38/357 fouling

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Bellzy

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I have this problem, maybe someone like Rcmodel or Oldfuff can help me. I have a 357 mag which everybody knows you can fire 38 specials out of so I fired a box of 38s out of it followed by a box of 357s. The result was a ring of fouling in the chambers just beyond where the 38 cases end that is so hard that no regular solvent or even solvent for lead and copper removal can cut. I have even tried a 45 brush to see if the increse in pressure that it would supply might help.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks
 
I just use a .40 cal bronze brush in an electric drill & solvent.

For particulary hard cases on guns that have probably never been cleaned, I wrap very fine 0000 grade steel wool around the brush.

No fouling can withstand that treatment for more then a few seconds!

It's easier to remove if you get too it right away.
Seems to me it sets up harder after a few days.

The Lewis Lead Remover also does a good job.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=21587&title=LEWIS LEAD REMOVER

Or a Tornado brush works fairly well.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/productdetail.aspx?p=9791&st=tornado&s=

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rcmodel
 
40 brush on an elictric drill. I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate the info. I just bought this gun and was a little concerned about this happening all the time. I really wasn't looking forward to putting a mountain of effort into cleaning my revolver every time I shot it.
Once again, Thanks
 
Cleaning

I would use Hoppes's Bench Rest 9 Solvent and let it soak in a glass or tin completley submerged for about 4 hours. Then use a regular cleaning brush should take it out that's what I do.
 
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deerassassin23,
I beleive you are correct in your thinking. Luckily the hard fouling is limited to the chambers. I believe it was because of the high pressures of the follow up shots from the 357 cases compressing the fouling from when I was shooting the 38s. Does that make sense?
 
He has hard chamber fouling in the Cylinder from shooting .38 Spl. in a .357 Mag.

Nobody suggested using the brush & drill in the barrel.

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rcmodel
 
For the cylinder face use a "pink" pencil easer to remove the carbon. (The pumice type ink eraser works also)Treating your firearms with militec1 or eesox will make this cleanup faster also.

A soak in Simple Green works well to remove fouling. Soak, warm/hot water rinse, air hose blast dry, lube (wipe down) firearms.

Blue Wonder bore cleaner will take it out very quickly, remember to treat after with an oil patch


Peace
ST~:cool:
 
Take a 357 mag case and bell it out like for reloading maybe just a little more, sharpen the inside of the case mouth and use this to cut out/push out the crud, then clean as normal.
 
If you know someone who reloads I assume you could also make 38spl loads using 357 cases to avoid the ring?
 
This may not be fouling at all. If I remember correctly the chamber mouth on the back of the cylinder is a hair larger than the front. There is a rim just back of the opening in the front of the cylinder. The "fouling ring" could be this rim, especially if it is in each chamber. It has been so long since I have paid that much conscious attention to this rim. I have never had problems with my revolvers.
 
Would be interesing to know what type bullet in the .38's and .357, lead or jacketed?
I know I shoot a bunch of .38 wadcutters in some of my .357 revolvers and before leaving the range I pump through 12 rounds of .38+P jacketed rounds and that cleans the lead fouling out very nicely.
 
I know you say you do not intend to have a serious cleaning every outing and you should not have to. What I have done to all my 357's that see a ton of 38 specials or even all my weapons is to bring it home before going to the range. Treat the barrel and chambers with Kroil liberally with soaked I mean soaked patches. Let it sit for about an hour then run dry patches through. Now when I come home from the range I run a 50/50 mix of hoppes and Kroil through all chambers and the barrel and it never takes me more than 5 to 10 minutes to clean my weapons and I never have the 38 ring of death :) or leading in the barrel. I can usually take 3 wet patches through the barrel and all chambers and 2 dry patches to have it all clean. The barrel even under a bore scope looks pristine. This routine has been used by me and my father for years and we never dread coming home and cleaning. The key is though to soak it with just kroil before ever putting one round down range.
 
