Scrubbing a cylinder face with brillo pad?

[gunnutery]

I recently did a detailed cleaning on my SP101 that I've had for about five years or so (this was not the first detailed cleaning). The cylinder face (or whatever you'd call the part of the cylinder that points towards the bad guy) has been "stained" black ever since I began to shoot it and no matter how hard I would scrub with patches and toothbrushes the soot wouldn't come off. So during this last cleaning I happened to have an old brillo pad in arms reach and was able to get the nice stainless steel shine to come back and the soot is gone.

My question is: will prolonged scrubbing of the cylinder "face" result in a widened gap between the forcing cone and cylinder? IF SO, then would there be a considerable pressure/velocity loss?

 

[Pistol Toter]

If the Brillo pad is steel, the answer is yes. The black powder residue is not an issue unless you were to shot that thing for 100 years without cleaning. Now is shooting soft lead, that's a horse of a different color; it can build up and foul the face of the cylinder and the forcing cone. If that discoloration really bothers you buy a product called Flitz or Mothers Mag Polish. I prefer Flitz for polishing as the latter product seems to have much larger abrasive particles. The Flitz is more like toothpaste. You have to remember that anythig abrasive will eventually remove some fo the base that you are cleaning. The abrasiveness of the product and the frequency of use as well as the speed of application will determine how fast / amount the base material is removed. I suspect that it would take a long long time to remove much metal with Flitz on a rag by hand. A motorized tool like Dremel can go too far very quickly. Unless you are putting thousands of rounds down range every month; I doubt that the black will ever cause a problem. Use no steel on steel or very very sparingly, a little piece Brass Chore BoysJ[/B attached to the cleaning rod works well to remove lead and powder residue for the cylinder, forcing cone and barrel. The brass is much softer than the steel but harder than the lead or powder. ]ust my two cents. P. T.

 

[Pistol Toter]

If the Brillo pad is steel, the answer is yes. The black powder residue is not an issue unless you were to shot that thing for 100 years without cleaning. Now is shooting soft lead, that's a horse of a different color; it can build up and foul the face of the cylinder and the forcing cone. If that discoloration really bothers you buy a product called Flitz or Mothers Mag Polish. I prefer Flitz for polishing as the latter product seems to have much larger abrasive particles. The Flitz is more like toothpaste. You have to remember that anythig abrasive will eventually remove some fo the base that you are cleaning. The abrasiveness of the product and the frequency of use as well as the speed of application will determine how fast / amount the base material is removed. I suspect that it would take a long long time to remove much metal with Flitz on a rag by hand. A motorized tool like Dremel can go too far very quickly. Unless you are putting thousands of rounds down range every month; I doubt that the black will ever cause a problem. Just my two cents. P. T.

You might also try soaking the cylinder face in Acetone in a glass coffee cup.

 

[billybob44]

Lead wipe away .

Look on the net/gun shows for a Lead wipe away cloth. They run about $5.00 for an approx. 14"x14". Cut an inch or two off the cloth and use it to rub off the black. Works well on any silver gun. Do not use on blued metal.

 

[dogngun]

Use one of those green nylon-or whatever-scrubbies, not steel wool. You don't want little bits of steel inside your revolver, which you WILL get with brillo.

mar

 

[harmonic]

You might want to check that one out. It seems I remember reading how that if you ever use steel wool (that's what brillo is, isn't it?) on stainless steel, that bits of the steel wool embed themselves in the stainless, and will rust. IIRC, you need to use stainless steel wool on stainless guns.

 

[MortalWombat]

Another thing to consider, a brillo pad is non-stainless steel, and according to this, "Do not use steel wool to clean stainless steel, as it may leave behind carbon steel fragments that will rust into the stainless steel surface. Use a nylon or stainless steel wool scouring pad instead."

 

[jfh]

I routinely use the lead-removal cloth on the cylinder faces--I shoot almost exclusively lead reloads. It's probably the best solution, as its use is non-abrasive. as billybob44 notes, do NOT use on blued metal. However, I have found it effective on the finish on S&W scandium framed guns with steel cylinders.

Jim H.

 

[Slamfire]

Soft scrub on a toothbrush. Very mild abrasive.

I do this only on stainless revolvers.

 

[Brian Williams]

ONE more thread on cleaning a cylinder face.
Quit cleaning so much and go shoot.