Best cleaner for stainless steel revolvers?

[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.

 

[gramps]

Ballistol, and all the lead away cloths I have never ever seen in any gun store. Maybe I wasn't looking, I don't know. I agree with Joe in FL. I keep the large erasers around for clean up.
gramps

 

[Steve in PA]

Lead Away Cloth. In over 20+ years of use on my SRH, I have not noticed any metal being removed. I use it every time I clean my SRH. No scrubbing. A few wipes and good as new.

Before

After

 

[k22fan]

I agree with Drift Wood Johnson and the others who wrote that cleaning the dough nut stains off the front of a cylinder is a waste of time, but I get weak and do it occasionally. Actually they come off my 617 every cleaning because my bronze wool technique for removing leading happens to remove them.

One other comment that hasn't been mentioned previously: except for the very few revolvers that were polished bright by their manufacturer, polishing a stainless revolver bright by any means kills the collector value of collectable revolvers IMO.