Cleaning 1858 Remington

[dmoreno]

I bought a Uberti 1858 Remington last year but I have never fired it because i'm a bit intimidated by the thought of cleaning it. Everything i've read about it says that after a shooting session you have to completely disassemble it. What exactly does this mean. I've looked at scematics of the pistol which show lots of little parts in the trigger and hammer mechanisms. I can't imagine that a civil war calvaryman would completely take apart his pistol every night.So my question is, what exactly does "complete disassembly" entail?
Please understand that I am completely new to the use of firearms of any kind.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

remove cylinder, nipples, grips. I spray mine down with windsheild washer fluid and scrub with an old toothbrush and bore mop. repeat spray as needed. rinse with piping hot water and dry then lube and assemble using a dab of grease on nipple threads.
I usually take my revolvers camping and shoot them much, this is how I clean at camp. I heat water in the coffee pot.

 

[mykeal]

There are many, many different and effective cleaning scenarios.

It is not necessary to remove all the action parts each time you clean it. A normal cleaning involves removing the grips (1 screw) and the cylinder (put hammer on half ****, release the cylinder base pin (some call it an arbor, the pin the cylinder rotates on) with the push button under the barrel just forward of the cylinder and slide it out. Remove the cylinder. That's it.

I use hot soapy water, others use window cleaner, windshield washer solvent, black powder solvent, WD-40, homemade concoctions, etc. etc. etc.

Once every 4, 5 or 6 uses I will completely disassemble and clean all the action parts and the inside of the frame with bp solvent, then hot soapy water and thoroughly dry and oil them.

 

[Brik847]

Wow - now that's some good help. Thanks.

 

[Poor Private]

I have heard some say to remove the cylinder, remove the nipples and set aside in a small container, remove the grips. THEN place the frame and nippleless cylinder in your home dishwasher and go for it. Clean the nipples by hand, oil and reassemble. I havn't tried that way myself since our house is still in the 60's -no dishwasher.

 

[Zonie]

I think I would stay with the old fashioned way of cleaning my pistols.

First off, putting your semi-stripped pistol in the dishwasher is asking for trouble.
What kind of trouble? Well, after your wife bounces the cast iron frying pan off of the back of your head I think it will be self evident.

Second, the dishwasher will put lots of hot water down into the inside of the frame. If this water doesn't evaporate it will start to rust things like the trigger sear and the small flat spring that keeps the hand engaged with the cylinder.
This spring is notoriously weak to began with and if it rusts at all it is asking for a failure.

To clean your Remington, do as was suggested and remove the cylinder and the nipples.
Use hot water to clean the bore, the chambers and the frame which enclosed the cylinder. A tooth brush is handy to get into the small places like the hammer slot and the area between the barrel threads and the top of the receiver.

When your done, spray some WD40 into the hole where the trigger passes thru the trigger guard, down into the slot where the hand sticks thru and down in the working area of the hammer.
Use a good gun oil on all of the rest of the parts, reassemble it and your done.

 

[graybeard]

I shoot an 1860 Colt replica and do use the dish-washer. Make sure the cylinder and barrel are up and down so the water spray will go inside. Might not work with a Remington, since the barrel doesn't come off. The dishwasher dries the parts thoroughly and then they should be sprayed down with REm oil while hot. The chambers and barrel do require a patch or two before the dishwasher. At any rate, I find cleaning the colt takes much less time than any of my rifles. graybeard

 

[rebel727]

I only take mine completely down maybe once a year. I also see no reason to remove the nipples.

 

[rafterob]

I take mine all the way down every other use-I only shoot it once a month. After you have disassembled it a couple of times the intimidation factor wears off. Make sure you put the little screws with the parts to which they belong and keep the seperate parts in different areas of your cleaning bench/counter.This helps to get it back together smoothly.Something mentioned before on this subject-use the right size screw driver for each screw, the heads will deform easily. Dishwasher detergent has chlorine in it-I think I would stay away from that. Enjoy yer new toy!

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I remove the grips & cylinder (s), place all metal parts into into a plastic tub of hot soapy water. After sitting for a few minutes, clean the bore and chambers with a bore brush and mop, use a soft bristle paint brush to clean frame & etc.

