Ruger GP100 cleaning

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SNEAKS

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Just wondering how to take the cylinder off for some cleaning. There is some stuborn build up in it and I want to soak it before cleaning. Any suggestions on getting it out. I have already tried Hoppers cleaner and Breakfree clp with a bronze bore brush and it just aint doing it.
 
Rings?

I've done it before when I had one, but sorry, but it's been so someone else will have to step you through it. Easy to get off- a pin you push out to get to a little spring and assembly that you remove. Do remember it was tougher getting back together than taking apart (of course lol)!


(BTW someone must have been burning lots of .38spls through their GP100! lol)
 
Get and or use the owners manual. It describes the process, which as I remember is very simple. Check em out online.
Click to expand...

Ditto, get the manual here:

http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/PDF/InstructionManuals/14.pdf

Pages 18 and 19 tell ya all ya need to know.

Don't be surprised if it takes a slight knock with a mallet and an appropriate punch on the trigger guard lock plunger in order to get the trigger assembly off the gun. Be sure and look closely at the transfer bar (between the firing pin and hammer) as you take the trigger assembly out so you know how to get it back in properly with the least amount of effort. And finally, be very careful handling the trigger assembly once removed from the gun - there are a number of pieces that can fall off of it once removed from the gun, and most pieces are backed up by very tiny springs and plungers - if you lose or change the places where all these little plungers and springs go, you will regret it...
 
As said go by the manual, read it and understand before beginning. Once understood it is very easy to clean a Ruger revolver. Watch the springs they can pop out if you pull the trigger while out of the frame.
 
I wouldn't bother. Unless, from now on, the gun is going to be a safe queen, it's just going to get stained again.

I consider such stains on my guns as usage marks. And I'm proud of using them.

Besides, more guns are ruined from harsh cleaning methods than from shooting.
 
(BTW someone must have been burning lots of .38spls through their GP100! lol)
Click to expand...

Does that make it dirtier? I've never really been sure, because I usually shoot both in each session. I always thought 357s would make it dirtier since they have more powder though.

Mine has dark rings at a certain depth inside the cylinders. I think this is where the cartridge ends. Is this bad? Should I try to get rid of them?
 
This is why I am of the 1% who is against shooting alot of .38spl through a .357mag; or at least shoot your .357 first, followed by .38spl (in any given session)*.

The rings at that "given depth" are from the .38spl for sure. And yeah, I take a weird kind of pride in "stains", but this goes beyond stain. It almost becomes part of the steel itself somehow*.


BTW yes, by all means get rid of them. If they get too nasty, they can cause problems, especially when shooting .357mag in a cylinder with heavy buildup*.



*AAYMFMMMFVMF
 
To clean those stubborn rings off the cylinder face, I have found that a little bit of Flitz metal polish applied while cleaning after each shooting session
Click to expand...

I read a post (somewhere on the internet) of someone who did this exact same thing. After awhile (a long while, obviously), he discovered his revolver was "spitting" lead like never before. Turns out that his harsh cleaning methods had removed so much metal from the face of the cylinder that it changed the gap between the cylinder and barrel.

Does that make it dirtier?
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't make it "dirtier." The problem with shooting specials in magnum guns is, theoretically, "ringing." Inside the chamber wall, there is a little ring left where the case ends. After a bazillion special rounds, the ring supposedly builds up to where you can no long fire magnum cases.

I'm sure this has happened. I suspect that it happened where somebody shot a ton of lead bullets in 38 special.

But I've shot specials and magnums interchangeably. I've yet to see this phenomenon.

That's the only way a special round is "dirtier" than a magnum. The effect on the face of the chamber is going to be the same.

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. Shoot your gun all you want. Follow basic cleaning procedures. And remember that more guns are ruined from harsh cleaning than shooting.
 
I had thought about the side effects of Flitz. I used to use Mothers Mag Wheel cleaner. Are there any other methods of cleaning those rings without slowly sanding away the steel? I don't know, guess I'm a little pickier than some about it.

I suppose this could just be one of those "once-in-a-while" cleaning methods.

Thanks for any advice you guys can provide.
 
This works well for burn rings on stainless revolvers:
31001_lrg.jpg
 
Wipeaways work, but back in the ancient '80s before that was around, we use to use stainless steel brushes on the cylinder face. Mind you, we'd never use stainless steel wire brushes for the barrel though. Bronze only for the bore.
 
+1 on the Lead Away type cloths

as made by Tipton, Birchwood Casey, etc.

It will pretty easily remove the baked on carbon on the cylinder face and inside the cylinders with a little scrubbing. Does not remove any metal, but will remove Blueing, so only use on a stainless steel revolver.
 
+2 on the "Lead Away" cloths. They will do a good job on those rings -- assuming you have a stainless steel GP100. Not for use on blued guns.

Re: disassembling the GP100:

Don't be surprised if it takes a slight knock with a mallet and an appropriate punch on the trigger guard lock plunger in order to get the trigger assembly off the gun.
Click to expand...
Yes. I tried it once without those tools and couldn't detach the trigger assembly. No big deal -- gun runs fine w/out field stripping, which I was simply trying out of curiosity. But I'll get a mallet and a punch before I try it again.

Word is that after you break the revolver down a couple of times this becomes easier.
 
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For what it's worth, I've read this will do the job quite well too:
Click to expand...
NORTRONICS... A +1 to that! I would never have believed it, but it works so well it's almost as if the eraser was invented to clean a stainless cylinder face rather than for use by grade schoolers correcting spelling or arithmetic errors.
 
Thanks!

Thanks for all the cleaning tips. I use a stainless brush on the cylinder face dipped in Hoppes 9 (stainless guns, of course). Gets most of the crud off, but not quite all of it. Sounds like the lead away cloths should take care of the rest.

It has been said many times on THR, but I must say that Boresnakes are the best invention ever!
 
pin in grip of Ruger GP-100

When I took apart my Ruger GP-100 grips I had a small pin come out. I replaced the grips with new Hogue rubber grips and left the pin out. I dry fired the GP-100 with no problems. Was this pin meant to take the GP-100 apart? I normally just field clean my revolvers without tearing them apart. ;)

Rusty
 
The little pin is to keep the hammer spring under compression during dissassembly. With the hammer cocked it is placed in the small hole in the spring strut. See your owners' manual, available as a download from Ruger if you don't have one.
 
Thanks RON in PA!

Thanks for the tip about the pin.

I had a Ruger SP-101 .357magnum that had a small pin too. I fired the revolver without it and it worked ok so I didn't bother to put it back in the frame when I put the Hogue grip on the GP-100 .38spl. I have the Ruger box and handbook so if I need it that's what I'll do.

I got some strong cleaning agents for my bore/cylinder from Natchez shooting supply, www.natchezss.com .

I may get some Hoppes #9 and lead cleaning clothes later on too.

Rusty

PS: any members here know where to find those handy firing pin covers for the frame/hole, the plastic ones with the rubber band that goes around the back?

;)
 
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