Best cleaner for stainless steel revolvers?

[Buckhorn150]

Took my two stainless steel revolvers shooting,heavy shooting.The fouling is on and not coming off easy.Was wondering what cleaner you found works good on the cylinders? I use hopps and break free power blast w/brass brush.Still leaves allot on cylinders and frame by barrel.My revolvers are a new vaquero,and a taurus 606.The stainless on guns are night and day difference.Just dont want to scuff up the ruger at all.

 

[Carry_Up]

Do not be alarmed. The cylinder face will turn black. Wipe off any loose residue with Hoppes and resume firing.

 

[Tellico]

What Carry_Up said. If you want the front of the cyl. clean use Lead Away cloth. Do not use on blued guns. Will remove blueing.
Fred

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

A bronze toothbrush and Hoppes #9 will get much of the black off.

 

[flatgate]

Exercise extreme caution when cleaning the cylinder's face, especially at the "exit bores" at the face of the chambers. One little nick can wreck havoc with respect to accuracy.

JMHO,

flatgate

 

[Mosbyranger]

Go to your LGS. Get a Birchwood Casey Lead cloth, it should be in the $5-7 range. Cut a 2 or 3 inch square piece of it and start removing the carbon fouling. When the piece is used up cut another one and keep on cleaning. This should clean your revolver right up with a minimum of effort. It was the best $ I spent on my new used Security Six. It went from looking like it was used hard and put away wet to looking like a piece a guy could be proud of. I cannot recommend this product highly enough.

DO NOT use it on a blued firearm unless you are mad enough at your bluing to want it removed.
MR

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

I clean mine using Hoppe`s #9 and don`t even try to remove the carbon rings on the cylinder face. Makes the shop smell good to.

 

[ole442]

The Lead Away cloth works wonders. I recommend....

 

[o2stk1]

lead away cloth or if real bad maroon scotch bright pad

 

[6gun]

+1 on lead cloth, it wipes the fouling right off my cylinders with very little effort. I just cut a small square off the cloth about the size of a cleaning patch and wipe it away.

 

[k22fan]

lead away cloth or if real bad maroon scotch bright pad

I disagree with the use of Scotch Brite pads or any other abrasive that removes steel when you are only cleaning guns. It’s one thing to use 0000 steel wool or Scotch Brite pads in the extreme case of removing rust, but they have no place in ordinary cleaning. Even in the case of rust removal it’s more prudent to use bronze wool or solid copper dish scrubbing pads because they are too soft to the alter the steel.

For my stainless revolvers I use M-Pro 7 solvent and bronze wool most every cleaning. There are lots of other solvents that work just as well but M-Pro 7 is odorless and non-toxic. The bronze wool will eventually wear off bluing with repeated use so it’s mostly for stainless steel.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I don't feel the need to use the 'Lead Away' cloth every time but whenever the black carbon crud starts to build up I use it on the outside of the cylinder, the face of the cylinder and around the forcing cone, to remove most of it. Sometimes I will push a 'Lead Away' patch through the chambers and down the bore.

 

[CraigC]

Regardless of the marketing, lead removal cloths are abrasive and will remove metal. Over time, extended usage can lead to altered dimensions. There's no good reason for it, just leave the rings alone. Removing them will potentially do more harm than good.

 

[The Blackhawk Kid]

The best cleaner for any revolver, pistol, SS or blue is Ballistol. It is a good lead remover, too. I soak my cylinder over nite and use a bronze brush. Works good. Brownell's sells it. Ballistol is excellent to use on black powder fire arms, too. This is my opinion but, it just works. I treat my cylinder and clean a new firearm with Ballistol before I shoot it the first time. The front of the cylinder will turn black, but leading will be easy to clean. Dave walker :?

 

[rdf009]

Rubbing alcohol and an old t-shirt works just as good as any of the overpriced gun cleaning products on the market. An old toothbrush works well to clean the cylinder face and around the forcing cone. No need for all the fancy stuff. Spend the money you save on ammo.

 

[QB]

I've tried a bunch of the "tips" on cleaning the front of the cylinder, even found a Birchwood Lead Removal cloth in my cleaning gear but I still had to scrub scrub scrub. None of the products took off the ring easily (gun was only fired twice, about 40 rounds). So I think I'll just have to be satisfied with cleaning off the build up and let the stain stay there as it was just way too hard to try to remove it completely. My hands are full of arthritis, maybe that's why it was so hard for me but darn, I hate those rings.

 

[rugerfan5]

Try this guys....Bar Keepers Friend. It's typically used to clean quality cookware, but I decided to give it a try on my stainless cylinder. I used the powder (it also comes in other forms, but I haven't used them) All it takes is a little powder, a little water, and a toothbrush. Almost effortless, and then clean and shiny like it was never shot...

