Revolver versus Auto

[jmr40]

I shudder to think how many rounds it would take to lock up a decent centerfire revolver due to lack of cleaning.

Not many. Actually none. Just a little dirt in the right spot and a revolver becomes as useful as a brick until it can be taken apart.

A semi-auto can easily be fieldstripped and cleaned with no tools. Without proper tools and a lot of time the best you can do with a revolver is wipe down the exterior.

 

[Gryffydd]

jmr, I'm trying to think of a realistic or likely scenario that fits your description. Exactly where in my revolver is this little bit of dirt supposed to be that will jam up a revolver but cannot be cleaned without fully disassembling the gun? And how is the dirt supposed to get there?

 

[threoh8]

There are a few openings on a revolver where stray grains of irritanium can get into the works and cause problems. In front of the hammer as it cycles, for one, and in the hand slot during a reload for two. I remember the joy of trying to pick bits of percussion caps out of a Navy Colt ...

My Ruger Security Six is easily field stripped for thorough cleaning. That was a factor when I was shopping, way back when.

 

[Buckyt]

This sounds like the question, "how long is a rope?

"It's just a matter of personal preference. I own both and have never had a problem with either , but I feel a little safer with a good revolver. I have never had any of my revolvers lock up because of gunk. (unlike my computer)

 

[Serenity]

When the Boy and I sit to clean our guns (at our large, well lit and fairly level kitchen table) it takes him the same amount of time to clean his revolver as for me to field strip and clean my P226.

I have a question; how often do you guys take apart and clean the magazine?

 

[Deaf Smith]

Glocks aren't any easier to clean than any of the other dozens of similar automatics. I personally find revolvers easier to clean than any of them. There's not even any disassembly required.

Sure they are easier to clean! Easier in that you just don't clean them often, ever after alot of shooting. That sure is easier on me!

Deaf

 

[Gryffydd]

Sure they are easier to clean! Easier in that you just don't clean them often, ever after alot of shooting. That sure is easier on me!

How is that any different from an XD, M&P, or for that matter a GP100?

 

[hq]

Sure they are easier to clean! Easier in that you just don't clean them often, ever after alot of shooting. That sure is easier on me!

I absolutely hate Glocks and regard them as simple and plain tools for punching holes in targets of choice at close to moderate distances. I finally bought one a few weeks ago and I immediately developed a love-hate relationship with it. Ugly, utilitarian, horrible trigger but it really works, which may just be the point I've never really understood, until maybe now.

IMO revolvers are generally the easiest guns to clean but modern automatics aren't that far behind. Older, more complicated designs that require a lot of work to field strip can be a nightmare to clean properly. So can revolvers if you have to clean the internals; depends on how "cleaning" is defined.

 

[Lawdawg45]

Glocks aren't any easier to clean than any of the other dozens of similar automatics. I personally find revolvers easier to clean than any of them. There's not even any disassembly required.

I disagree and agree. It might be semantics, but the Glock is easier to disassemble than the Ruger or 1911, but I agree that the wheel gun has the prize.

LD

 

[TwoWheelFiend]

how can anyone say a revolver is easier to clean than a semi-auto? Maybe if you are cleaning the outside. Have any of you actually completely disassembled a revolver to clean it?

 

[threoh8]

I field strip my Ruger Security Six. which is far enough to get to the likely problem areas.

I never completely disassemble any of my firearms. Driving sights from dovetails, or removing staked parts (1911 plunger tube, AR15 bolt carrier key screws, etc) is very rarely needed.

 

[Slamfire]

Always takes me longer to clean out my M1911's than any revolver.

I always take out the extractor and firing pin and wipe out the residue from the channels. That is tedious.

When I totally clean the trigger linkages, which is rarely, it takes forever to get everything back in place.

Modern designs, like my P5, or Berretta M92, I don't dare take the pistol down any further than a field strip. Those things are so complicated and too many parts.

Maybe the best you can do for those is to remove the grips and submerge the metal frame and attached parts in a container of Prep-Sol, then hose everything down with oil

 

[Gryffydd]

Have any of you actually completely disassembled a revolver to clean it?

Have you ever completely disassembled an auto to clean it? I highly doubt it.
I have never fully disassembled my revolvers to clean them. I've fully disassembled them to change springs or do other work and cleaned while I was in there, but there's no point in taking them apart to clean them. Unlike an auto, the internals just aren't subjected to the real grime because there's no action to open up and spread the stuff all over. The only thing that gets dirty is the bore, chambers, and the "outside".

 

[Ankeny]

Coming from a competition perspective where the guns are shot a lot and are filthy - the auto is easier to clean.

