Cleaning carbon build up

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Not starting an argument; can anyone post documentation that the lead-free cloths actually remove the steel when the carbon rings are removed. I respect the opinions representing this to occur, but would like to see some facts as I like my guns clean but not damaged.

Thanks.
 
I took a half inch stick of aluminum rod and chucked it in my lathe at its lowest speed, just a few hundred RPM. I masked it off and put a 400grit brushed finish on it in just a minute or two. I then masked off half of that and put the lead removal cloth to it for 1.5-2mins. Which simulates about as long rubbing by hand. As you can see, it took the 400grit brushed finish down to a bright polish. You can't do that without removing metal. Like I said before, if something removes bluing mechanically, it's removing steel. If it'll do this to aluminum, it'll do it to steel. It will take longer than 2mins but it's scary to think what 10yrs of weekly shooting and cleaning with one of these things will do.

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Abrasives abrade/work by removing wearing away material.
I'd imagine that were a competitive shooter or lifelong plinker to polish the face of his revolver cylinder after each outing, measurable wear would have occured.
Using one of those cloths carefully on the outside of a stainless revolver cylinder wouldn't bother me (staying away from the bolt cuts) but on a blue gun, I'm sure it'd wear the blue off pretty quick.
If you're going to shoot the gun a lot, just leave that black discoloration alone, not to be confused with "build-up".
 
This is one of my favorite sixguns. It is a custom Ruger Super Blackhawk and is one of my prized possessions. It represents an investment of about $1300 but would cost more than that to replace. It also shoots into 2"@50yds. I would NEVER use a lead removal cloth to remove the carbon scoring from its cylinder. Nor would I buy a used gun that had a squeaky clean cylinder face.

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I didn't discover the lead-free cleaning cloths until the mid 70's, so I've only been cleaning carbon rings off the faces of my stainless cylinders for over 30 years now with the lead-free cloths. Hasn't made any difference in the flash gap on any of them yet that can be measured with a .001" feeler gauge. They're all the same as when they were new.

I knock down the price I'll pay for a used gun pretty severely if the owner doesn't care enough about it to keep it clean.
 
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Also, a lot of the scandium and titanium guns have some sort of coating.. the factories warn not to wear that coating away or accelerated wear of the underlying metal will occur.
 
This comes up every 6 months or so, I guess if craigc is going to post his old pics again then I might as well post mine again too.

I've been using the lead remover cloths on my revolver cylinders since 1975. The flash gaps I just measured are the exact same as they were new, within the accuracy of a set of feeler gauges of course.
I don't have anything with an aluminum cylinder (looking for a nice pre-lock 617 if anyone has one ...) so I repeated your experiment with a piece of 1.125 (inch and an eighth) stainless that I had lying around. Didn't bother to pull out the micrometers, but using dial calipers it measured 1.1250 before I started, and 1.1250 after polishing it for a little over 15 minutes at 800 RPM.

Before polishing:

Rod1.jpg

Rod2.jpg

After polishing:

Rod3.jpg

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I believe that I'll keep using the lead remover cloths without worrying about my cylinders.
 
If you had started with a smoother finish, the results would've been more evident. That's why I put a 400grit polish on mine before starting, to better simulate brushed stainless steel. While I'm sure you think you've proven me wrong, it should still be painfully obvious that it altered the surface of the steel. It should also be painfully obvious that the marketing hype about them being non-abrasive is just that, hype. The change in luster and the black on the cloth is proof of that.

I never said it would open the cylinder gap to any measurable degree. I said it would alter dimensions. Especially rounding off corners, such as those at the chamber mouths. I'll leave everyone to look at the pics, read the text to come to their own conclusions. It's enough for me to know that folks understand that these products are NOT non-abrasive. If you want to take the chance for no good reason, satisfying only your own need for what you perceive to be "clean", that is your prerogative.

Personally, I treat my stainless guns and blued guns no differently. So if it removes bluing, it doesn't belong on any of my guns.
 
Worrying about faint carbon rings on your cylinder is like worrying about the inside of your car's exhaust pipe. Is combustion. Is messy.
 
The obvious solution is an ultrasonic cleaner. As I stated before, not only loosens up the carbon but cleans eveything else as well. Plus it requires almost no effort on your part.
 
The obvious solution is an ultrasonic cleaner. As I stated before, not only loosens up the carbon but cleans eveything else as well. Plus it requires almost no effort on your part.
Look at post #29. That's how a clean revolver should look. If you used flourosulphuric acid in your vibrocleaner, it might get it cleaner. Don't do that though.
 
Cleaning carbon from stainless steel

I used to have a problem with removing carbon from my S&W 686+,until I used Mothers wheel polish to remove it.It's as easy as polishing the gun,no heavy scrubbing needed.
 
Yes but, polish is a fine abrasive. Over time you're cutting metal. Carbon rings are our friend. They tighten up your cylinder gap at no cost to you. Think of them as a free muzzle velocity upgrade.
 
I'm trying to imagine how many cleanings it would take to remove a measurable amount of metal. I'd guess that after firing that much ammo to result in that much cleaning, it would be time to put the gun out to pasture anyways.

That said, I prefer to leave the rings on. Makes the gun look meaner that way.
 
Don't really have a dog in this fight but using Frog Lube on my revolvers and other firearms dramatically improves carbon removal....especially noted in barrels both rifled and smooth bore. Seems to get them slicker with repeated use. Dunno how it works but really improves cleaning efficiency.
 
Hmmm, if Lead-Away cloths were abrasive why would they waste the money using such a soft cloth? It's not abrasive, it's the chemicals that remove the carbon and that's also why you don't use it on a Blued revolver.

In any event, I'm not going to get into this pissing contest. I'm so tired of all these posts where everyone tries to out do the other guy instead of trying to find out the right answers so everyone benefits.
 
It's not abrasive...
It IS abrasive, this is undeniable fact! If it weren't I wouldn't have been able to take a 400grit brushed finish down to a bright polish. You cannot polish metal without removing some. It is a physical impossibility! How much it matters and whether or not to take the risk is up to the individual. Can't be any more clear than that. You are welcome to PROVE me wrong but wishful thinking does not make it so.
 
Howdy

I'm with CraigC on this. Completely unnecessary to scrub off the carbon rings on the front of a cylinder. Of course, I'm just naturally lazy, so I never bother to scrub them off. They don't hurt a thing. Once you have a couple of dozen revolvers, you'll stop trying to scrub them off too.
 
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