Cleaning s&w

[dashootist]

I shoot alot, and I often clean and oil the barrel, cylinder, and frame.
But what about the inside of my S&W? How often should I strip every internal piece, clean, and oil?

 

[Taroman]

Unless something really bad (dirty, wet) happened, leave those internals alone. Once every few years is enough. The frame threads for those little sideplate screws wear a bit more every time they're reinstalled. Most of this only gets worse from being disassembled.

 

[Gato Montés]

What I usually do is take the grips off and spray some Gunscrubber in there, let it drain, and then re-oil. That's the nice thing about Gunscrubber/brake cleaner, you can hose the internals without having to dismantle the firearm.

 

[BCRider]

It would depend on the conditions you submit your gun to. If carried dayly and used a lot for practice then once every 6 to 8 months would likely be warranted. If shot only at the range for fun and carefully stored between range outings then once every18 to 24 months would be fine. Although I've found that the cylinder pivot pin assembly that comes off the crane needs to be disassembled and cleaned about every second or third time that the cylinder chambers require a good cleaning out.

A good idea to aid on avoiding premature wear on the sice cover screws is to purposely slightly under torque them. Then check after each range use session or once ever few days of carrying. If they "shoot loose" then retighten as before and a little more. Keep this up until they don't come loose. That way you have the least torque required to hold things togehter long term. And your screw and main frame threading will last longer.

 

[Ed4032]

I do every time, but I am OCD. I even use Q-tips to make sure I got everything. I shoot at least once a week.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Improper procedures - particularly WRT removing the frame sideplate - will do more harm than good.

 

[71Commander]

We're supposed to clean em.

I shoot Revo in USPSA. I clean it every 6-7 hundred rounds or so. I've never taken the side plate off to clean it.

The Lone Haranguer, I'm from JC and shoot over at Tac2 in Greeneville.

 

[BCRider]

71Commander, you may want to take the odd trip to down under the side cover even if it's only every few years. Once they get pretty dry in there rust can form.

Frankly in reviewing what I've found under the covers of my guns most of it has been a few spots of rust in one due to it being so dry and a heap of lint in another. All my revolvers where purchased used. I went under the plate to check things over at the same time I was installing the Wolff spring kits in them. While there I corrected the things I didn't like, such as the first spotings of rust due to NO oil at all and removing the lint in the other case and just to admire things in the other two while adding a light film of thin gun oil to all surfaces. With that done to all four I don't see any need to go back inside for a couple of years yet. But then I shoot only at the range for sport. No carry at all allowed up this way.

 

[MikeJackmin]

I never disassemble mine. I'm quite surprised that so many other folks consider it necessary.

IMO, hose the innards down with a good quality spray cleaner/lubricant and you're good to go. Keep WD-40 away from it, and don't drop in in a puddle or carry it through a sandstorm, and you should never have to pop that sidecover off.

As a general rule, I won't even buy a used revolver is it shows visible signs of disassembly.

 

[shockwave]

If the trigger mechanism is operating properly, there should be no reason to remove the sideplate. I'd do it in order to remove the ILS, or to change a spring, but otherwise you should be able to clean and oil the gun sufficiently and enjoy a lifetime of faithful service from it without a detailed disassembly.

 

[Average Joe]

Just the exposed parts, cylinder, barrel , trigger area, I never completely dismantle my revolvers.

 

[rcmodel]

I agree.

S&W never intended for the user to remove the sideplate every time they clean the gun.

S&W's issued to the military would get you an artical 15 charge if you were caught taking the sideplate off and were anything less then a unit armoror with the tools and knowledge to mess around in there.

I would suggest you hose it out with gun scrubber or WD-40 occasionally, then blow it out with compressed air, then re-oil it, then blow out the excess oil.


IMO: Leaving the screws loose to prevent thread wear is also a bad idea.

They will vibrate during firing, and wear the threads more then if they are kept tight. They could also allow the sideplate to begin to lift out of the frame and you will lose critical parts support on the hammer & trigger pins.

You will also eventually misplace one in the weeds sooner or later!
Keep them tight.

rc

 

[BCRider]

Rc, when I suggested that method the idea is that they would not STAY loose for any significant time period. The idea is that they would be torqued to a reasonable value for the size of screw and then checked frequently at first and re-tightened to a higher value if it is noticed that they are creeping. I would hope that only a few rounds would be fired while they were loose before they are checked.

In my own case I tightened the screws to a torque value that I felt was adequite for the size of fastener. I've been checking them but so far they have not budged. In two cases I found that the guns had come to me with loose or not fully torqued screws. In the other two cases the screws were much tougher to break loose than I would have expected. They really let go with a heart rending CRACK! . I was sure I'd busted one when it let go. To my thinking that level of torque is excessive and I certainly did not re-tighten them to anywhere near the same value. Even allowing for long term freeze up of the screws I'm sure I only used about half the torque that these were originally set to. BUt a year or more later the ones I put in with a pinch and a bit more torque are still firm.

But I have to agree that with the removal of the grips there is so much access provided by the trigger opening, hammer opening and up through the grip frame area opening that a flush and aerosol re-oiling through these should be more than sufficient. I haven't had my own guns apart since the spring kit install but when it is time I think I'll do it the way you suggest.

 

[jad0110]

I only remove the sideplate and clean out / reoil the action when I first acquire a revolver, new or used. If the trigger is gritty or rough, I may remove the sideplate a second time to give it a good cleaning and relube. Other than that, I leave them alone.

 

[oldfool]

Like many here, I have never once had a sideplate off any of mine, and see no need
methinks you will likely wear the gun out on round count before ever having any need to get under the sideplates
if ever I do have need, it won't be me who actually takes it off
(gunsmiths and S&W factory guys have families to feed, too)

 

[CajunBass]

I took the sideplate off a Smith & Wesson revolver once. I chipped the sideplate. I'm sure whoever has that gun now, cusses me often.

Now that I know the RIGHT way to do it. I still won't.

 

[PRM]

Leave it be ~ unless you have dropped it in water or something else that would require taking it apart, you should have no problems. Normal use will not affect it. I have some vintage S&Ws that date to the early 1900s. The internal parts were good on all of them. Only because of age and not knowing who previously had owned them, did I have them looked at by a S&W gunsmith when I bought them.

Also, keep this in mind ~ several have posted oiling the internal parts. I would do that with caution. Oil attracts dirt, unless you want to set up a situation where you will have to take them apart at some point to clean them. If it ain't broke ~ don't try to fix it.

 

[Ole Coot]

Only one rule, unless you're a gunsmith or genius leave the side plate alone and ditto on the WD40, don't.

 

[Damon555]

Don't take it apart and leave the WD40 in the shed. I wouldn't spray anything except the exposed surfaces. Even evaporating gun cleaners will gum it up eventually (this has been my experience) .

This is just my opinion and I am not a gunsmith but treating my revolvers like this has worked well for 20 some years.

One other bit of advice I can give you is to go easy on the oil. It doesn't take much to keep the moving parts moving properly and you won't get any "flowing" into the area under the side plate.