Dad's old Model 10 maintenance?

subseven · June 17, 2007, 02:40 PM

Hey guys,

I've got a question pertaining to my father's old Smith and Wesson Model 10. He is simply TERRIBLE about cleaning his guns (cleaning his Kahr P45 consists of oiling the exterior and a boresnake down the barrel...). The other day I was looking at his Model 10 (mid-80's model, 38spl) and noticed it felt gummy and the cylinder had a tough time rotating. I asked how often he cleaned it, and let's just say after hearing what he said I'm surprised it still shoots as good as it does (it is a tackdriver... I dunno how) Anyways, it's a testament to SW's quality.

So, I'm wondering, what's the best way to give this six-shooter a good cleaning? Should I field strip it? How would one go about that? I have little experience with revolvers, but am an avid semi-auto shooter. Any tips? Thanks guys!

Tommy Vercetti · June 17, 2007, 03:00 PM

By Josh Grossman
([email protected])

Note that this is not a generic revolver cleaning FAQ, as the
author is only familiar with Smith and Wesson revolvers. Apparently
Taurus revolvers are S&W clones, so this info might be OK for them
as well, and should at least partially apply to all revolvers.

You will notice that I refer to Birchwood-Casey Gun Scubber and
Hornady One Shot, I do this because both of these products have
worked extremely well for me. There certainly are many products
that are similar and probably work as well. Do not feel that
you must use the products I recommend. - JAG.

HOW TO CLEAN A SMITH & WESSON REVOLVER

1. Open the cylinder, make sure the gun is unloaded, look down
the bore, make sure it is not obstructed

2. Remove the screw that is securing the grips to the frame,
remove the grips

3. With the cylinder closed remove the one small screw from the
right side of the frame that secures the crane (the crane is the
gizmo that the cylinder spins and swings on). Be careful, the
screw is spring loaded!

4. Open the cylinder carefully, you should be able to pull the
crane out, and the cylinder will be free from the gun. (You
should now have the frame with lock work intact, the cylinder,
the crane, the crane screw, the grips, and the grip screw(s),
you should not disassemble the gun any further unless you are a
gun smith IMHO)

5. Put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a
patch wet with solvent through each chamber of the cylinder.
You can use the same patch for all of the chambers, the idea is
to get them wet with solvent.

6. Take a cleaning rod with the appropriate size brush, wet the
brush with solvent, and brush out one of the chambers. I would
use at least 10 strokes with the brush. Then wet the brush
again and move on to the next chamber. Do this till all of the
chambers have been scrubbed.

5. Put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a
patch wet with solvent through one chamber of the cylinder.
Flip the patch over and do it again. Then take two dry patches,
and force them through the chamber, flip them over and do it
again, they should be fairly clean. If the chamber is not
clean, or the patches aren't coming out clean, run two stacked
patches wet with solvent through again, then two dry, if the
patches still are not coming out clean, go back to scrubbing
with the brush. Do this rather long process for each chamber,
till they are all clean.

6. Wipe down the exterior of the cylinder, pay close attention
to all of the little grooves on the outside diameter of the
cylinder, and the star on the back. You may find that an old
tooth brush wet with solvent helps to scrub crud out. If you
have a stainless steel or nickel plated gun ONLY, you will
notice that the cylinder front is still dirty, the only thing
that I have found that works to remove this baked on crud is the
LEAD FREE CLOTH or FLITZ Metal Polish, but ONLY use them on
stainless steel or nickel plated guns! It takes some serious
elbow grease to remove that fouling.

7. Spray down the entire cylinder with Gun Scubber, dry it off,
then spray it down with some One Shot. Let the One Shot dry.
Set the cylinder aside.

8. Put a bore guide on your cleaning rod then put the correct
size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a patch wet with solvent
through the bore. (Since you must clean revolvers from the
muzzle end, a bore guide is recommended to protect the crown of
the barrel)

9. Change the jag to the correct brush, wet it with solvent, and
run the brush in and out of the bore at least ten times.

10. Take two patches wet with solvent, stack them and force them
through the bore, flip them and do it again. Keep running two
stacked wet patches through the bore until they come out clean.
Then run two stacked dry patches through the bore, they should
come out clean. If not, try a few more wet patches, followed by
a few dry patches.