 

[FMF Doc]

You really need to be more specific. If I were comparing a stainless steele snubbie to an all steal 5" 1911...REVOLVER!!! But comparing a G-26 toa 686+, I would lean twords the Glock. A revolver hasanywhere from 6-8 chambers to clean, and I find that the loads I shoot in revolvers cause much more "dirt" than my autos.

 

[jad0110]

These days, I honestly find them about the same.

 

[Deaf Smith]

How is that any different from an XD, M&P, or for that matter a GP100?

In the Glock .VS. 1911 matches here in Texas you had to shoot 1000 rounds in the ONE DAY match. No cleaning was allowed. If the weaponed jammed you had to stop and the RO logged the jam to record what and why it jammed.

Glock 17s virtually always made the 1000 rounds with no jams. Glock 19s most of the time. 1911s, well a few did, but the huge majority didn't.

Revolvers? Nah, no one dared bring one there and expect it to go 1000 rounds without gumming up.

This should be no suprise as the U.S. Army did trials and found in the muck wheelguns won't tolerate anywere near as much muck as a good simi-auto.

And yes, the XD, S&W M&P simi-autos, Ruger P89s, etc.. all will keep shooting without cleaning much longer than revolvers.

Sorry gang, but that is just fact. And as a result my practice Glock 26, which mimics my carry Glock 26, only gets cleaned when it just won't function well, and that takes lots and lots of shooting!

Deaf

 

[OrangePwrx9]

The revolvers are easy and straight-forward to clean. Multiple chambers and the many nooks dirt can work itself into makes cleaning a bit tedious, however.

I also count the Glock, the Browning High Power, and the Ruger P95 as easy. Each have provisions for getting the barrel stop out without a major fight. I think most modern designs do.

My match grade 1911 is a PITA thanks to the barrel nut thing and its tight fit. I probably make it worse than it is because the gun is a beauty in Primo condition that I'd hate to mar.

My Kahr K-9 isn't much better. It has a very strong recoil spring that must be compressed in a precise manner to get the stop out.

Checking out the field-strip procedure prior to purchasing a new gun seems like a worthwhile endeavor.

 

[Gryffydd]

Something I read in another thread:

I read an article in American Handgunner way back where they 'torture tested' a Ruger Redhawk by firing 10,000 rounds of .44 Magnums over a weekend.

They had to bring in other people to keep shooting. The shooters' hands and arms gave out before the gun even thought about quiting.

They also never cleaned it during the test, and they shot an accuracy group every 500 rounds, I think. I recall that the accuracy did not deteriorate at all!

Anybody have a link to that article or anybody else read it?

 

[Perforate]

Auto for me, revolvers are antiquated.

 

[FHBrumb]

Open wheel gun, spray with Gun Scrubber, dry with shop cloth,
done.

 

[JohnKSa]

I have a question; how often do you guys take apart and clean the magazine?

Not very often unless it gets dropped in the dirt or mud. I'd say that every couple of hundred rounds through a particular magazine probably warrants disassembling that magazine for cleaning it.

Otherwise I typically just use a plastic brush to give the feedlips/follower area a couple of quick swipes and run a cloth over the rest of the mag to take off any fingerprints and loose fouling.

Have you ever completely disassembled an auto to clean it? I highly doubt it.

Sure I have. Not counting removing sights and other parts that obviously don't need to be removed for cleaning. I don't do it every time--most of the time only a field strip is necessary. But every so often, autos that get shot a lot, are detail stripped and cleaned. Same with my revolvers.

I find it interesting to see that some people believe that revolvers are easier to clean.

For one thing, I consider cleaning a revolver barrel from the muzzle end to be harder than cleaning an autopistol's barrel from the breech end because much more care must be taken in the process. I also find that cleaning the chambers on a revolver is about the same process as cleaning a single autopistol barrel which means right there is a lot of extra work for the revolver given that a revolver has a barrel and several chambers while an autopistol only has a single barrel.

In addition, the carbon fouling around the cylinder gap on a revolver is harder to remove than any fouling I encounter in an autopistol because there is no barrel/cylinder gap in an autopistol. That means that there's no place for hot fouling to be blown out at high velocity and glue itself to the parts of the gun.

 

[llwsgn]

you're supposed to clean handguns????

 

[TwoEyedJack]

For me, it depends a lot on the ammo. I use to shoot a lot of lead bullet loads at velocities that were a little warm. I have Lewis Lead Removers in pretty much every caliber they make. When you are cleaning lead out, it can get pretty tedious. Cleaning any handgun after jacketed loads is very easy in comparison.

 

[Levan9X19]

I'm not going to get angry But I will point out that in reverse your post sounds a bit like "I don't like autos any more because I owned a couple of Hi-Points and a Jennings and I didn't like them". Try a decent revolver some time, you might like it

You are right, may be this is the point