To clean or not to clean revolver

[Blizzard of '93]

if I fire more than one cylinder full I remove the grips along with cylinder for a good cleaning, it's not much trouble.
one thing I've found is that windsheild washer fluid (winter mix) really cuts the crud, I put it a spray bottle. a good spray down and soak and another spray down brings most of it off. many times on camping trips I've been out for a week or more with my revolvers and cleaned with it along with a small stiff parts brush for nooks and crannys.
there's alky in it so it dries rapidly after a good wipe down then re-lube. I don't know at the times upon arriving home the pistols have set a few days before I got around to the hot soapy water soak and no corrosion.
on a camping trip I may fire 200-300 shots from each of mine. ROA and '58 Pietta Rem .44

 

[Ray-Vigo]

What do you guys think of these cap and ball revolvers as first pistols for a casual BP shooter? Colt or Remington? Are these something easy to maintain and shoot? Or are they something I'll need to be buying parts for frequently? Any suggested brands and models in particular? The open top Colts do catch my eye, but I'm hesitant to get in over my head in terms of cleaning and maintenance. I'm not going to be shooting them in competition or anything.

 

[Norinco]

Colts aren't hard to clean. I say go for it. BTW, where in MD are you? I'm in College Park.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Cleaning is really easy. Much easier than a rifle.

I'm fond of the Colts. The Remingtons are made for smaller hands. They bang my knuckle too bad to shoot them much.

If you have big hands. Get the 1860 Colt. It has a nice big grip.

I like the Uberti brand. Cimarron has Uberi sell them guns that have a nicer fit and finish. You can buy the Cimmaron Uberti's at Buffalo Arms for the same price as the standard Uberti's. It's all I use. They are very reliable, and the Cimarron warranty is great.

 

[Zonie]

As the original topic is asking about cleaning I'll say that the Colt or the Remington are both pretty easy to clean when it comes to daily cleaning after shooting the gun.

The Colt requires putting the gun at half-cock and knocking the barrel wedge almost out of its slot. Then remove the barrel by rotating the cylinder so that the loading levers ram will push against the front face of the cylinder between the chambers and push the lever down to jack off the barrel and remove the cylinder.

The Remington requires putting the gun at half-cock and lowering the loading lever.
The cylinder pin can then be pulled out of the frame, releasing the cylinder.

I recommend removing the nipples from the cylinder and cleaning them with water and a tooth brush.
When replacing the nipples thoroughly grease the threads or use a "anti-sieze" before replacing them.

As for easily broken parts the cylinder "hand" spring that is a part of the "hand" that rotates the cylinder and the trigger spring are the only parts that are subject to breakage. The rest of the guns are pretty tough.

 

[CaptainKirk]

+1 one everything Zonie said.
I personally find the Remmy a bit more of a user-friendly gun to start out with. The open-tops take a bit of getting used to for breaking'em down, but once you've done it a few times, nothing to it.
I also agree with Capper regarding the grips. The Remmy is built for smaller hands/shorter fingers. The 1860 Army is a full-sized grip for large hands...I find it cumbersome at times. The '51 Navy is somewhere in-between, not as thin as the Remmy, thicker, yet shorter. Of the three, my Navy points naturally much better than either of the other two. Can't explain it...it just does.
For a complete strip, I find the Remmy has an edge here as well. One screw and both grips pop off. You don't have to worry about setting the barrel gap or aligning the grip frame screws, either. Drop the trigger guard, pop out a few screws, and it's disassembled making cleaning and reassembly an easy task for a new pistol shooter.
That being said, I've come to love my open tops. In the end, I would handle a bunch and see what fits before deciding.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Colts won the west.

 

[CaptainKirk]

True, dat. :v

 

[Pete Gaimari]

You're too nice Cap, so, I removed the wiggly ears.

 

[graybeard]

I've had an 1860 Colt replica for many years now. To clean, after five shots or 200, I take the wooden handles off, break the piece down to cylinder, frame and barrel. Run a few patches with solvent into each chamber and down the barrel. Then put it in the dishwasher and run it through a cycle. Make sure the barrel and the chambers in the cylinder are straight up and down. While the gun still is hot, spray it down with wd40, then remoil and reassemble. Never a spot of rust or crud on the pistol. doesn't foul up the dishwasher, either. :shake: graybeard

 

[ronrryan]

Curious: when you run it through the dishwasher, is this with a detergent soap, or just with hot water? Or cold water? I assume hot water, from your post. Please advise, I'd like to try this, thanks, Ron in FL

 

[CaptainKirk]

Better make sure your wife is out of the house first.... :shake:

 

[graybeard]

Run it with detergent and hot water, regular cycle. If you don't take the pistol out and oil while still hot, you may get some flash rust. Normally, there are dishes in the washer along with the pistol. Neither the washer nor my wife has complained yet. graybeard