cleaning SAA

At least once in a while, complete dissasembly is necessary to clean the gun properly.

I don't have an SAA, but my BP cartridge guns get the full treatment every month.

Many folk report no problems with leaving internals in place, cleaning as well as you can with very hot/soapy water, and then blowing out the water and flowing oil inside.....I detail strip/clean every time, not wanting to take chances....it takes me 45mins from start to finish to detail strip a SAA, clean every part with a brush/hot-soapy water, wipe-down/lube, and reassemble.....using hot soapy water or Windex-Ammonia-D cleans up BP fouling much faster than using modern chemicals on nitrocellulose fouling....

As a PS, I think cartridges such as 44WCF, 38WCF, 32WCF are much more forgiving in allowing abbreviated BP clean-up, as the tapered/thin cases expand and seal better...but I love my .45's....

really depends i do not take apart my guns everytime as if you did you would have to be buying a new screw package. Warm soapy water is what works best however i am against flowing oil down in the inside of your gun. Though your internals do need to be oiled. Then oil attracts more residue and soot. So if im not going to take apart my gun the outside gets a good cleaning with warm soapy water and an old tooth brush. The cylinders get a good scrubbing with a bronze bore brush followed by wet patches. Then the mechanical parts get cleaned down with regular gun oil. All shiney parts and brass get a good rub down with mothers mag and wheel. Leave internals alone.


My next cleaning will be the same except the gun is taken apart and everything is put in a bucket of warm semi hot water and soap. Dawn i found works the best. i then take out my tooth brush and pull out 1 piece at a time cleaning. Then on stubborn areas i use some GOJO handcleaner with pumice. scrub down. then i rinse off all the pieces with hot water and dry. when i put it together i use graphite in the internals and bore butter or white lithium on the arbor, and other pieces. i have found that using graphite on the internals prevents more soot and sludge from building up. Also on cap & Ball i have found that if i use graphite and a piece of cap falls through the works. It wont stick to the internals. Chances are i can shake the gun upside down and it will fall back out. As everyone here already knows for the cylinders i give them all a light coat of gun oil on a qtip all inside the cylinders. On the day i want to go shooting i pour a small cap full of (Jack Daniels). then i use a Q tip to clean out the gun oil in the cylinders. Then at the range before loading i shoot 1 cap through everycylinder. do this combination and you will never have a miss fire. Same time coating your cylinders insides will prevent rust from attacking your chambers.

I've been taking my single-actions apart for decades for every cleaning with BP, and generally take them apart for smokeless, also....I have yet to buy a "screw package".....for gun lube/preservative, I just use my homebrew borebutter beeswax/olive-veggie-oil, which works just fine.....as I said, other folk report entirely satisfactory results with simply flowing standard gun oils into the innards, and they have no reason to be lying....I just prefer the less toxic stuff, which leaves my hands smelling of honey rather than smelling like a hazmat disposal drum at work.....

Screws

Never messed up a screw - wow! Guess I had an abnormal learning curve. Years ago when I first started shooting, I learned a lot on my own. I didn't start out with good gun-smithing screw drivers and messed up more than one screw. After my tools caught up with my interest in shooting, things got better. But, I still make an occasional mistake. Like the time I was being ever so careful and the screw driver slipped and hit the bluing :banghead:. Its part of it - either its a safe queen or it has "marks of character."

I have always found that a good supply of pipe cleaners work well with black powder pistols. Happy Shooting

MTNGUNR

Im not too sure how many guns you have. I have fitted screw drivers for my guns. I know a lot of people would freak out knowing you take your guns apart after every use. (everyone of them) It makes havic on the screws. As it is i need to order a new screw pack. I like my guns to look good. problem is the screws can easlily get mared up. Especially if you do this to everyone of your guns. Heck i have a 30-30 model 94 i have had it for over 30 years and have only taken it apart once. If your home brew works thats great almost sounds like the home brew would be a good over the ball lube. Just depends on how much beeswax you have to the mix. Then that kind of home brew may attract a lot more soot to it. Thats why i found that Graphite works best. i have take apart revolvers after 5 times of shooting them with almost no dirt or soot in them. When i used to use grease or oil it would just have build ups of soot. Seemed like everytime i went shooting i needed to take them apart as they were filled with soot. Then the cap frags used to stick to the grease and oil. So using graphite. The internals get lubricated and i dont get a build up of soot or caps sticking in the works.

Interesting Scrat - do you use powdered grapite that can be "puffed" out of a plastic bottle, such as the stuff used for auto locks?

used both. Not any more though the spray i really dont think it does much lubricating. Lately i have been using the lock type. i tell you i can go to the range all day today. all day tomorrow same thing a few days next week. Then really tear the gun apart next week really just to inspect and make sure internal screws are tight ( bolt spring). Everything looks clean. sometimes you may find a black spot from the powderflash entering the bolt area. But its clean. if i have a spent cap it falls off when i remove the trigger guard. SOOO SOOO Easy and your guns stay soooo clean and lubricated.