Then flush all parts well with hot water stream and blow dry in and out with 100 psi air from nozzle. Flush internally/outside with WD-40, and again blow it all down with high pressure air in and out. Then lube liberally in like manner with Mystery Oil, blow it down again, wipe down with clean cloth, reinstall grips, cylinder, and put away.

Took about as long to type the procedure as it does to do it. OMMV, but works great for me.

 

[rebel727]

That's pretty much the way I do it.

 

[dmoreno]

Thanks for all the good advice. I still keep wondering though what people did "back in the day". During the Civil war and afterwards when men headed out west what did they do? My guess is probably not much. During the war they were probably too busy staying alive. Out west where water was scarce they probably pissed down the barrel and left it at that. What do you folks think?

 

[rebel727]

The war was more boredom than intense action. Urinating down the barrel would be worse than anything. Some buffalo hunters did do that to cool the barrel down but you can bet they didn't leave it that way.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

the ol' boys had access to hot water and maybe soap. scrub w/that and dry and lube w/animal fat. that will do the job.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

the ol' boys had access to hot water and maybe soap. scrub w/that and dry and lube w/animal fat. that will do the job.

I would think when on the move in the field for days, keep it lubed up until got a chance to clean well in a quite spot.

If air (o2) is not getting to the metal surface, less chance of corrosion

 

[sniper68]

While I don't own a cap and ball, I've cleaned my share in the past.
You might try one of these hand held streamers. I bought one at Big Lots on close out a couple of years ago. I would just do the basic takedown. Man does it clean!!! :grin: Just make sure you use distilled water or tap water w/some baking soda. Dry with hair dryer, heat gun(my favotite) or oven. While still warm give it a light oiling. I prefer to use spray Teflon. :v

 

[DaleNabq]

I have the same questions. Some good info, but still not clear on a couple things. "Put metal parts in tub" are we talking the frame with all the associated parts inside? Seems like getting that much water into frame may not be good idea unless doing the blow with air/wd-40/oil thing....Most info I've run across only takes out cylinder and maybe grips/triger guard at extended intervals.

Anyone using a "non-corrosive" powder like Goex Pinnacle? Seems like may make sense to help reduce chance of rust/corrosion and lessen needed cleaning. Not sure but seems like literature indicates this is "non-corrosive" where tripple 7 doesn't.

On my flintlock rifle I don't take out the lock to clean insides of it. I use regular Goex and TC Bore Butter everything. Seems to work well so far. If need to take lock out, then not too much trouble. Seems like revolver more difficult if need to take apart. I've not even ran across an exploded parts diagram so not sure what springs, etc. would be chasing down around the house.

Sorry new to cap & ball revolvers.

Dale

 

[rebel727]

I remove the grips and cylinder and clean it in the bathroom sink. I soak the whole thing. I clean the frame first and let it drain while I'm doing the cylinder. After everything's clean I spray the action out with WD-40 then lube it good.

 

[sharps54]

Another option is to make some "Moose Milk" (Ballistol and water, various ratios ar recommended, I just eye ball about 2/3 which is more Ballistol then most folks use, stir it up and it looks like milk, hence the name) take the nipples out, soak everything, pull out a piece at a time and scrub it with your tooth brush, dry it off as well as you can with a paper towel, put everything on a cookie sheet (with a towel down) in the oven at 230 or so for 20 minutes, pull it out coat everything lightly with straight Ballistol and your golden. If you have a air hose you could skip the oven by blowing everything out and using WD-40.

editted to add: don't put the grips in the oven. :wink: Next time I think I am going to just fully disassemble it, dry everything off and lightly oil it. The oven was because I didn't take the frame apart. Many use just use water to clean and olive oil to coat as well, at least that works with real black powder, not sure about the subs.

 

[graybeard]

I don't disassemble my revolver, just field strip it. don't put the wooden handles in the water. dry the metal in the oven at low heat, with a hair dryer, or just do the wd40 and then remoil. put a good axle grease on the arbor and assemble while pretty well coated with remoil. wipe the outside down after assembly. graybeard