How do i clean black powder revolver cylinder bore

You would have to remove the nipples on the rear of the cylinder. Some might suggest first soaking the entire cylinder in a rust remover first. Either way it is going to take some good old fashioned elbow grease and scrubbing with brass brushes, steel wool and cloth patches to get it all cleaned up.

Soap and HOT water to remove any BP verdegris.

First, clean the cylinder off the gun. Clean the barrel with the cylinder off. Remove the nipples and use a bronze brush to get rid of the rust. I prefer hot water and dish soap, followed by a thorough drying and application of Ballistol or your preferred gun oil (I like RemOil but that's just me) You may have to go through a number of cleanings to remove the rust, but as long as you are oiling between cleanings, the rust shouldn't propagate. When you reinstall the nipples use anti-seize on the threads

Brandonherinckx said:

So I inherited an 1858 revolver from my grandfather. It has some rust inside the cylinder and inside the barrel and im not sure how to go about cleaning that. Since the cylinder bore is closed off at one end being a black power gun it seems like it will be difficult. Any ideas?

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I’d shy away from a rust remover as it would remove any remaining finish. As others have said, repeatedly cleaning with soap and water or “moose milk” (I make this from water and soluble cutting oil available from Napa.) finish with a metal preserving oil of some kind. I like the brand name Eezox because it dries to a clean film leaving no oily residue and protects against rust better than anything I’ve tried. Barricade is good too.

Evaporust is a harmless rust remover that works like magic.
However it will remove the finish if there is any worth preserving.
There may be a way to seal the bore so that it will dissolve the rust inside without affecting the finish.
You would need to use some kind of plugs or stoppers inserted in both ends.
The same with the chambers.
All kinds of rubber stoppers can be found on eBay or at science supply outfits.
They're sold as test tube stoppers and similar.
Or perhaps soaking the whole gun to dissolve the rust & finish loses less value than the rust itself.
It's your choice based on how much that you desire to preserve the steel.
Once the rust attacks the steel, the finish is secondary unless you can use the stoppers.
Or use another less effective method to remove the rust, or one that's more abrasive.
Some folks need to use Evaporust just to separate the rusted parts of antique guns that have become fused together.
That's how well it works.
It's the right product if you can figure out how to best use it.
The rust is dissolved after soaking for about 24 hours more or less depending on severity.
It's available at Walmart, home improvement, auto parts stores and more. --->>> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Evapo-Ru...cfkn_gHhnjeoJI3WwODwTehpj_DkQ2whoCKo4QAvD_BwE

Brandonherinckx said:

So I inherited an 1858 revolver from my grandfather. It has some rust inside the cylinder and inside the barrel and im not sure how to go about cleaning that. Since the cylinder bore is closed off at one end being a black power gun it seems like it will be difficult. Any ideas?

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Who is the maker of this revolver? Is it an Italian reproduction or an original Remington?
Can you post a couple pictures?

Personally I’d give it a few passes with a bronze brush to remove anything loose. Then wash with hot soapy water to remove any remaining fouling. Dry and oil. If it’s a repro it is what it is, little or no value, if it’s an original stabilize what’s there and leave it at that.

If the rust is minor surface discoloring it would probably still be safe to shoot. If the chambers are deeply profoundly rusted, the chamber walls may be weakened or actually open to a neighboring chamber, making your shooting session more exciting than you expected. You may want to have the chambers checked for integrity before shooting it.

Pics please. Will help in the assessment.

Brandonherinckx said:

Its not profoundly rusted but theres a small layer in the bores and barrel. The outside doesn’t really have any rust on it. Would that evapor rust stuff wear out the inner of the barrel or cylinder bores making them slightly wider? I dont want to do any damage to it

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No.
The Evaporust cannot harm the metal no matter how long that it's left in the solution.
It's not an acid.
It's water based and is also harmless to skin.
All it does is dissolve rust by separating the rust from the steel.
Because bluing is actually rust it will remove that too if left in contact with it.
But there will probably be some small pits where the rust attacked the metal which is inevitable once the rust is removed.
How much pitting would depend on the severity of the rust.
Very light rust may not leave any pitting, or barely noticeable.
You're the only one that knows how much rust there is.
But the amount of pitting depends on how deep the rust is.

Removing the original bluing from an original antique revolver can reduce its value.
But then so will the rust.
A curator would need to come up with a method for removing the rust while doing the least amount of harm to the rest of the gun.

I'll admit that it would be difficult to effectively seal the bore and chambers to allow the Evaporust to work without coming into contact with the bluing.
But since we don't know how hard it would be to remove all of the rust, then the bore might keep deteriorating.
There may also be other products worth investigating too.
It depends on factors that I don't know about and can't predict, such as how other methods will affect the metal and how deep the rust is.

