[Jeeping]

I made a mistake (I think) and shot about 200 rounds of 38 through my GP100 and now I'm having a very hard time geting the "rings" cleaned out. I tried about all the cleaning products from walmart. Is there a trick or something you guys can enlighten me with? I would be most gratefully.

Thanks

[earplug]

Do you only have discolored charge holes or do you have a build up of crud?
If you can easily chamber a .357 in each charge hole, your fine.
If you can't, try wrapping a small piece of green Scotch pad around a bore brush and us a electric drill. Easy to do if the barrel is clamped in a vice.
I swab after each range session before driving home. Lets the cleaning agent work before I get the brushes going.

[Jeeping]

It's the crud rings inside the the cylinder. One of the holes giving me problem, the round would sit all the way in only with the light pressure. i havent heard about Scotch pad, let me try that. Sounds like a good idea.

[DickM]

Do you reload? If so, take a .357 case and use your expander to flare the mouth so it will just barely force fit into the chamber(s). Use your deburring tool to sharpen the edge a little and push it in to scrape out the crud. The soft brass will not harm the steel. And if you do reload, start putting your .38 Special loads in .357 cases to avoid the problem altogether.

I'd be very careful with a green Scotchbrite pad - I don't doubt that they'll remove the crud, but they also scratch steel quite easily.

[GRIZ22]

I made a mistake (I think) and shot about 200 rounds of 38 through my GP100 and now I'm having a very hard time geting the "rings" cleaned out.

Not a mistake. I fire plenty of 38s in 357s. You can build up a lot of lead there if you're using soft bullets, moreso if you don't clean after every use. All of the things mentioned will work but all you need is Hoppe's #9 and a bronze brush. Liberally swab the chambers down with Hoppes, let it soak in (5 minutes or so), brush 4-5 times, and repaet process. You can't clean it out in 5 minutes but let the solvent do the work. It's friendlier to your revolver.

[MrBorland]

A WAG, but if you're having a very difficult time cleaning the crud rings out with a bronze brush and solvent after only 200 rounds, I suspect those "crud rings" may actually be the chamber throats. If your .357s drop in and seat fully, your cylinder is clean.

[rcmodel]

+1 on seeing the chamber throats!
They are supposed to be there!
green Scotchbrite padVery bad idea. They are abrasive and will scratch steel.

I use a .40 cal bronze bore brush, Hoppies #9, and a cordless drill.

Takes me less then a minute to clean six chambers factory clean.

rc

[ktd]

If you use any of the abrasive methods, be very careful, last thing you wanna do is open up the chamber throats. Probably the big mistake was using soft lead bullets or dirtier powder or too high a velocity rather than just the fact of shooting 38s in a 357.

What I would do is take a dental pick and carefully scrape a bit, and use hoppes #9. Take a patch and get the chamber mouths good and soaked, then go do something for 10-15 minutes. Then come back and use a bore brush and patches and the pick if you have to. (if the gun is nickel, be sure to clean the hoppes off real good, I would probably it sit for 5 minutes in that case).

The other thing to remember is that most of the bore cleaners are mostly meant to get out copper fouling, hoppes included. Most of the lead removers I have used are wipes, but there are some fluids like shooter's choice lead remover. Walmart might not stock such things.

[rcmodel]

Dental picks & chambers = Bad.

The fouling rings in the chambers from .38 Spl are not lead so much as carbon from burnt bullet lube & powder.

After firing .357 on top of it, it becomes packed / compressed and harder to remove.

Nitro powder solvent is designed to remove it.

Use a brush, #9, & a cordless drill & be done with it.

Been doing it since shown how in 1968 by a very good gunsmith.

rc

[9mmepiphany]

a good maintence procedure is to run a .45 stainless brush down each chamber after your range session...that's what we used to do between matches when shooting PPC

[dfariswheel]

Why make this any harder than it is?

Just buy a couple of bronze chamber brushes from Brownell's.
These are over-sized, extra-stiff bristled brushes that will clean a chamber quickly, and without any damage:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=1287&title=BRONZE%20RIFLE/PISTOL%20CHAMBER%20BRUSHES

To use, just "screw" the brush into the chamber and give it a turn or two, push the rest of the way through, then pull back out.

NOTE: Some places sell stainless steel chamber brushes....DON'T.

[Snobal]

A great big "Amen!" to what Dick M said!


"Do you reload? If so, take a .357 case and use your expander to flare the mouth so it will just barely force fit into the chamber(s). Use your deburring tool to sharpen the edge a little and push it in to scrape out the crud. The soft brass will not harm the steel. And if you do reload, start putting your .38 Special loads in .357 cases to avoid the problem altogether.

I'd be very careful with a green Scotchbrite pad - I don't doubt that they'll remove the crud, but they also scratch steel quite easily."

I've been cleaning my .357 guns after shooting .38 Special with old, belled, trimmed, but not deburred .357 cases for as long as I can remember.

WOW! It sure saves a lot of time.:)

[PT1911]

can you say bore snake?


run it through post range session... no problem... nice 13.00 investment.

[earlthegoat2]

Use a brush, #9, & a cordless drill & be done with it.


This is my method as well. I clean the chambers and make sure a 357 will chamber in each hole and then im done with that part.

[Jeeping]

10-4 guys, i do reload and i dont know why I havent thoguht about that. It;s a great idea. Thanks.

[Resto Guy]

Jeeping, I hope you don't mind me using your topic for a couple of related questions. I haven't shot my Dan Wesson .357 yet and was concerned about the build-up issue. Will using FMJ .38s create the same problem? Does follow up with .357 ammo clear the cylinders?

[PT1911]

Clean between uses... especially if you are shooting 38's through the gun... this will remove the residue before any substantial build up... to answer your question resto guy, I would be more worried with the fouling of the powder than leading up the cylinder.... therefore the problem can persist whether you shoot lead, hollow points, or FMJ's.. Just clean after using and there will be no issue.

[ktd]

Jeeping, yeah, using .357 cases for .38 power level loads works great and is probably the best way to go about it if you reload.

Resto, I would say using fmj's makes a difference if your problem is leading, but not so much if it is dirty powder. I just use hard cast lead, or use light powder charges for soft lead. But any revolver shooting seems to eventually lead to such fouling. I suppose with auto pistols, the advantage of better case mouth sealing and a recoil spring propelled slide to help chamber rounds home makes it less noticeable there. I doubt that using .357s after .38s will help much, as a lot of the fouling will be behind the case mouth. Also, if you were thinking of using jacketed bullets after lead ones to clean out leading, some say that causes pressure issues.

Snobal, using empty .357 cases as a scraper is a great idea.

[DMZ]

Use a brush, #9, & a cordless drill & be done with it.


That is the trick.

[BCRider]

Just a hearty "DITTO" on what rcmodel mentioned in some earlier posts. Scothbrite will remove metal as will dental picks. I would not use either if it can be avoided and only then with extra special care. The Scotchbrite not at all and the picks only with extreme caution.

On the other hand the swaged out .357 casing is a brilliant idea. To make it even better use a counter sink tool or a small knife blade to sharpen the "cutting" edge even moreso.

And even then this would only be used if the correct size bore brushes and some solvent did not do the job first. And maybe some lead solvent since shooting lead rounds could form a nasty ring as well.

[rcmodel]

can you say bore snake?A Bore Snake is totally useless when comes to removing chamber ring fouling.

Might as well blow though the holes after chewing a breath mint.

It would do as much good!

rc