 

[ole442]

Single-Sixer:

The Lead Away cloth works wonders. Really, I think you'll be surprised how easy it works. I may be wrong but it doesn't seem abrasive to me.

 

[CraigC]

Like I said, despite the marketing, it is abrasive. That's why they say not to use it on blued guns, because it removes bluing. Well, to remove bluing mechanically requires an abrasive. I've tested it, it removes metal.

 

[Billyk338]

Blue Magic metal polish works great.

 

[m657]

I like ballistol for almost everything.

At times I will need a little extra something on the SS finish.....and rely on such as Carb cleaner with a bit of 0000 wool to get the black stuff off the frame when others have failed.

I apply a nice coat of actual lube after such a dose....don't think it's good for blue frames at all.

I've tried the ultrasonic cleaner route. It does wonders on some stuff & makes me wonder on other.

Typically Ballistol is choice if limited to "just ONE".

The special cloth does do better on the cylinder face to get nearly down to the actual metal.

Somehow I've acquired a drawer full of various oil/cleaner/goo/polisher/defouler/etc. They all get a work out from time to time.

 

[KAC-556F]

Second the Bar Keepers Friend, I tried it in search of something to clean the discolored area on the outer surface of the barrel on my AC, the area between the gasblock and the chamber had turned to a bluish/purple hue from some bursts and full auto shooting. Bar Keepers Friend just literally wiped the discoloration away like it was nothing more than a greasy fingerprint.

 

[INDY45]

Where would you find bar keepers friend?

 

[KAC-556F]

You should be able to find it just about anywhere you find household cleaning products. It can be a powder or a liquid.

 

[Carry_Up]

I find it interesting that the majority of replies indicate that everyone is concerned with the natural blackening on the front face of the cylinder. How many methods were suggested so far?? If you look closely at the inside of your barrel and the front face of a cylinder, you will see that firing residue has been forced into the pores of the metal by hot gasses under extreme pressure. Wiping down the cylinder face or barrel after shooting will clean up any build-up on the surface.

The only way to "clean" all black residue from cylinder face or barrel is to remove metal. The fouling is below the surface. Lots of abrasive products are available to do it for you.

Since the front face of the cylinder determines the b/c gap, you are changing one important spec on your revolver. If you remove metal on a blued gun, your bluing will be gone and you will only have bare steel remaining. Reality check. Don't trouble yourself about normal operation of your firearm.

-CU

 

[rugerfan5]

By the time I've removed a thousandth of stainless with my toothbrush, I'll have died with a shiny revolver...to each his own ;)

 

[Joe in Fl]

Laugh all you want but a common pencil eraser will take off
most of the carbon fouling off. I have used a pencil eraser for years
on my S&W model 60.
HTH, Joe

 

[Walter Rego]

I bought a used S&W Model 65 that looked like the previous owner never cleaned. The entire face of the cylinder was black. I got it spotless with a Lead Away cloth and a bit of Flitz. The trick once that is done is to minimize the buildup. I keep a light coat of Corrosion X on the face of the cylinder, and when I get home from a shooting session about 85% of the carbon wipes right off with a little solvent. The, I stand the revolver up vertically, dab some Hoppes #9 on the remaining burn marks and let the gun sit overnight and let the solvent work. The next day almost all the remaining carbon wipes off, and any minute traces that don't will clean up with a little Flitz. I truly believe that the light coating of Corrosion X, or probably a similar product keeps the carbon from bonding in the first place, and also believe that if you give solvent time to work, the need for harsh scrubbing is minimized.

 

[Joewisc]

I use Breakfree CLP from SafariLand on all my guns. Cheap and works great. Believe the Army uses it.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

This topic comes up all the time on gun boards, and I agree completely with CraigC. Carbon rings on the surface of the cylinder will not hurt anything. If the carbon builds up so much that the cylinder is having trouble rotating, then something else is wrong, like too narrow a barrel/cylinder gap, or excessively dirty ammo. Once you have enough revolvers, you will stop worrying about carbon rings on the face of the cylinder. There are better ways to spend your time than trying to scrub off carbon rings, which will just reappear the next time you shoot he gun anyway.

The best cleaner for any revolver, pistol, SS or blue is Ballistol.

This is simply not true. While Ballistol is terrific for, and is completely compatible with Black Powder, it does not dissolve Smokeless fouling as well as any of the standard commercial preparations suck as Hoppes #9.

A few years ago I did a comparison test and cleaned one of my 1911s with Ballistol. It took more time and elbow grease to get the gun clean than it does with Hoppes #9.

I agree Ballistol smells better than any of the standard Smokeless solvents, and it is less toxic. But it does not dissolve Smokeless fouling as well as simple old Hoppes #9.