Any help on stainless cylinder cleaning?

[dognose82]

A couple of months ago I let a couple of friends borrow one of my model 66 to take out to the range. One of them was nice enough to shoot some of the dirtiest, nastiest, most fouling reloads I have ever seen through my revolver.

They cleaned the gun before returning it, but the front of the cylinder has been "stained". I have tried three different bore cleaners including hoppes, remingtons, and trails end and nothing seems to get the black off.

Any ideas? I know its just cosmetic, but it is really pissing me off.

 

[KJS]

I'm a novice who's simply given up on this. The front of a cylinder, even if cleaned to pristine condition, will only return to black as soon as it's used again. I've found black marks not being noticeable as one of the advantages of a blued finish.

In looking for info on how to clean guns (since I'm a novice) I ran across a YouTube video that showed a guy using a yellow Birchwood Casey cloth on the front of his S&W 686 cylinder and within 10 seconds he had it go from black rings to looking brand new.

I'm not sure, but I think this is what he was using:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...=froogle&cm_pla=1240301&cm_ite=0059486290140a

Reading the reviews, looks like it would do what you want.

 

[General Geoff]

A carbonized cylinder face is proof positive that a revolver is a working gun. Nothing looks better IMO

 

[KJS]

A carbonized cylinder face is proof positive that a revolver is a working gun. Nothing looks better IMO

The worst I've ever seen was a rental GP-100 at a local gun shop. That cylinder wasn't just dirty. It cylinder literally looked like a toasted marshmallow, both the front and sides.

Years of sweaty hands had even managed to produce some rust on the stainless steel. The gun looked like it had been to hell & back, but it worked flawlessly, which I guess tells us how durable a Ruger can be.

 

[jeepmor]

The fact you got it back dirty and had to clean it yourself at all makes me wonder.

Unless it's from a non-gun owner and you convert him, it should be clean.

Anyways, carbon is slick, helps keep things moving smoothly

 

[KJS]

Unless it's from a non-gun owner and you convert him, it should be clean.

Since they had the supplies needed to clean it (not to the original poster's satisfaction) I assume they must be gun owners. After all, who else would own gun cleaning supplies?

 

[owlhoot]

Mother's Billet Metal Polish (paste) will do the trick quick enough. I would hesitate to use it on a blued gun as it is slightly abrasive and would remove the blue after awhile. But no problem with a stainless gun. Shooters Choice bore cleaner also does a good job.

Mother's can be bought at any auto parts store.

 

[Sport45]

Whatever you use to get the black off after you shoot it should work the same for getting it off after someone else shoots it. You do shoot the thing, right?

Me, I don't worry at all about the black stains on the front of the cylinder. The way I see it they don't hurt anything and in fact reduce the barrel/cylinder gap.

 

[cerberus65]

Occasionally, I take a bronze brush to the front of a cylinder to get the black off. Mostly, though, I wipe off whatever comes off with Hoppe's (to keep from developing any buildup) and call it good. It used to really bug me early on but the front of the cylinder is not a slick shiny surface so short of not shooting it, it will collect carbon. And I've proved to myself than I can remove the carbon whenever I want to. So now I don't want to all that often. It's a fair bit of work so it only happens occasionally.

 

[Hawk]

Your friend did it right - the stuff that doesn't come off readily should be left alone in the absence of obsessive compulsion (nothing wrong with that - a lot of gun owners have it - it may even be a sort of prerequisite).

But, if you don't sort your Skittles by color or insist that the brown M&Ms be removed from the room or pre-peel pistachios in even groupings, you should be ok with scoring on the front of the cylinder.

I'll confess to hitting mine with Scotchbrite if I'm not going to be shooting them for a long time but might be using them as showpieces. If it's in the current rotation for getting used regularly, it's best to learn to embrace the scorch, become one with the raccoon eyes.

He was just looking out for your barrel / cylinder gap. Give him a pat on the back.

 

[chuckusaret]

Moral of the story; Don't loan your guns out, no one treats a gun better than the guns owner.

 

[joe_security]

I dont shoot lead... Only the "cleanburn" stuff at the range. My stainless S&W cylinder always comes clean with Nevrdull or Maas polish from the grocery store. Maas comes in a silver tube similiar to toothepaste. I use an old toothebrush for this. The nevrdull stinks like petroleum and I have used it to polish feedramps and clean stainless revolvers for years. I must admit that I never fire more than 100 rounds in one session, so Im not getting the gun that dirty.

 

[jibbs]

I use this stuff, works great. 10 bucks and you will never run out. This in conjunction with a brass brush will take off the carbon in about 20 secs.

10 bucks gets you 2oz, which you probably never run out of it, not bad if you want a clean gun.

There is something to be said about the carbon of honor you want to remove, but I wanted to see what my gun looked like w/o them. Probably looks better with the carbon but I know I can take it off or put them back on at will. Hope this helps. BTW its 10 including shipping.

http://theweaponshops.com/index.php/products

 

[jfh]

The B-C lead removal cloths work great.

i.e., what KJS posted about in post #2. The caveat is, do NOT use them on bluing, period. On SS, they are perfect. On the S&W 'DLC' (sp?) coating, they remove the carbon, etc., but leave the area a bit grayed-out.

Granted, I shoot 99% lead reloads, and some of the loads can be dirty. But, my revolvers come out clean.

Remove the crane / cylinder assembly, slide the cylinder off, and rub briskly with a small piece. Personally, I cut a patch off about 1"x2", and simply use my thumb as the pad. As the carbon is picked up, switch locations; use both sides as needed.

Because this product works so well (as do some other brands I've tried), I routinely clean my cylinder face every time I clean my SS revolvers.

Jim H.

 

[Nowhere Man]

Just us a green scrubbing pad dipped in Hoppes or Gun scrubber cleaner will remove it right quick.


Dave

 

[BaltimoreBoy]

I've had good experience with Flitz for this task.

 

[dirtygrunt95]

I use never dull, it's cheap, non abrasive, and it works.

 

[ripsaw]

clean and new

I just purchased two stainless revolvers that were used for cowboy action shooting and the cylinder fronts were in deplorable condition, went to the shop and got a wire wheel, put in my drill and swiped it off like a dream, the wire wheel will not hurt the finish as it is softer than stainless and if you get a few scratches it buffs out easily with fine emory paper, they look like brand new........be brave.

 

[Walkalong]

Slip 2000 Carbon Killer. It really does work.

 

[SwampWolf]

Because this product works so well (as do some other brands I've tried), I routinely clean my cylinder face every time I clean my SS revolvers.

Same here, the lead removal cloths are the best thing I've found to address the stain on the face of s/s cylinders. Other brands are out there (I use the Remington product but it's no different than others of this genre) and all that I've tried seem to work equally well. And as others have admonished: don't use it on blued finishes!