11. Spray down the bore with Gun Scubber, let it dry, then spray
it down with some One Shot. Let the One Shot dry.

12. Wet an old tooth brush with solvent and try to scrub the
crud off of the front and sides of the forcing cone, and scrub
the underside of the top strap. Wipe the areas with a wet
patch, they should be fairly clean.

13. With a wet patch wipe down the rest of the interior of the
frame. Pay attention to the firing pin hole, and the area that
the ejector rod fits into.

14. With a wet patch wipe down the exterior of the frame, and
the lockwork you can see in the grip area of the frame.

15. Spray down the entire frame including the bore, including
the bore and lock work you can see with Gun Scrubber, wipe off
the excess and let it dry. Then spray down the entire frame,
including the bore and lock work you can see with One shot. Set
the frame aside to let the One Shot dry.

16. With the toothbrush wet with solvent, scrub the crane, then
wipe it off with a patch. Then spray down the crane with Gun
Scrubber, wipe off the excess. Spray the crane down with One
Shot and let it dry.

17. Replace the crane and cylinder. Replace the screw that
retains the crane, but DO NOT replace the grips yet.

18. Cock the hammer on the pistol, spray Gun Scubber down into
the lockwork from the area that has opened up because the hammer
has been moved out of the way. Let it dry. Follow the Gun
Scrubber up with One Shot. Let the One Shot dry.

19. Wipe the entire revolver down with a clean rag and reinstall
the grips.

You should now have a clean revolver!

DrLaw · June 18, 2007, 03:48 PM

In 1980, a part-time police officer who had been a part-timer in my central Wisconsin city for years asked me to look at his gun. He said he could not get it open.

I looked and I was amazed.

To start with it was a 6 inch Model 10 of old vintage. It had the round half-moon sight. The bullet cases were corroded and green. The lead was a whitish grey. The cylinder was rusted shut. The mechanism was rusted shut. It had probably been carried all the years he was on without taking it from the swivel holster with a plugged bottom, and worn out in all the elements, rain, fog and snow.

I got it working, but I never trusted this guy to be my backup ever again.

Even with letting a gun sit, it still eventually needs to have dust taken off of it.

The Doc is out now.

dewidmt · June 18, 2007, 04:17 PM

Dated a girl back in the mid-80's whose father was one of the local deputy sheriffs. Northwest Florida, panhandle area. He showed me his service revolver one day....YIKES! S&W 66, 4 inch, dust bunnies all over the weapon, green ammo, green verdigis on all the fasteners on the duty belt. Owner was proud he'd never had to pull his weapon. Probably wouldn't have come out of the holster anyhow....lol

Rimrod · June 18, 2007, 06:03 PM

Quote:

3. With the cylinder closed remove the one small screw from the
right side of the frame that secures the crane (the crane is the
gizmo that the cylinder spins and swings on). Be careful, the
screw is spring loaded!

Yours won't be spring loaded so don't waste any time looking for the spring you didn't lose.

The best way to clean your gun will be to take it completely apart and clean every part inside of it. If this is something you don't think you can do or want to do find someone who can. Over the years he may have sprayed some oil into the action and now it has hardened into a laquer coating the internal parts. You can spray some cleaner into the action as described above but it will not get all of it out.

hodaka · June 18, 2007, 06:20 PM

I think you are right, Rimrod, but taking the grips off and soaking with GunScrubber (I personally like Walmart carb cleaner,$1/can) as Tommy suggested won't hurt anything and is likely to remove 90+% of the gunk. I've got my dad's old 6" M&P (before they called them Model 10's) and I am amazed at how good it shoots with the fixed sites and paper thin barrel.

inkie · June 18, 2007, 11:49 PM

Rimrod's got it right, take the whole gun apart {remove sideplate) expose innards soak it in kerosene with a touch of acetone or toluol. Swish the gun around often and let it soak for a few hours. Remove, let it dry, use kano kroil for cleaning, let stand for a few days. finish off with Break Free. Use a Lewis Lead remover on the barrel and forcing cone. Use white lube or gunslick on the sear just a touch. And your good to go.
From and old S&W LE Armorer.

Rimrod · June 19, 2007, 02:44 PM

I have a weakness for old S&W hand ejectors and have found several that were gunked up so bad the cylinder wouldn't turn. In these cases nothing inside worked very well either and if the cylinder stop is really gummed up it might bind up and let the cylinder spin.

I got one from my ex-neighbor that looked like someone had poured varnish inside of it, he sold it to me real cheap because he thought it was a piece of junk. It cleaned up real nice and is a very good shooter.

