Pistol Cleaning

[doc tc]

I have been shooting a '58 Remington for about six months now, having moved away from mostly centerfire rifle and I gotta' say I've never enjoyed shooting more.

I've always been fastidious in the cleaning of my weapons; they never sit uncleaned.

and so it with this revolver. I take the thing apart, all the way apart, every time I finish shooting it and wash it thoroughly with hot detergent water, bore brush it, toothbrush it and then bake it in the oven at 250 degrees for ten minutes to drive the water out of it (including the springs, screws and nipples). then I re-lube everything (while its still damn hot to the touch) and put it all back together.

so it has about a thousand balls through it now and still looks like a brand new gun.

oh yeah, I burn Pyrodex; 35 grain loads under a .457 with Crisco on top. and I use Windex and WD-40 during my shooting sessions to keep things rotating. I've noticed that the Windex browns out the brass trigger guard almost immediately but the brown comes off easily with Brasso when I clean the gun.

there aren't any smoke shooters where I live so you folks' comments on my cleaning method would be appreciated. am I missing anything or doing something wrong the way I am doing it? I really, really like the gun and the whole process and if you folks have any suggestions for me on this cleaning thing I would sure like to read them.

sometimes the cleaning is as much fun as the shooting.

thanks.

doc

 

[Blizzard of '93]

You sure have the right attitude, if you look at cleaning as part of the fun (BP revolvers are my favorite Muzzler shooting) it goes fast and easy.
One thing I do when I'm afield, trekking or camping is carry some Go-Jo white hand cleaner along, either in squeeze tube or the whole tub and use it to clean the pistol after a days shooting. I don't clean the cylinder completely, just wipe down the outside, wipe the pistol down good and clean the cylinder pin, the cylinder bore and barrel with a bore mop wet with the stuff. It may be a few days before I get back home to do a complete take-down and clean, this does good to keep the pistol 'cleaned enuff'.
I used windsheild-wiper fluid on my smoke pole last week to clean and wipe down with, it works great also. I probably will take a vial of it with me when I go camping next time.
Go-Jo has some sort of oil(lanolin) in it and keeps thing sort of greazy. And you can wash the rag and bore mop that you used to wipe down with and re-use. Does great for a 'water-less' clean.

 

[Boomer]

That’s probably a bit more scrupulous than is necessary for regular cleaning.

My own routine is, standard breakdown including pulling the nipples. Hot water bath on the cylinder & barrel ( I shoot only Colts). Wipe down all over, brush the barrel & lube.

I completely disassemble my pistol about once every 4 trips to the range.

I should qualify this by saying I shoot at least once a week. If I were to be putting the pistol up for an extended period of time then I do the complete disassembly routine.

 

[No Deer]

sometimes the cleaning is as much fun as the shooting

Sure wish you lived next door to me, I would take you with me shooting everytime :rotf:

 

[renovato]

You've got an excellant cleaning routine. I can't think of a thing I'd change. I tend to be a bit lazier, so I slather Ballistol all over everthing to pick up the slack in the drying area. I've taken to using Ballistol mixed with water for cleaning. If you ever bump into some, you might give it a try. It's also really good at keeping the cylinder pin from sticking after a few cylinders full.

 

[graybeard]

I've mentioned this on this forum before, but I clean my replica 1860 Army Colt in the dishwasher. I take off the wooden handle and break it down into three parts, cylinder, frame and barrel. Run some patches with solvent down the barrel and in the firing chambers. Then put the whole works, minus the handle, in the dishwasher. Make sure the barrel and cylinder are vertical so the water gets inside. You can wash dishes at the same time. When the cycle ends(right away when the drying ends or you will get flash rust) take the warm metal and slosh it all with Rem oil or something similar. Grease the appropriate spots and reassemble. Works fine, no rust after years and years of shooting. It's just hot, soapy water, which many a contributor on this forum has endorsed. graybeard

 

[J.S. Colt]

I guess I must be one of the only shooters here that does not use water on my BP guns. I use a cleaner concocted by my local BP club ("Lone Elk Blackpowder Cleaner") that appears to be mainly a Windex and Ivory soap mix, though the real recipe is a well-guarded secret. Very similar to Hoppes Blackpowder cleaner and R&Ps Blackpowder Cleaner #1. Easy to carry around, and I can clean my guns in the field. I'm sure water is a lot less expensive... but, while I realize lots of people have no problems using it, somehow the thought of immersing my gun parts in water just gives me the shivers! :grin: I follow it up with a good gun oil, and have had no problems with rust. To each their own, I guess. :winking:

 

[renovato]

Windex is mostly water anyway, as are typical black powder solvents. The water is needed to remove the salts left behind from firing. I don't like using water on my guns either, but it needs done in one form or another.

 

[jdixon]

I to have torn mine all the way down for good cleaning as well. When I don't have the time to do this - I have used the dishwasher. Take off the grips, run a brush down the bore a couple of times, pull the nipples and put the frame and cylinder in the dishwasher. Run through a normal wash cycle without detergent. Remove and blow out any remaining water from the frame with a compressor. The couple of times I have done this it has worked very well.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I used windsheild wiper fluid to clean my .50 rifle last week, it works better than hot soapy water. I'm going to take a squeeze bottle of it when I go camping to clean with, them wipe with Go-Jo.

 

[J.S. Colt]

Good point about the water, Plink; though I can't say I can compare running a couple of solvent soaked patches down the barrel to bathing the parts in a water bath, or running them thru a dishwasher! Somehow it seems like a matter of extremes, eh?
Like I said; to each their own! :hatsoff: