inch squares. Even when they get black they still work. The right side is about 1 minute of rubbing on my Vaquero cylinder with the lead cloth cut into a square. The left side was with a bronze brush and Hoppes #9 and lots of scrubbing. I'm hooked. View attachment 888434 View attachment 888433
There is a big difference. This one works great but only use it on stainless steel. I cut it in 1x1 inch squares. Even when they get black they still work. The right side is about 1 minute of rubbing on my Vaquero cylinder with the lead cloth cut into a square. The left side was with a bronze brush and Hoppes #9 and lots of scrubbing. I'm hooked. View attachment 888434 View attachment 888433
It can remove bluing.So this lead remover cloth wouldn't be good for a blued gun?
This brought back a chuckle from the past. In the early 70's the Colo State Patrol went to the S&W 66 and friend of mine was telling me how he cleaned it. He said he simply took fo the (wood) grips and put it in the dishwasher! Well Craig was not a 'gun guy', as most cops aren't, so he ask me what I thought. I told him if he did this he MUST make sure it was dry and he MUST remove the side plate and check for debris (crap) from the dish washer and lube it. I advised him NOT to do this and eventually was able to show h
im the proper w
I was drafted into the US Army in1961. Took my basic at Ft. Dix N.J. The preferred way to clean the M1 Garand was to take into the shower and soak it down with HOT water. This washed all thee crud and sand out of it and the hot water evaporated quickly. Followed up with a good oiling.
I use titegroup but mostly for low end .38 special loads. It shoots fairly clean, and maybe a little cleaner than Bullseye, but nothing is going to shoot real clean with regular lead. I'm betting if you go to Missouri Bullets and but a few 100 round sample bags of a few bullets you like, you will never shoot a uncoated lead bullet again. You might even find they will take the place of the Jacketed bullets unless you are using the XTP for hunting or defense. You can pretty much shoot the HiTek Coated bullets as hot as jacketed. I've run some 130gr through my 8 3/8" Model 686 in the 1600-1700fps range and not a hint of leading. You are still going to get some of the carbon on the gun but either jacketed or plated will cut it back considerably.Ok so this has me thinking a little bit. I do shoot a lot of lead but I do load some Hornady XTP bullets. My lead cast swc seem to be pretty accurate and I do gravitate towards them over the jacketed bullets. My other 357 is a snub nose that I mostly shoot 38s out of. Since getting this gun I have used it mostly for load development.
I use titegroup powder and I've been happy with it so far. I go plinking a lot and it covers the application nicely. For the different bullets and I have been using and even shooting some 38s through this gun most of my loads are in the upper end for using titegroup. I do have a very accurate low recoil 38 load I use with 3.5 gr titegroup and lead swc. Which is right about the middle of the road for a powder charge. I have shot quite a few of these the last 2 times. Between being a 38 special and being mid range on the powder charge I'm wondering if that's maybe why things are getting so dirty.