Crud Ring (38spc in 357mag) - How Damaging To Keep Clean?

[rcmodel]

+1
I have never seen any indication of gas cutting in any caliber revolver cylinder, ever.
Regardless of what length shells were used in it.

I have seen old .22 RF rifles and handguns with a eroded chamber from shooting corrosive and/or black powder .22 short in a .22 LR chamber.
And then not cleaning them.

The chamber erosion is not from gas cutting though.
It is from corrosion & rust.

rc

 

[340PD]

I hope you handload.

I completely solved that same issue by handloading only in .357 cases and using plated bullets. Easy cleanup and the brass lasts forever.

 

[Shrinkmd]

The only bore brush I would never ever use is the stainless steel ones.

Any reason not to use the stainless steel chamber brushes? Two or three passes per chamber with some Mpro7 and they are all spotless, even after 300 -400 round sessions with lead rounds, Bullseye powder, big mess.

I know that you'd never want to put stainless down a barrel, but I thought it was ok for the revolver chambers.

 

[Josh45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiWNZgtu2uw&feature=related


I looked for this before I start firing off my revolver. Just good info. Take a look. The video is 20 minutes long....I know....

 

[BCRider]

One of the events I commonly shoot on a monthly basis involves using up around 200 rounds through my revolver depending on how many times I miss the steel targets. And on the rare occasions that I've shot the revolver for both the morning and afternoon sessions I'm up closer to 400 rounds.

There is simply no way that a couple of casual brush strokes down the cylinder cleans away the .38Spl crud ring after that much shooting. I've resorted to a .40Cal brush and my battery drill on the slow speed setting along with some Hoppes to clean away that ring. So far the blueing is still intact on the two guns I've used and cleaned in this manner. When the blueing gets faded or "silver" starts to show then I'll get worried. But until the blueing shows signs of getting light coloured I know I have not removed any metal.

The whole point of using bronze wire in the bore brushes is that it IS softer than the base and the blue "oxidized" steel layer so it won't wear away the barrel or cylinder metal. Otherwise it would be totally stupid to buy and use such brushes. It doesn't matter if it's done at slow speeds in a power drill or by hand. As long as using the brushes can remove the crud buildup without wearing away the blueing then all is well.

 

[oldfool]

Agree with all here who have said it only takes 5-6 minutes after every range session, same day (often before leaving the range), no power tools required, and I have never ever had an issue with the much dreaded 38/357 crud ring

True, I generally only shoot 50 rounds of centerfire per session, very rarely >100
How much effort is required in any individual case is surely related to round count in between cleanings, and to how long you let corrosive residues stay in there

I think this "problem" gets so much attention on internet forums simply because there are too many shooters who think it's silly to clean a gun after every session; some who say they simply don't bother "until accuracy falls off", or other problems become evident
(after the horse is already out of the barn). An ounce of prevention, worth a pound of cure

rcmodel's comments are well taken, though, so don't let it get ahead of you

 

[reppans]

Agree with all here who have said it only takes 5-6 minutes after every range session, same day (often before leaving the range), no power tools required, and I have never ever had an issue with the much dreaded 38/357 crud ring

True, I generally only shoot 50 rounds of centerfire per session, very rarely >100

.... I'm up closer to 400 rounds.

There is simply no way that a couple of casual brush strokes down the cylinder cleans away the .38Spl crud ring after that much shooting. I've resorted to a .40Cal brush and my battery drill on the slow speed setting along with some Hoppes to clean away that ring.

I guess it really does boil down to the shot count between cleanings. I personally dislike cleaning, so when I do have to do it, I like to make it count and will shoot at least 100 rounds if a gun comes out of the safe. I have always cleaned my revolvers after every range session as they do seem to be more difficult to keep clean, and especially that dread special crud ring build-up.

My Glocks are a piece of cake and I have no problem waiting til 2 or 3 range sessions to accumulate (say 300-400 rounds), before cleaning.

Outside of the cleaning issue, I really do enjoy shooting the revolvers a lot more though. With my 686, I think I'm to go with a short basic clean-up after every range session, let the crud ring build, and then try the flared/sharpened .357 case scraping method.

 

[BCRider]

Any reason not to use the stainless steel chamber brushes? Two or three passes per chamber with some Mpro7 and they are all spotless, even after 300 -400 round sessions with lead rounds, Bullseye powder, big mess.

I know that you'd never want to put stainless down a barrel, but I thought it was ok for the revolver chambers.

I'd say you should NOT be using a stainless steel brush.

The whole point is to ensure that the brush wires are a softer metal or material then the steel of the cylinder. And a lot of grades of stainless are going to be a harder material than the steel in the cylinder. When that happens the brush wires will scratch away at the blueing and the metal. After all a steel cutting tool which is only a little to a lot harder than the steel workpiece is what the basis is for machining steel. You don't want to use a brush bristle that is harder than the metal you're cleaning.

 

[Shrinkmd]

Uh, these were the brushes sold through Brownell's for cleaning revolver chambers. I'll have to double check my toolbox or their catalog, but generally Brownell's products are on target. Would they sell a chamber brush which isn't safe for using in a chamber?

 

[BCRider]

In that case I would think that they would be OK. But it makes my "Bat Senses" tingle at the thought of using steel bristles against steel gun parts. So Brownells or not, I would be inclined to set them aside for some other use if they were in my shop.

 

[rickcressler]

I have a bunch of the old M14 chamber brushes on the ratchet mechanism that I use to clean the chambers out on all my revolvers. of course they start with the .45 or .44, then as they get a little looser for them, they get relegated to the >38/.357s. Takes a little more muscle, but if your concerned about power tools (and I'm not really) they are decently effective and usually pretty cheap at gun shows.