How to polish chambers on a revolver?

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

I have a Blackhawk that's over 40 years old but however the chambers are very tight. Two of the chambers I have issues inserting ammunition in, and one of the chambers I had to use a punch to unload the chamber (was a live round, was just unloading the gun.)
After inspecting the round which I had to a punch, there was some corrosion up near the mouth of the bullet. I looked in the chamber, and there was a dark spot around that area. So maybe there's some rust issues, but anyway what's a good way to polish the insides of the chambers? I want the rounds to be easily inserted, and ejected.

 

[skeeterfogger]

I've polished them with steel wool on a loop patch jag and drill. Syeel wool won't damage the finish but will remove any carbon and crud. Worked extremely well on a shotgun chamber that was pulling the brass off the hull.

 

[TonyAngel]

If you have a big build up, steel wool could take a while. When I get bullets that leave lead behind, I take a regular bore brush and wrap strands of chore boy dish cleaning pads around it. The silver ones. Strips the lead right out and doesn’t hurt anything. Just don’t try to pull or break those chore boy strands by hand. They will cut you. Use snips or something. Then follow up with steel wool.

 

[labnoti]

If you want to clean the cylinder, soak it in cleaner/solvents like MPro7, Hoppes #9, etc. and clean with a bore brush or chamber brush. I use the Pro-Shot chamber brush, as well as their bore brush. The chamber brush is not for the barrel. The bore brush is for the barrel and the cylinder throats.

If you want to polish the chambers, get the appropriate chamber polishing tool from Brownells. They're like a bore-brush, but with silicone-carbide balls on the bristles. You can attach them to a drill, and spin them in each chamber with oil.
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...iles/cylinder-polishing-system-prod61384.aspx

Alternatively, there is the "Flex-Hone" brand. http://www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c2=8

Note they come in "medium" and "fine" which are "400" and "800" grit respectively. You can use the fine/800 alone, or for chambers in rough condition, use the med/400 followed by the fine/800.

 

[ontarget]

Try the chore boy copper. I hear it works wonders. Then after you get them clean you could use Mothers Mag Polish on a bore mop of your chamber size with a drill to shine those chambers right up.

 

[NorthBorder]

I used mother's mag on an oversize bore mop and a drill on my GP100 chambers only a out as far as the brass seats. I had the same problem w punching out brass from 2 or 3 cylinders. Now the brass ejects. After about 6 rounds thru a cylinder the brass starts to hang up.

 

[.38 Special]

I use the Flex-Hone brand on most of my revolvers just to ensure that empties drop out as smoothly as possible. I only have used the 800 grit, which removes very little metal. I suspect that the 400 grit would be the place to start on a gun like the OP's.

 

[AK103K]

I have a SS New Model Blackhawk in 357 that I recently picked up with the same issue. Must have been the last gun on the cutter, as the brass just doesnt want to come out without some effort.

I just got one of the Flex Hone chamber brushes yesterday in the mail from Brownells, and so far, Ive been taking it slow, and have done it three times now, trying it after each of the first two trys. Im going to shoot it again tomorrow and see how the third try went.

The way they were talking in the instruction video, it should only take a couple of passes each cylinder. I tried that first, and it didnt do anything.

Next try, I made 50 passes on each cylinder, and its started to show some improvement, and one cylinder actually had a case slip out.

The third time, I switched to time vs passes and did each cylinder for 2.5 minutes. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

One article I read online that ran through doing this said they ran the medium hone through each cylinder for 10 minutes. It seemed a little long to me, so I started at 2.5 minutes and figured Id do that each time and see how it goes. If this last try didnt work anyway.

 

[J-Bar]

I have honed/polished shotgun chambers with a Flex Hone, never used one on a revolver.

One caution: be careful not to to create a “reverse taper” in the chambers, one in which the chamber is larger towards the front than the rear. It will cause the empties to be even more difficult to extract.

When honing/polishing spend a little more time towards the rear end of the chamber than front. And don't overdo it. Do a few seconds at a time and test frequently.

 

[SteadyD]

Have you contacted Ruger? I’d ask them to make it right.

 

[sparkyv]

I resemble that remark.

Just don’t try to pull or break those chore boy strands by hand. They will cut you. Use snips or something.

One caution: be careful not to to create a “reverse taper” in the chambers, one in which the chamber is larger towards the front than the rear. It will cause the empties to be even more difficult to extract.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

What caliber is the gun?

First, you must really determine whether it is corrosion as in oxidized deterioration of the cylinder's base metal or if it is residue from firing a lesser lengthed cartridge like .38 special in a .38/.357.

Either one indicates soaking before attacking the matter inside the cylinder though possibly different fluids.


Todd.

 

[.38 Special]

I have a SS New Model Blackhawk in 357 that I recently picked up with the same issue. Must have been the last gun on the cutter, as the brass just doesnt want to come out without some effort.