If you spray down inside the gun and loosen all that stuff up you will want to make sure you have a way to rinse all that goop out of it.

Tommy Vercetti · June 19, 2007, 03:48 PM

sorry hodaka I didn't write that I just copied and pasted

don't shoot it's me · June 19, 2007, 04:48 PM

Then bake at 375 for 1 hour and serve with a piping hot bowl of 38 wadcutters.

Southern_guy · June 19, 2007, 04:58 PM

My dad's terrible about cleaning guns as well. He didn't clean his TEC-9(which he gave to me) for over 15 years. Having a model 10 myself, I think they are nice guns. Aren't the dissasembly steps virtually identical to those of the M1917 .45 revolvers?

jad0110 · June 19, 2007, 08:23 PM

Removing the cylinder assembly, sideplate, mainspring, and hammer assembly is pretty easy on a S&W ... if you've studied how to do it and have the proper tools.

This blog covers it all, from a great book to proper tools:

http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2...th-wesson.html

Heck, the rest of it doesn't appear to be too bad, but I have to fashion a tool to capture and reinstall the rebound slide spring first.

tipoc · June 19, 2007, 08:40 PM

Subseven,
If you have never disassembled a S&W revolver before doing so on someones else's gun the first time may not be the prudent step. If the piece has not been fired or cleaned for years take it to a local smith and have a cleaning done. Ask the smith for some tips on how to clean. He'll likely show you in person so you can learn a couple of things from someone with more experience than you and see it first hand. In any case it'll be worth the experience.

tipoc

subseven · June 20, 2007, 06:15 AM

Thanks for all the help! Greatly appreciated. I think my best route will be to sit down with dad tonight and try to have a go at it. If it gets overly complicated, or seems like too big of a task, I'll make sure to take it to a gunsmith. I might be posting tonight with a question on how to get it all back together in other words

Thanks again guys!

June 17, 2007, 02:40 PM	#1
subseven Junior Member Join Date: August 23, 2005 Posts: 9	Dad's old Model 10 maintenance? Hey guys, I've got a question pertaining to my father's old Smith and Wesson Model 10. He is simply TERRIBLE about cleaning his guns (cleaning his Kahr P45 consists of oiling the exterior and a boresnake down the barrel...). The other day I was looking at his Model 10 (mid-80's model, 38spl) and noticed it felt gummy and the cylinder had a tough time rotating. I asked how often he cleaned it, and let's just say after hearing what he said I'm surprised it still shoots as good as it does (it is a tackdriver... I dunno how) Anyways, it's a testament to SW's quality. So, I'm wondering, what's the best way to give this six-shooter a good cleaning? Should I field strip it? How would one go about that? I have little experience with revolvers, but am an avid semi-auto shooter. Any tips? Thanks guys!

