You cleaned your revolver right, is it really clean?

[K.A.T.]

I shot 72 rounds thru my 1860 Army today, then disassembled it. I scrubed it in Dawn detergent and water with a toothbrush, and ran soapy patches thru the barrel and cylinder like I allways do. Then it was dried with a towel and dried with a blow dryer. Dry patches ran thru the cylinder and barrel. I now have the screws and nipples soaking in lacquer thinner, this is the second soaking, the first one while cleaning the other parts already turned the thinner black.




The next step is to clean all the parts with Q-Tips and Lacquer Thinner, the nipples and screws are cleaned with pipe cleaners.









Here it is back together lubricated with Borebutter, and all the dirty patches, pipe cleaners and Q-Tips.



I do the same cleaning with my blued revolvers also, and get the same results. I would like to see this test done by shooters that use other cleaning agents. I've heard of Balistrol, Sweet Shooter, Simple Green, Windex, and everything inbetween. I've tried Simple Green and get the same results as the Dawn Detergent.

You might ask, is all that necessary? I like to know my revolver is clean, I shoot 5 different pistols and it might be a while before I get back to this one.

 

[Rachen]

K.A.T. What kind of tea is that in the first picture? never seen it before.

Just kidding.

Cleaning a gun thoroughly is a MUST. It is a tool that your life depends upon, and the shootists of the old days made it a top priority to make sure that their weapons are IMMACULATE, as immaculate as a Maglev propulsion rail.

 

[scrat]

My cleaning is the same way. My only problem is time. I usually always shoot in the morning so i can spend the afternoon cleaning. Even though i would love to go shooting in the afternoon to see sparks and flames at night. But i spend so much cleaning. Dishwashing soap and warm water is what i use too. Only difference when im done with everything and its back together. I take out the Mothers mag and wheel. Then spend the next half hour per gun polishing them out. Then i take the toothpicks and get the polish out of the screws.

Qtips are awesome. i even take them to the range with me. One tip i found. I squezze some bore butter on a bottle cap. Then after i load up the revolver i use the q tip to put the bore butter on top of the Round Balls. I find i can do it faster and not gob up the cylinders. Then it also comes out more evenly. Try it out.

 

[zoned10x]

Try Simple Green, it is exceptionally good at removing crud on blackpowder guns. Crisco, oils, cap crud, powder carbon, it all comes off, the stuff is amazing. Soak the nipples in it while you clean the rest of the gun.

http://tinyurl.com/5rnbq8

 

[Phantom Captain]

Actually I think you are going way too far.

When I shoot with my girlfriend we usually end up bringing at least 3 revolvers. Back home, take them apart, into the sink they go to be washed with hot water and soap. Frame, hammer and internals are all taken apart and put in a screen collander where they are dipped and then run under hot water to rinse. It's amazing how fast everything comes crystal clean just in hot soapy water and quick scrubbed with a cleaning rod and then toothbrush. Every part of mine goes into the water except for the wood grips of course.

Cylinder, frame, barrel, hammer and internals go on a paper towel and are dried with a hair dryer. Then it's reassemble and oil with ballistol. I do use the qtip method in the cylinder down the chambers just to make sure they are good and oiled and no rust is forming. I put the whole thing together and oil the internals. Finally wipe them down with a rag leaving a very thin film of ballistol on the outside.

Usually takes us about an hour to clean and oil 3 revolvers. If we bring more than 3 it's longer of course but we alternate stuff around alot so it's usually only 3 or so. (My favorite rotation is that my girl always brings her '61 Navy exclusively, and I end up bringing either my 60 Army or 51 Navy and almost always the Walker). My trick is to then leave them out overnight and check them the next day. Sometimes running a patch or two down the barrels and maybe qtip oiling the chambers one more time. All my revolvers still look brand new pretty much with this method. They are crystal clean inside and out.

I do take out the nipples maybe once about midway through summer and then again in fall before they go up for the winter.



scrat i'm NOT a proponent of lubing or greasing the chambers while shooting. I only use wads under the balls and have never had any problems but to each their own!

 

[JCT]

For me, barrel and cylinder straight into sink for cleaning. I run a brush through the bore and when all nice and dry, I run patches with hoppes #9 through chambers and bore then a rem oil patch through the bore.
The nipples are soaked in the #9, then cleaned with a stainless dremel brush...so easy!! Comes out looking like new.
Flitz on the brass, patches for small parts and the dremel brush for cleaning the recoil shield hammer and notch.
I fill the grooves on the cylinder pin with my lube ( beeswax, olive oil, rem oil ) and it's good to go, clean as new and slick right up until the next cleaning.

 

[Jamie C.]

K.A.T. : You really ought'a see somebody about that Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder....

Rachen : It only has to be clean enough to work. I'm sure the old timers would think K.A.T. had lost his mind, performing that intricate little ritual, just to clean a gun...

If Wild Bill had gone through that ordeal every evening, I doubt he'd have gotten enough sleep to even want to survive a gun fight.



J.C.

 

[dstorm1911]

Jamie C +1!