Another Option

I have foud that a Lewis Lead Remover does a great job on the build-up of powder residue if you use it this way:

1. Unscrew whichever fitting you've got on the T-handle (if you've already got one in place.)

2. Insert the rod of the T-handle through the front of one of the chambers.

3. Take a brand-new bronze gauze patch and fit it to the cylindrical rubber plug, then screw the plug into the T-handle.

4. Ease the plug into the chamber, forming the bronze gauze to the plug.

5. Slide the plug up only to the step to the throat, then twist the handle clockwise through several revolutions.

6. When you are done, back the plug out to the rear of the cylinder. If you draw the plug through the throat, toward the front of the cylinder, you will swage the bronze gauze to that smaller diameter.

7. Unscrew the plug and repeat on the remaining cylinders without replacing the bronze gauze.

After thiis, the small amount of remaining residue should come out with a brush and solvent. I use Bore Snakes and use a .40-caliber one to clean the chambers of my .38 and .357 revolvers.
 
so I fired a box of 38s out of it followed by a box of 357s. The result was a ring of fouling in the chambers just beyond where the 38 cases end that is so hard that no regular solvent or even solvent for lead and copper removal can cut.
Click to expand...

Are you sure that the "ring of fouling" that you are seeing is fouling and not the chamber throats? Fouling isn't that dificult to remove, nor is it hard enough to resist solvent and brush.
 
Black knight and Steve c,
I'm certain that it's not the throat of the chambers because the fouling isn't uniform.

AKCOP,
I only use jacketed bullets anymore. I had issues with leading of barrels on guns I had when I was younger.
 
Fouling isn't that dificult to remove, nor is it hard enough to resist solvent and brush.
Click to expand...
The kind he ask about certainly is.
I have worked on used S&W's that probably had never been properly cleaned, ever, and it took the drill, brush, and steel wool treatment to get the caked-on .38 Spl. fouling out of the chambers.

Oh, I suppose a cleaning rod & brush would eventually do it too, but why waste that much time when you know a faster better method?

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rcmodel
 
What about using a chamber reamer? That should take the fouling right out with just a couple of twists.

(I shoot .38's in my .357's all the time and have never had a chamber fouling problem. I load my .38's hot using fast-burning powders and they shoot very clean.)
 
I honestly believe the reason this happened was because I fired 50 rounds of357 after firing 50 rounds of 38s without at least running a patch through the chambers first. I really think the compression from the magnum cases turned what would be a normal case of fouling into hard pack.
 
What about using a chamber reamer?
Click to expand...
Very bad Ju-Ju!
It would be incredibly easy to damage a chamber with a new sharp chamber reamer.

And who's to say the new reamer you might buy for $100+ bucks is not already oversize for the chambers in any specific gun?

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rcmodel
 
Bellzy:
Good I just wanted to rule that out first. I remember a year or two ago someone on another forum had the same situation, or so he thought. Turned out it was the chamber throats he was looking at. Now is the revolver blue or stainless steel? If it is what I do with my S&W's is very simple. I remove the cylinder and soak it in an old mayonaise jar filled about half full of Hoppes while I clean the rest of the gun. When I get back to the cylinder (about 20 minutes) I use an oversize brush and scrub a few times. No problem so far. I would not recommend this on a nickle gun. Hoppes has a way of causing nickle to flake off, all it takes is a microscopic crack for the Hoppes to get under the nickle finish. Just about everyone has their own way of dealing with the same problem so take a serious look at the suggestions and find the one or two that work best for you. The good thing about lead is that it is generally a soft metal and can be gotten rid relatively easily, it just takes time and effort.
 
Just a follow up on the whole "foul" situation.
I soaked each chamber in solvent for about an hour and then used a 45cal brush chucked into a drill a gave each about 30 to 40 seconds at a medium rpm. I did this twice and I'm happy to say that all is good. The fouling is gone and I will more than likely just handload light charges into 357 cases if I want to do some light target work.
Once again I would like to thank everybody for all the great advice.

Bob
 
Had the same problem

with my Smith 19-4. Got the crud out all right, but a pain. Now I just use .357 cases, loading with .38 data. Works fine.
 
What about using a stainless chamber brush???

Jerry Miculek uses one to clean the chambers in his Complete S&W dvd.
 
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