For internals only though. not for the bolt as the grease and graphite along with intense heat dont mix. however graphite on the internals along with heat. not a problem. not a problem at all.

before i used graphite just like everyone else when you took apart the internals you would get a build up over time that of soot that sticks to the oil. Caps would stick to the oil. If you used grease. Same thing it would stick to the grease. With graphite nothing sticks to it. the parts look the same way since the last time.

scrat, you caught me.....I only own one gun.....well, half a gun since all the parts fell off because I destroyed all the screws and didn't order a "screw pack"....I'm just making up having guns for decades and frequently disassembling them with no harm to screws or guns....in truth, apparently I'm just like you and can't remove/replace screws on a gun without causing havoc to them....that's why every firearm's manual strictly warns, "do not remove screws. screws were installed to remain there forever. any resemblance to a fastener meant for removal/replacement for maintenance or parts replacement is strictly coincidental. when something breaks, throw it away. when it gets dirty, throw it away. do not attempt to remove screws without having a screw-pack on-hand."

Not only am I liar, but all the people who shoot SAA's and use oil in them successfully are liars, too...after all, everyone knows SAA's foul inside just as badly as C&B revolvers. And I was lying about soft lube working inside guns, too....soft lube only keeps fouling soft on outsides of guns, not the insides.

well darn then i guess we wont be seeing any pics on the revolver pic thread

Hi Scrat
I have just strip cleaned my 2 Uberti 1860 Armies and 1 Pietta 1858 Remington. I have applied powdered graphite to the works and will shoot all three with genuine BP this coming week-end. Will let you know how things work out.

Two questions: (1) How do you lubricate the cylinder arbour, I normally use a light application of Ballistol. (2) What about rust prevention? It can get hot and damp in the climate where I live.

Gibbs Lubricant

We have been using Gibbs exclusively on our range for close to a decade now. One of the best rust preventatives and lubricants ever developed. At $20 bucks a can its a bargain - a little goes a long way. A close friend has a Tactical Officer Shooting School. We gave him a can to try. He had a half dozen Sims Guns (training weapons) in the trunk of his car. Part of them had been cleaned and wiped down with Gibbs, some had not. During a heavy rain at one school his trunk leaked. The guns that had Gibbs on them were fine - all the others had rust.

Its not a heavy petroleum based product so even in cold weather, actions do not become sluggish with semi-autos.

I have had no problems with rust on any of my modern or black powder guns since I started using this.

Check out the testimonials on their web site.

http://www.gibbsbrand.net/weapons.html

Happy Shooting

I have screw kits for my guns haven't needed them and i take my guns down all the time. If you are bogering screws up you are tightening them to tight. I put a small amount of Vaseline on the screws and just sung then up. After cleaning my gun parts in water i blow them off with air oil everyting well with W-D40 and blow the excess off with air then coat with bore butter. I tryed just using bore butter but started to get rust after a few days.

Mike

Hi Scrat
I have just strip cleaned my 2 Uberti 1860 Armies and 1 Pietta 1858 Remington. I have applied powdered graphite to the works and will shoot all three with genuine BP this coming week-end. Will let you know how things work out.

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Me too, I used graphite powder when I cleaned my 58 Rem on Sunday. Seems like a great idea to me. I hope to shoot again Saturday!

Reminds me of the sports car fan who tore down his engine every two weeks, whether it needed it or not. Took him the whole weekend, but the engine was really clean inside.

Jim

The abor shaft i just use either a small dab of white lithium or bore butter. a lot of times just depends on what i have. one thing for sure lube towards the back not the front as thats where it will sludge up

I take my 1860 Colt (Uberti) down each time, scrub everything with a toothbrush and soapy water, take Q-tips and black powder solvent to the nipple recesses and chambers, patches w/ solvent down the bore, hit all the moving parts w/ CLP and reassemble. About four years and 1300 rounds with that gun and it is as reliable as it was on day one.

--T

I learned years ago about not cleaning my 1860 Pietta. I had stuck screws, and nipples galore. Buggered up the heads of the backstrap screws so bad I thought I'd never get them out.

So, now I strip clean the guns after every shoot, and don't overtighten anything. Haven't had a problem since. Maybe I'm overly carefull.

Graphite lube

Hi scrat
Fired 50 shots with real BP out of one of my Uberti Colt 1860 Army reps - graphite powder lube definitely eliminates the sludge that forms from BP residue and oil on the internal works.

Thanks for the tip, I will use graphite for the works and continue with Ballistol for the rest.

DuncanSA said:

Hi scrat
Fired 50 shots with real BP out of one of my Uberti Colt 1860 Army reps - graphite powder lube definitely eliminates the sludge that forms from BP residue and oil on the internal works.

Thanks for the tip, I will use graphite for the works and continue with Ballistol for the rest.

Click to expand...

Okay Guys, you've got my attention with the Graphite Powder thing. Now I've got to try it. If it works that well, I won't be needing the substitutes anymore.

it works really really good. I have been mentioning it for a while. Its about time you guys try it. Its amazing to take apart your gun after a good shooting to see that there is nothing to clean nothing at all. Nothing sticks to it. not even pieces of caps. Powdered graphite the type used for locks and things. go pick some up at your local hardware or autoparts store. You will not be dissapointed. Graphite does a very good job on lubricating too. I remember when i was a kid. Yearsssssss ago. My grandfather helped me build a pine wood car for scouts. He used graphite on the wheels. That car won just about every race it was in. the others that used petroleum had the slowest cars. Graphite in bp revolvers works so good. i even use in in my auto loaders. i have a few marlin 22s and a ruger that work so good with graphite compared to gun oil. Especially when you shoot cheap ammo that usually dirtys up the works.



You guys have to try graphite