I just got one of the Flex Hone chamber brushes yesterday in the mail from Brownells, and so far, Ive been taking it slow, and have done it three times now, trying it after each of the first two trys. Im going to shoot it again tomorrow and see how the third try went.

The way they were talking in the instruction video, it should only take a couple of passes each cylinder. I tried that first, and it didnt do anything.

Next try, I made 50 passes on each cylinder, and its started to show some improvement, and one cylinder actually had a case slip out.

The third time, I switched to time vs passes and did each cylinder for 2.5 minutes. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

One article I read online that ran through doing this said they ran the medium hone through each cylinder for 10 minutes. It seemed a little long to me, so I started at 2.5 minutes and figured Id do that each time and see how it goes. If this last try didnt work anyway.

At least with the 800 grit it takes several minutes in each chamber just to polish it. A "couple of passes" would accomplish nothing at all, even if the chamber was in good shape to begin with. With truly bad chambers I would think that it would take several minutes with the 400 grit and then several additional minutes with the 800 grit. I am not at all surprised with the results you have so far experienced.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

It's a .357 Magnum, and yes I suspect the person before me fired a lot of .38 special in it. After my first range session with it, I noticed it was really gritty in there putting cases in. I got a cleaning brush with hoppes and drill and went at it in each chamber for a while. Cleaned up most of the issue expect those two chambers.

 

[BSA1]

Honing is very aggressive. I would use a Lewis Lead Remover first. The brass screen will remove all Lead without removing any steel and no risk of changing cylinder dimensions. Remember once steel is gone you can not add it back.

 

[entropy]

If it''s lead in there, honing would be a last resort. As BSA1 says, a Lewis Lead remover would be a better way. If it is actual rust, a Flex-hone 400 grit used sparingly from the front for a very short time followed by an 800 grit one from the rear (to avoid the reverse taper J-Bar mentions) for 30 seconds each time with time in between for heat to disperse. (10 minutes seems way too long, AK103, you were right to cut the time down!) Take your time, and check often.

 

[CajunBass]

I've had good luck cleaning 22 chambers by cutting patches from a "lead wipe away" cloth. Birchwood Casey is the brand name I think. A small piece makes a tight patch for a 22 and does a good job of getting the gunk out of the chambers. I'm not sure how it would work on a 357. Never tried it so I'm not sure how big a patch would have to be to get the tight fit. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Advantage. It's not very aggressive. I can't imagine how long you'd have to work to damage steel (as long as you're working by hand, anyway). It's also relatively inexpensive.

Disadvantage. It's slow...but it works. Some people will say "But you can damage a blue finish." I suppose that's true. I never have, but you can damage a blue finish with steel wool too. It's also slightly messy, but most gun cleaning is anyway.

 

[Catpop]

As others have stated, copper choreboy should take care of any leading issues. I’ve used it for many years!
Now corrosion resulting from moisture accumulation in the carbon ring may be a different story. And once pits are there, they’re there to stay. “Proper” honing may help.
As for Ruger Blackhawk’s, I have one that has one chamber much looser than the other five. I can load .360 cast boolits in that one whereas the other five will only take .359 reliably. (.360 boolits shoot better in MY 1973 BH)

 

[243winxb]

the chambers are very tight.

Is new factory ammo tight in the chamber? Or just your reloads?
Have you check case trim length?
Nickel plated cases? They don't spring back like brass cases.

Its easy to measure loaded rounds and compare to SAAMI maximums for the cartridge.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

After an extremely thorough cleaning I polished my chambers with an appropriately sized bore mop and Mother's Mag polish. I chose to do mine by hand as I don't trust myself with a powered device.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

I use a bore brush with a patch wrapped around it. Use with Iosso Gunbrite or Bore Cleaner. Both are made specifically for cleaning lead, copper, carbon, plastic, powder residue and rust from the bore. If the rust is too deep, I use some valve grind compound.

 

[Texas10mm]

There's a tool for that!

http://www.uniquetek.com/product/T1713

Designed to remove the deposits from shooting shorter cartridges in revolver cylinders.

 

[.38 Special]

Just for what it is worth, I took the OP at face value, in that the trouble with the chambers is roughness and/or corrosion rather than leading. As others have noted, honing is NOT the solution for lead fouling, and in fact honing with a Flex-Hone or similar tool should only be done after the chambers are clean!

 

[Barry loyd]

I just had to polish the charge holes on my King Cobra. I took a Bic pen and removed the ink and tip. Wrapped 320 sand paper around the pen, almost the full length of the pen. Chucked it up in my drill press with the sandpaper in the chuck. Doesn’t take a lot of pressure to hold it. Next I took a short piece of 2x4 and drilled a hole for the gas ring of the cylinder to sit in. The turned on the press and ran the pen up and down each hole till I was happy.