Yes, soaking the whole gun is perfectly safe.
Take off the grip if possible but I think the product is even harmless to wood if it doesn't come off.

I was going to add that an experience person could probably seal the bore and chambers with clay or putty, or some other product.
But that's a moot point now.

Thanks for the photos.
Follow the directions on the bottle, and they have a website and some videos.
It's good stuff for your purpose.
Santa Barbara made good guns.
Try to save it.

Another thing, save any and all parts, even if broken.
You never know if they can be used to match up with parts from other companies that you may need to fix it up.
And if you don't fix it up, even the parts may have some value.
Someone could use it as a parts gun or try to rebuild it.
Parts for them are generally not available since they went out of business a long time ago.
Some other company parts may not even fit unless someone can custom fit them.

Here's disassembly instructions and the schematics for a Remington. --->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/rem-1858-new-model-how-to-disasemble.223885/

Disassemble the gun completely. You have to anyway to replace the trigger. Take the grips off and soak all the metal parts in Ed’s Red solution (various formulas on the web, basically Automatic Transmission Fluid and acetone) for a few days ( seal things up in a Tupperware or similar container. Then see if the rust will rub off with a coarse cloth or 4/0 steel wool. Spot treat with the rust removing solution as needed. You might be able to replace the trigger with one from VTI Gunparts or Dixie Gunworks. The replacement will probably have to be filed to fit.

Or you may have a sentimental wall hanger.

Good luck either way.

Brandonherinckx said:

Very upset i broke it can’t believe i did that

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.

It was probably rusted too, that’s why it broke. Best inspect the rest of the guts for problems while you are at it.

There's a fellow here named TheOutlawKid who is a practicing home gunsmith who may be able to help you out for a reasonably low cost.
If anyone can custom fit parts then he would be able to give it a try.
You would need to ship the gun to him in Texas but he's super honest and will communicate everything to you.
Don't consider anyone else until you speak with him.

Send him a personal conversation by clicking on this thread and then left click on his name in the left hand column, and then when the box pops up, left click where it says start a conversation. --->>> https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...d-conversion-work.870077/page-7#post-11665028

I doubt that you can fix it without his help.
It would be worth your while.

Your inbox for his reply is at the top right hand corner of each page.

Bad link, deleted

Brandonherinckx said:

Good to know. Anyone know where I could find a new trigger for this? I looked it up and i found one for the uberti version of this gun but the trigger looks slightly different. I dont know much about these guns so im not sure the difference.

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Please understand, there are no known drop in parts for this model without testing Pietta parts for a close fit.
The Pietta cylinder may fit in it, and perhaps nipples.
But most anything else is unknown because Santa Barbara is not very common at all.
They aren't rare, but there are no original parts for them in the US.
Maybe a few in Europe if you were very lucky to find any.
Please contact TheOutlawKid.

This is going to sound like nagging but it is meant to help a beginner in their journey into black powder firearms.

"Cylinder bore" is improper terminology. The cylinder has chambers, generally five or six. In percussion revolvers they have nipples at the rear end. These "chambers" are loaded with powder and ball. With black powder cartridge guns the chambers are loaded from the rear with ":cartridges", not "bullets". (smiley face goes here)

Dave

J-Bar said:

Disassemble the gun completely. You have to anyway to replace the trigger. Take the grips off and soak all the metal parts in Ed’s Red solution (various formulas on the web, basically Automatic Transmission Fluid and acetone) for a few days ( seal things up in a Tupperware or similar container. Then see if the rust will rub off with a coarse cloth or 4/0 steel wool. Spot treat with the rust removing solution as needed. You might be able to replace the trigger with one from VTI Gunparts or Dixie Gunworks. The replacement will probably have to be filed to fit.

Or you may have a sentimental wall hanger.

Good luck either way.

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I would soak it in Evaporust before putting it in other oils that may interfere with the Evaporust.
Oil and water based products don't mix very well.
The rust looks too severe to be spot treated.
It does need to come apart but I don't know about wholesale soaking it in tranny fluid when the guts are still intact.
Then how to remove all of the tranny fluid?
I would just take it down as much as possible and soak it in the Evaporust.
That way the Evaporust doesn't get contaminated with oil.
Take it out to work on, to remove screws, or spot treat with other products.
But why try to rub off rust when there's Evaporust?

The Evaporust can be used over and over and doesn't go bad until it's all used up.
The inside of the gun may be rusty too which caused the broken trigger.