Evergreen
Member
Hi all.. I just got done cleaning my S&W 617 once again after a trip to the range. This gun has become my plinker and I love the fit and finish of the gun. Basically, it has the frame of a .357 Mag S&W (K-Frame), but chambered in 22LR. My model of 617 has a 10-round cylinder.
Anyway, despite how much I love the gun, I find it a real pain to clean. I was wondering if it is just me and a poor cleaning technique or if this gun just gets real stinkin dirty. Cleaning my semi autos, my rifles and my other S&W revolvers usually goes quite smoothly and I can get clean patches going through with a little bit of effort. However, with my S&W 617, I can spend a long time just running patch after patch through the cylinder and it is still dirty.
I'm wondering if this is because I'm not using strong enough solvent, if 22LR is really filthy, not scrubbing the chambers hard enough with brush, or all of the above. I'm thinking the dirtiness of the 22LR ammo must play some part in this, but I just cannot understand why after so much effort I cannot get clean white patches running through the chambers. On another note, I don't seem to have much problem cleaning the barrel. The S&W 617 barrel gets clean quite fast, but the chamber area is a different story.
Another area that I have a hard time cleaning is the throat of the barrel. No matter how hard I go at it with the nylon brush and solvent, there seems to be dark residue area that will not be removed. I'm afraid to use any more abrasive brushes or solvents on the area as it is close to the barrel and I don't want to scratch metal. Any suggestions here about cleaning techniques?
I'm shooting Federal 550 Red Box and CCI MiniMag. The ammo is decent plinking grade 22LR and I cannot afford to shoot anything better out of a 22LR. The whole point of shooting the .22 is to save money.
Anyway, I'd like to hear people's inputs about best ways to clean 22LR revolver and if others have this trouble.
Anyway, despite how much I love the gun, I find it a real pain to clean. I was wondering if it is just me and a poor cleaning technique or if this gun just gets real stinkin dirty. Cleaning my semi autos, my rifles and my other S&W revolvers usually goes quite smoothly and I can get clean patches going through with a little bit of effort. However, with my S&W 617, I can spend a long time just running patch after patch through the cylinder and it is still dirty.
I'm wondering if this is because I'm not using strong enough solvent, if 22LR is really filthy, not scrubbing the chambers hard enough with brush, or all of the above. I'm thinking the dirtiness of the 22LR ammo must play some part in this, but I just cannot understand why after so much effort I cannot get clean white patches running through the chambers. On another note, I don't seem to have much problem cleaning the barrel. The S&W 617 barrel gets clean quite fast, but the chamber area is a different story.
Another area that I have a hard time cleaning is the throat of the barrel. No matter how hard I go at it with the nylon brush and solvent, there seems to be dark residue area that will not be removed. I'm afraid to use any more abrasive brushes or solvents on the area as it is close to the barrel and I don't want to scratch metal. Any suggestions here about cleaning techniques?
I'm shooting Federal 550 Red Box and CCI MiniMag. The ammo is decent plinking grade 22LR and I cannot afford to shoot anything better out of a 22LR. The whole point of shooting the .22 is to save money.
Anyway, I'd like to hear people's inputs about best ways to clean 22LR revolver and if others have this trouble.