June 17, 2007, 03:00 PM	#2
Tommy Vercetti Senior Member Join Date: June 26, 2004 Location: Fairhope, Alabama Posts: 1,119	By Josh Grossman ([email protected]) Note that this is not a generic revolver cleaning FAQ, as the author is only familiar with Smith and Wesson revolvers. Apparently Taurus revolvers are S&W clones, so this info might be OK for them as well, and should at least partially apply to all revolvers. You will notice that I refer to Birchwood-Casey Gun Scubber and Hornady One Shot, I do this because both of these products have worked extremely well for me. There certainly are many products that are similar and probably work as well. Do not feel that you must use the products I recommend. - JAG. HOW TO CLEAN A SMITH & WESSON REVOLVER 1. Open the cylinder, make sure the gun is unloaded, look down the bore, make sure it is not obstructed 2. Remove the screw that is securing the grips to the frame, remove the grips 3. With the cylinder closed remove the one small screw from the right side of the frame that secures the crane (the crane is the gizmo that the cylinder spins and swings on). Be careful, the screw is spring loaded! 4. Open the cylinder carefully, you should be able to pull the crane out, and the cylinder will be free from the gun. (You should now have the frame with lock work intact, the cylinder, the crane, the crane screw, the grips, and the grip screw(s), you should not disassemble the gun any further unless you are a gun smith IMHO) 5. Put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a patch wet with solvent through each chamber of the cylinder. You can use the same patch for all of the chambers, the idea is to get them wet with solvent. 6. Take a cleaning rod with the appropriate size brush, wet the brush with solvent, and brush out one of the chambers. I would use at least 10 strokes with the brush. Then wet the brush again and move on to the next chamber. Do this till all of the chambers have been scrubbed. 5. Put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a patch wet with solvent through one chamber of the cylinder. Flip the patch over and do it again. Then take two dry patches, and force them through the chamber, flip them over and do it again, they should be fairly clean. If the chamber is not clean, or the patches aren't coming out clean, run two stacked patches wet with solvent through again, then two dry, if the patches still are not coming out clean, go back to scrubbing with the brush. Do this rather long process for each chamber, till they are all clean. 6. Wipe down the exterior of the cylinder, pay close attention to all of the little grooves on the outside diameter of the cylinder, and the star on the back. You may find that an old tooth brush wet with solvent helps to scrub crud out. If you have a stainless steel or nickel plated gun ONLY, you will notice that the cylinder front is still dirty, the only thing that I have found that works to remove this baked on crud is the LEAD FREE CLOTH or FLITZ Metal Polish, but ONLY use them on stainless steel or nickel plated guns! It takes some serious elbow grease to remove that fouling. 7. Spray down the entire cylinder with Gun Scubber, dry it off, then spray it down with some One Shot. Let the One Shot dry. Set the cylinder aside. 8. Put a bore guide on your cleaning rod then put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a patch wet with solvent through the bore. (Since you must clean revolvers from the muzzle end, a bore guide is recommended to protect the crown of the barrel) 9. Change the jag to the correct brush, wet it with solvent, and run the brush in and out of the bore at least ten times. 10. Take two patches wet with solvent, stack them and force them through the bore, flip them and do it again. Keep running two stacked wet patches through the bore until they come out clean. Then run two stacked dry patches through the bore, they should come out clean. If not, try a few more wet patches, followed by a few dry patches. 11. Spray down the bore with Gun Scubber, let it dry, then spray it down with some One Shot. Let the One Shot dry. 12. Wet an old tooth brush with solvent and try to scrub the crud off of the front and sides of the forcing cone, and scrub the underside of the top strap. Wipe the areas with a wet patch, they should be fairly clean. 13. With a wet patch wipe down the rest of the interior of the frame. Pay attention to the firing pin hole, and the area that the ejector rod fits into. 14. With a wet patch wipe down the exterior of the frame, and the lockwork you can see in the grip area of the frame. 15. Spray down the entire frame including the bore, including the bore and lock work you can see with Gun Scrubber, wipe off the excess and let it dry. Then spray down the entire frame, including the bore and lock work you can see with One shot. Set the frame aside to let the One Shot dry. 16. With the toothbrush wet with solvent, scrub the crane, then wipe it off with a patch. Then spray down the crane with Gun Scrubber, wipe off the excess. Spray the crane down with One Shot and let it dry. 17. Replace the crane and cylinder. Replace the screw that retains the crane, but DO NOT replace the grips yet. 18. Cock the hammer on the pistol, spray Gun Scubber down into the lockwork from the area that has opened up because the hammer has been moved out of the way. Let it dry. Follow the Gun Scrubber up with One Shot. Let the One Shot dry. 19. Wipe the entire revolver down with a clean rag and reinstall the grips. You should now have a clean revolver! __________________ "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Sinclair Lewis, (It Can't Happen Here, 1935) "Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak" Marcus Tullius Cicero

June 18, 2007, 03:48 PM	#3
DrLaw Senior Member Join Date: June 3, 2007 Location: Wild Western Illinois Posts: 559	True cleaning story In 1980, a part-time police officer who had been a part-timer in my central Wisconsin city for years asked me to look at his gun. He said he could not get it open. I looked and I was amazed. To start with it was a 6 inch Model 10 of old vintage. It had the round half-moon sight. The bullet cases were corroded and green. The lead was a whitish grey. The cylinder was rusted shut. The mechanism was rusted shut. It had probably been carried all the years he was on without taking it from the swivel holster with a plugged bottom, and worn out in all the elements, rain, fog and snow. I got it working, but I never trusted this guy to be my backup ever again. Even with letting a gun sit, it still eventually needs to have dust taken off of it. The Doc is out now.