The best way to ruin a gun is to detail strip it excessively ya are wearing the threads for the screws plus the constant tightening/loosening, NOBODY who actually used the originals ever bothered to detail strip em.. that was considered a job for the gunsmith the owner would just field strip for cleaning usually swabbing out the cylinders and pushing a rag through the bore followed by a wipe down of the exterior....

 

[hildo]

I agree with the others about excessive cleaning. A total strip after each shooting, to improve component life, is doubtfull.

If I had to strip it down the last bit after every shoot, I would think twice on pulling the trigger on a clean gun... that just don't seeme right.

Hildo

 

[Voodoochile]

I total strip my C&B Revolvers about once every 6-9 months & so far after 25 years I've yet to have a problem with any of them.

After a shooting session, I'll remove the grip & trigger guard & ofcorse the barrel "1860, 3rd Dragoon" or just the cylinder & nipples & clean everything in almost boiling soapy water.

After that I just flush all the water out with compressed air & WD40 then reoil with Balistol or Olive oil & then reassemble.

On my total strip times my pieces come as clean as though I had just strip & cleaned them a week or two before.

 

[mykeal]

There is no 'best' way to clean a bp gun. There are many good ways.

What's the goal here? Prevent rust and preserve function? Or to be able to sleep at night knowing there is absolutely no hidden contamination? These greatly different goals have greatly different ways to achieve them, and the associated costs are similarly different.

I have no problem with what either K.A.T. or JCT do. If you have the time and would be concerned that an important possession was in danger of corrosion, by all means detail strip and clean away. But if you don't have the time, or know that your method of cleaning is indeed sufficient to preserve your tool, that's fine too.

By the way, if you keep the threads lubricated you cannot impose enough wear to make a difference in a thousand detail strips.

I take about 15 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less, per gun. My main solvents are hot soapy water for the bore and cylinder and one of the commercial bp cleaners for the rest. Bore Butter for the bore, cylinder and base pin, gun oil for the action parts and a silicon wipe for the overall exterior.

Sometimes, when I have the time, I detail strip. Most of the time I just field strip and clean, with a detail strip every couple of months for the guns I shoot regularly and at least once a year for every gun, even if it hasn't been used.

I neither think nor claim that's the best way. It's just sufficient, and has been for 35 years. Everybody else is free to do as they wish, and enjoy what they do.

 

[grimjaw]

This is the reason I went with a single shot pistol.

jm

 

[K.A.T.]

My wife thinks I'm crazy too. It does keep me off the street and out of gunfights.

It bores the crap out of the cat.

 

[Ontos]

Those are great pics of a detail strip. I've never takent the guts out of my '61 navy's frame, having a bad habit of misplacing tiny bits, but I think I will, just to see what's going on in there.
Until I started reading THR, I was never much of a fan of guns without their bluing, but there're begining to grow on me. That's a fine looking gun K.A.T.

 

[dhoomonyou]

Eezox.

 

[jhon]

Hi K.A.T., are all those internal parts original? I'm just curious because the hand, bolt and trigger/bolt spring look just like the replacements I got from Dixie gun works, and I'm curious how they work. Thanks for the pictures!

 

[K.A.T.]

The parts are original to the gun, but the gun is a Pietta that is about 2 months old. I just deblued it, stressed it a little and took the writing off the barrel.

 

[rifle]

