S&W 686 Cleaning?

[mrbladedude]

I have a bronze brush that I use to clean the barrel of my Glock 19.

Can I use this same brush to clean the barrel and cylinders of my 686 revolver?

Or will the bronze brush damage the 686?

 

[kanook]

it will be fine

 

[DPris]

People have been using bronze brushes to clean barrels on just about everything for many decades.
Stay away from stainless brushes that accellerate rifling wear, but bronze won't hurt anything.
Denis

 

[2zulu1]

As long as you're not using an ammonia based solvent you'll be fine.

 

[BCRider]

The 9mm brush is fine for the barrel.

And do yourself a favour and pick up a .40cal brush for the cylinder chambers. Use it with a hand drill and short cleaning rod extension to clean out the chambers. Works wonderfully.

 

[BigBoreJay]

Sorry if off-topic, but I like to use a bore snake on my DA revolvers, just so I can clean from the cylinder towards the muzzle.

 

[Desertrat357]

That's a heck of an idea. Using a drill with the oversized brush for cleaning the cylinders.

 

[BCRider]

By the way. For what it's worth I have found that my barrel bore cleaning amounts to a patch on a jag. One wet, one dry, one lightly oiled, one last dry. So far that's done the job as inspecting the bore after shows that the rifling is clear and shiney. I can't remember the last time I saw any leading in my revolvers. Even those that shoot lead exclusively. I've still got my bore brush ready but I won't use it unless I see some lead buildup.

In fact the only reason I use the wet and dry patches is to clean away the dusty powder fouling so I can check for leading.

On the other hand the cylinders get the drill and oversize brush treatment fairly often when the ammo begins to feel a little draggy or sticky going in and out. I probably clean the chambers that way every 300 to 400 rounds. The buildup in the chambers is quite a bit different from the barrel.

 

[MrBorland]

I'm fussy about sticky dirty chambers, but never found the need to do the oversized brush & drill thing myself. Just a little Kroil or Ed's Red, a few passes with a standard brass brush, a few wet patches until clean, then finish off with a dry patch, followed by a denatured ethanol patch to get rid of residual solvent (to which subsequent crud sticks).

 

[788Ham]

The oversized brush does do a magnificent job MrBorland, it truly does.

 

[Raise]

I love the plastic/nylon bore brush that Glock supplies with each handgun. I use that for my 1911 also