June 18, 2007, 04:17 PM	#4
dewidmt Member Join Date: June 18, 2007 Location: Hills of Southern Indiana Posts: 66	Dated a girl back in the mid-80's whose father was one of the local deputy sheriffs. Northwest Florida, panhandle area. He showed me his service revolver one day....YIKES! S&W 66, 4 inch, dust bunnies all over the weapon, green ammo, green verdigis on all the fasteners on the duty belt. Owner was proud he'd never had to pull his weapon. Probably wouldn't have come out of the holster anyhow....lol __________________ "If you're gonna shoot...shoot! Don't talk...." Tuco

June 19, 2007, 03:48 PM	#9
Tommy Vercetti Senior Member Join Date: June 26, 2004 Location: Fairhope, Alabama Posts: 1,119	sorry hodaka I didn't write that I just copied and pasted __________________ "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Sinclair Lewis, (It Can't Happen Here, 1935) "Orators are most vehement when their cause is weak" Marcus Tullius Cicero

June 18, 2007, 06:20 PM	#6
hodaka Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 2,010	I think you are right, Rimrod, but taking the grips off and soaking with GunScrubber (I personally like Walmart carb cleaner,$1/can) as Tommy suggested won't hurt anything and is likely to remove 90+% of the gunk. I've got my dad's old 6" M&P (before they called them Model 10's) and I am amazed at how good it shoots with the fixed sites and paper thin barrel.

June 18, 2007, 11:49 PM	#7
inkie Senior Member Join Date: October 20, 2006 Location: Eastern Pa. Posts: 137	Rimrod's got it right, take the whole gun apart {remove sideplate) expose innards soak it in kerosene with a touch of acetone or toluol. Swish the gun around often and let it soak for a few hours. Remove, let it dry, use kano kroil for cleaning, let stand for a few days. finish off with Break Free. Use a Lewis Lead remover on the barrel and forcing cone. Use white lube or gunslick on the sear just a touch. And your good to go. From and old S&W LE Armorer.

June 19, 2007, 02:44 PM	#8
Rimrod Senior Member Join Date: October 19, 2005 Location: Behind enemy lines Posts: 1,309	I have a weakness for old S&W hand ejectors and have found several that were gunked up so bad the cylinder wouldn't turn. In these cases nothing inside worked very well either and if the cylinder stop is really gummed up it might bind up and let the cylinder spin. I got one from my ex-neighbor that looked like someone had poured varnish inside of it, he sold it to me real cheap because he thought it was a piece of junk. It cleaned up real nice and is a very good shooter. If you spray down inside the gun and loosen all that stuff up you will want to make sure you have a way to rinse all that goop out of it.

June 19, 2007, 04:48 PM	#10
don't shoot it's me Senior Member Join Date: March 29, 2001 Location: NY first/LA second Posts: 1,537	Then bake at 375 for 1 hour and serve with a piping hot bowl of 38 wadcutters.

June 19, 2007, 04:58 PM	#11
Southern_guy Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2007 Location: Louisiana Posts: 175	My dad's terrible about cleaning guns as well. He didn't clean his TEC-9(which he gave to me) for over 15 years. Having a model 10 myself, I think they are nice guns. Aren't the dissasembly steps virtually identical to those of the M1917 .45 revolvers?

June 19, 2007, 08:23 PM	#12
jad0110 Senior Member Join Date: May 30, 2007 Posts: 761	Removing the cylinder assembly, sideplate, mainspring, and hammer assembly is pretty easy on a S&W ... if you've studied how to do it and have the proper tools. This blog covers it all, from a great book to proper tools: http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2...th-wesson.html Heck, the rest of it doesn't appear to be too bad, but I have to fashion a tool to capture and reinstall the rebound slide spring first.

June 19, 2007, 08:40 PM	#13
tipoc Senior Member Join Date: December 11, 2004 Location: Redwood City, Ca. Posts: 4,114	Subseven, If you have never disassembled a S&W revolver before doing so on someones else's gun the first time may not be the prudent step. If the piece has not been fired or cleaned for years take it to a local smith and have a cleaning done. Ask the smith for some tips on how to clean. He'll likely show you in person so you can learn a couple of things from someone with more experience than you and see it first hand. In any case it'll be worth the experience. tipoc

June 20, 2007, 06:15 AM	#14
subseven Junior Member Join Date: August 23, 2005 Posts: 9	Thanks for all the help! Greatly appreciated. I think my best route will be to sit down with dad tonight and try to have a go at it. If it gets overly complicated, or seems like too big of a task, I'll make sure to take it to a gunsmith. I might be posting tonight with a question on how to get it all back together in other words Thanks again guys!

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search