Powder fouling gets into all the screw threads and to leave it in there for long period of times causes corrosion of the threads. I've gunsmithed enough old cap&ballers to know this id true. Who can say what the old timers did back in the day. I figure they did what had to be done in whatever situation they were in. Use the gun..... out in the field.....most likely only field strip the gun to keep it clean enough to keep it functioning. They probably completely diassembled the gun later when it was safe and the environment was compatable for that. When I shoot a cap&baller I'm aware of all the fouling that gets into the action of th gun. Lots of it. The frame is casehardened and some of the parts are spring steel which is hard and not as susceptable to corrosion as non hardened parts like "screws". Anywhoooo......I'm a proponent of "the complete disassembly" to properly clean when a shooter isn't out in the field and if the shooter was in the field for extended lengths of time the complete disassembly would have to be done some time. I imagine there are old bones out on the praire where a shooter drew the revolver to save his life as an enemy,human or animal, attacked and the gun failed to fire due to fouling that has hardened or cap fragments in the action. Anywhooo......I've drilled and tapped for nipple threads on ols guns enough to tell that corrosion eventually gets to the nipple threads in the cylinder that isn't hardened steel. I find it hard to imagine that there are shooters out there that are too lazy to disassemble their revolvers or that some never have and find it difficult to do. I say a shooter should do the disassembly and find that it is an easy process and can be enjoyable due to the fact that the gun is maintained properly. I say the nipples should be removed just to check the threads and to check that they are not backing out,which can happen, and may cause onr to become embedded in a shooters forehead or eye socket. Nipple threads get blackpowder fouling in them and it can corrode even the hardened nipples eventually. It may take awhile but it will happen. It only takes a few minutes to take out the nipples and under running water use a tooth brush or gun brush that looks like a tooth brush and get the fouling off the nips. Run a 22cal. cleaning brush into and out of the threads. Screw it in ,screw it out under water. Water neutralizes the salts and acids caused by the powder igniting and leaving the deposits. A tooth pick run around the shoulder corner where the nip seats and a 45 brush to clean the area where the nipple recess is. A cylinder can be cleaned in short order with the right tools and method and that includes the nips and the nip threads in the cylinder. The screws should always be lubed with gun grease. Bore butter can work but it's lube anti-sieze qualities are less than real gun grease on the threads. Same with the parts inside the frame. Good grease equals more life to the parts like the hammer cam and the leg of the bolt and the trigger tip and all. Grease can't be used where the ignition takes place like the barrel or chambers but it doesn't hurt and is the best to use inside the gun frame on the parts. "Butches Bore Shine for BlackPowder" is the best I've found to soak a cylinder with and nips with for a few minutes before the brushing in water and dish soap begins. Naturally this is all just my "opinion" and I can't argue with an Hombre that is too lazy or lacks mechanical aptitude ( no disgrace intended)to open the gun and clean it. I know one thing though. I'd rather draw on an antaganist with a dirty ill maintained revolver than one that is properly maintained. I'd have a slightly better chance at survival it the antaganist never diassasembled and cleaned inside the revolver. Wild Bill? I imagine he knew what was best. He survived all his gunfights cept for the back shooter one. Did he clean the inside of the gun every day or evening after he shot the old loads and readied to reload fresh? Who knows. I bet not but....I bet he at least opened the gun down to seeing inside to check on the condition of it. Check for cap frags or overly fouled parts. It all depended on whether or not one of the saloon girls was waiting for him to show for dinner and.....well you know. It's said that Wild Bill explained to someone that shooting out the old loads in the evening with the towns people watching and even throwing cans for him to shoot was for show as much as anything. To show people that he could shoot. He was reported to be able to shoot well with either hand at a stationary or moving target and always hit. The people liked to watch. He showed off for them and his enemies. I reckon to believe he liked to know his guns wern't fouled inside and probably opened them up quite a bit to check and to clean. Hey, take care Buds. Don't hate me for being opinionated. hee hee hee

 

[Mike OTDP]

I detail strip my #1 Remington (the other revolvers I don't shoot enough to warrant it) every 6 months. They DO accumulate crud in the lockwork, but not so quickly as to warrant a full disassembly after each shooting session.

 

[scrat]

Good point rifle. I guess thats why they sell screws. Mine do get cleaned inside and out.

 

[sundance44s]

I can only add ...Italian gun screws are real soft ...careful with all that tightening and such or you will have problems with them ...same with the nipples.
If your not haveing problems like missfires and won`t fires ..you are probally doing a good job cleaning .

 

[Slamfire]

I do a detail clean just like KAT. Because of the time it takes me to load BP pistols, and clean the things, I seldom take the pistols to the range. Might be once every three years. So inbetween sessions, I want that pistol clean.

You might mention the relative humidity of where you live. I figure the guys in NM, AZ, could leave their guns outside and not see rust for a year. Alabama is a very humid state. Steel rusts quite easily. A place like coastal Florida, you will see rust on your BP gun before you get home!.

I have been using antisieze on the nipple threads of my blackpowder guns. I have been using antisieze on M1 and M1a gas plugs for a couple of decades. It makes it real easy to loosen fasteners, lasts forever.

 

[Smokin_Gun]

Clean every time I shoot um

I agree with Rifle, K.A.T.,Scrat, and those who clean down to the screws, nooks, and crannies. I Only Use Holy Black I have found nothin else that works better. I Use scaldin hot soapy water in one bucket, and scaldin hot rinse water in another. A Copper or nylon bottle brush, bristle brush(toothbrush), qtips, and toothpic. Scaldin hot water heats the metal enough to dry it after a wipe down.

Clean it! jus' like they said in boot camp...How clean was your M16? Was it cleaned Daily Daily? Or did yours fail cause a carboned rings on the bolt, stuck case carboned chamber, or a plugged gas tube. Hell I treat these BP's as well as I want them to shoot for me. So I clean um every time I shoot, no matter how many I take.

Now lets go make smoke, as a famous member here has said...
SG

 

[Plink]

My cleaning routine is pretty simple. I don't detail strip for each cleaning. My basic cleaning ritual is pull the cylinder and grips. The frame goes into a bucket of warm soapy water while I scrub the bore and chambers. I don't even remove the nipples but every 2nd or 3rd cleaning. The soapy water washes out the corrosives. Then I brush the internals well, dry it all and re-lube.

If I'm going to be shooting again relatively soon, I oil everything with Ballistol. If the gun will be sitting around a while, I oil it with CorrosionX. I clean the oil out of the chambers and bore before shooting. Every 5 or 6 outings I'll detail strip if the gun has had heavy use. Otherwise I hold off. I haven't had any rust issues, so this method works for me and saves a lot of time.

I usually bring a truckload of various guns each time I shoot, so there's a lot of cleaning to be done. I try to find the simplest method for each that will give positive results.