How clean are your cylinders?

Status
Not open for further replies.
F

feets

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
192
How many of you guys with stainless revolvers are able to keep the cylinder faces clean?
It seems to be a real chore in the Vaquero unless I really stay on top of it. Extended range sessions can make a real mess.

To get it clean again, I drop it out of my Vaquero and saturate it with solvent. After letting it sit wet for a few minutes, I grab a 20 gauge bore brush (don't have a 20 gauge gun) and scrub the face. It usually take more than one soaking/scrubbing session to get it clean. I'll get it soaking first then clean the rest of the gun. When I'm done, I'll start scrubbing the cylinder with a wet brush. If it's still dirty I'll soak it again while cleaning the next gun then follow up with another scrubbing.

Here's the results:

4934111-vaquero_4.JPG


You can still see faint rings.

Do you guys have to spend that much time on it or do you leave the burn rings?
 
feets said:
Do you guys have to spend that much time on it or do you leave the burn rings [on the front of the cylinder]?
Click to expand...

I like the dark rings that form on the front of the cylinder ... I clean off whatever comes off easily but I don't try to get the steel back to an "as new" state.

:)
 
I used to leave them alone after a modest cleaning but now they just look dirty.
No, I'm not obsessive compulsive.

Really, I'm not. :D
 
There is a special cleaning rag for removing burn rings, can't remember the name and I'm not near my cleaning gear, but it works great. It is easy to use and you can keep your SS guns looking new.

Don't use it on blue gun as it will remove the blue.
 
I use Flitz Metal Polish. You can get it at the Hardware Store. Flitz and a brush and my guns are perfect. I am anal my guns have to be perfectly clean. Look back a few days in this section and reed the post on cleaning a revolver
 
That's why I'm thinking of buying only blued revolvers - it doesn't matter as much.
 
I personally wouldn't recommend Flitz or any other polishing cream for the cylinder face. Those polishes have a grit abrasive in them and will actually remove small amounts of metal. Use of these all over the outside of the gun is fine, but using them on the cylinder face will eventually cause the breech gap to enlarge, and that's not a good thing! I don't care how anal you are; a dirty functioning gun is better than a clean non-functioning one any day!
 
feets, I'm afraid you're trying MUCH too hard. I like my revolvers super clean also, but as other have stated the lead removal and polishing cloth is made for the job as is extremely easy to use.
I personally tend to use the birchwood-casey brand, as seen here
http://www.bluelaketackle.com/birchwood-casey-lead-remover-polishing-cloth-p-20765.html
I'm sure others work just as well though , that's just the one that's generally available in stores around here.

Good paste metal polishes will work quite well also , but there are drawbacks. I use mothers's mag and aluminum polish for full polish jobs on stainless guns, but its a VERY bad idea to get these polishes stuck up in lockwork and other moving parts. If you use the paste polishes on the cylinder face without the gun fully disassembled, then you're bound to get some stuck up in somewhere you don't want it. Meaning that unless you do a good strip and clean after the polishing, you're going to have polish rubbing against something and stripping away metal during the cylinder's rotation. Granted, this is more true on a double action revolver like a Smith and Wesson where you can get polish in between the yoke gas ring and cylinder, but it still apply's in a single action like your vaquero.. sort of. Not as much so of course, because you're cleaning would be normally done with the cylinder removed anyway. But it is going to increase you're cylinder gap over tine on any wheelgun.

Anyway, the polishing cloth is the way to go, but I thought the above was a good warning for those cleaning double action guns with paste polishes.
 
That's why I'm thinking of buying only blued revolvers - it doesn't matter as much.
Click to expand...

heh, that's exactly why I DON'T generally buy blued revolvers. I'm very particular about the looks of my firearms, and while they start out pretty, it's much harder to keep a nice bluing job intact on a gun you plan on really using.
 
All my guns look like they have been shot, I am not a clean freak, I just want them to work. If I take a gun apart, detail strip, I will not carry it until I have had a range session with it.
 
I bought Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish at Auto Zone. Takes it right off with no hard rubbing.
 
I use one of the "lead and carbon" rags that have been mentioned already. On my 620, since it's an "unfinished" stainless, I work at it; on my firearms with a "matte stainless" finish, not so much.
 
Nevr-Dull magic wadding polish takes that RIGHT off, barely have to push hard. It' not abrasive at all. (It's mostly lanolin soaked wool cotton) It's non-toxic but will denude laquer so don't get it on wood grips.
 
Sometimes I clean real good, sometimes I just let it stay dirty.

Many years ago, I used to have to take my gun all apart and clean every single little piece. Now, as long as the gun is not corroding or rusting (mine are stainless anyway), I don't care.

The revolver in my pocket happens to be clean. Is it perfectly clean? No, it wasn't when I bought it new from S&W, so why would it really matter now?

I also had one of those tan stainless cloths that was like a miracle! Several wipings across the cylinder face and the black would basically melt into the cloth. It takes a bit of rubbing to get down into the very center of the cylinder face.
 
Last edited:
If its not rubbing the barrel its pretty fine

A quick brush off with a GI brush, a wipe witha paper towel and its ready to shoot the next day.
 
I use one of the cloths on my stainless SRH.......a few wipes and clean as a whistle.

No soaking in liquid, scrubbing with a brush, etc.
 
I clean off whatever comes off easily but I don't try to get the steel back to an "as new" state.
Click to expand...

Me too. The stuff that builds up there is my gun's self-regulating cylinder gap adjustment feature.
 
My cylinder faces are all discolored to some extent. I just brush them off with solvent after shooting. As long as there's no real crude buildup to jam the action I don't really care. I like cleaning my guns, but I'm not inclined to go through the effort to keep them like new.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Cleaning Cylinders
Replies
9
Views
582
mbopp
M
O
  • Locked
Cleaning my 686+
Replies
0
Views
374
Ohioan
O
R
  • Locked
Crud Ring (38spc in 357mag) - How Damaging To Keep Clean?
2
Replies
35
Views
4K
rickcressler
R
G
  • Locked
Scrubbing a cylinder face with brillo pad?
Replies
9
Views
2K
Brian Williams
Brian Williams
P
  • Locked
Cleaning scorch from cylinder of SS
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
1 old 0311-1
1
Back
Top