Help! Cleaning first black powder revolver

[eightclicknine]

Hey all,

First of all, thanks for taking time to read this. So i had a blast yesterday shooting the 1858 remington replica, but cleaning hasn't been going so smooth. I removed the cylinder and the loading lever arm and soaked them in soapy hot water until it was cool enough for me to remove and scrub. I was messing with the frame, trying to see which screws i could remove only to find out i didn't have the appropriate screwdrivers for the grips, so i couldn't soak the whole rest of the frame. Basically, a started removing the trigger screw until i realized it really didn't need to come out. Now i can't get this thing back in. Secondly, i found a bunch of rust forming this morning all in the cylinder. I hit it with hoppes #9 before bed in hopes of preventing such a thing from happening, so this morning i scrubbed good with a brass brush and applied more solvent to get this crap cleared up. I think i need some help here.

[Doc Hoy]

First of all welcome to the forum and

You have not likely done any damage to the revolver.

You were right to start with hot soapy water.

You are also right to take the grips off.

I am one who likes to take the pistol all apart for cleaning but most shooters don't. On your Remington I think it is going to be important to at least take off the trigger guard.

So with the grips off, the trigger guard off, the cylinder out, you can get to most of the stuff that needs to be removed.

You first problem is to get past the lack of screwdrivers.

If you use the wrong screwdrivers on the revolver you will likely regret it later.

Husky makes a set with removable bits which works pretty well and does not cost your first male born child.

The important thing is that the tips be "hollow ground".




Figure 1 in the image represents a hollow ground tip.

The rest of the figures are self explanatory.

[wogpotter]

I guess so.

You can't get the screw back in because of spring tension on the trigger. First you need to unscrew the screw holding the trigger guard to the frame. remove the trigger guard by pulling it down pout of the frame.
There's a 2 legged spring facing rearwards in there. It pushes up on the trigger which is why the screw wont go back in. Remove the spring by undoing the screw, tighten the trigger screw replace the spring & trigger guard.

That should get you back together & working.

Oiling, letting soak in oil overfnight & wiping thoroughly with oily patches & mops should fix the rusting.

Here is how I clean, there are many methods, but this works for me. It actually takes less time to do than write/read.

Get a bucket big enough to hold the entire pistol. Drop in a cake of Ivory soap. (You use Ivory because it floats so you can find it & it doesn't have "girly perfume" just soap.) Fill the bucket with HOT water, not boiling but as hot as you can stand leaving your hands in. The soap will dissolve some while the bucket fills.

Remove the grip panels, pull the cylinder & remove the nipples from the cylinder. I don't see any point in removing the rammer so I don’t.

Put the cylinder, nipples & gun into the water & let it sit & soak while heating evenly while you do the next bit.

Fish out the soap & use an old toothbrush to collect some just as you'd use it for toothpaste. Remove the cylinder & give it a good scrub over the bucket & put it back in.

Remove the gun & give it a good scrub with more soap. Open the rammer & scrub, close & scrub again; you're done with it. Put it back in.

Take some wooden toothpicks, a pipe cleaner & the toothbrush. Push the toothpick into the back end of the nipples & use as a holder while giving a scrub with the toothbrush. Use the pipe cleaner with soapy water on it to get inside the hole after removing the toothpick. Put them all back in the water.

Take a cleaning rod with either a jag & 3" patches, or a mop. Put a little soap on the patch or mop & run it back & forth through the bore 3~5 times, remove rinse & repeat. Do this with the gun in the water so the patch pumps water up & down the bore.

Use the same mop/patch & jag with more soap to get at all the chambers insert twist pull back. Pump in/out a few times. Again do this in the water to flush the chambers as you go.

Pull everything out of the now filthy water, place it all on a paper towel & count your nipples.

Throw out the water & replace with fresh non-soapy hot water.

Put everything back in the water. Let it sit for a minute while you throw out the wet paper towels. Replace them with dry ones.

Dunk & raise the parts a couple of times to rinse off any soap residue. Wipe, shake & blow-dry the parts one by one as you remove them & put them on the dry paper towels. Throw out the water; you're done with the wet stuff.

I use a $10.00 hair dryer from Wally World to finish drying, particularly places I cant get to like the trigger parts. Wear an insulated glove & use it on HOT to completely evaporate water from everywhere, wiggle things open & closed to get the heat & air down inside everything.

Immediately apply non-petroleum based oil to everything. This prevents rust be forming a barrier between the air & the metal. I put a little grease on the nipple threads & the axis pin as well.

[eightclicknine]

Thanks Doc!

I will swing by Lowes this evening and see if i can get some of those appropriate screwdrivers. I left the rusty areas soaking in CLP this morning before work so hopefully that will clean up. I think maybe i let too much time lapse before taking the parts out of the water and getting them scrubbed up.

[Doc Hoy]

When you get the trigger guard off the pistol, you will see why the trigger screw will not go back into the revolver.

Prolly the trigger spring has pushed the trigger out of position just enough to interfere with the trigger screw.

That will be very easy to correct once the trigger guard is removed.

With the trigger guard removed:

1. Take the tension off the trigger and bolt spring by loosening the captive screw that holds the spring tight.

2. Start the trigger screw into the revolver until it is halted by the out of position trigger

3. Reposition the trigger such that the screw can be pushed all the way into the revolver

4. Tighten the trigger screw (Not too much, just snug)

5. Retighten the trigger and bolt spring captive screw

But you need the right screwdrivers.

Go to Home Depot. Actually, prolly Walmart has them too.

[eightclicknine]

Thanks guys! So i need to do more scrubbing in the water, and more drying. I believe air drying and wiping clean was one of my faults. I have heard mixed opinions on using hoppes #9 for these, what do you guys think?

[wogpotter]

Sorry, Doc, we're posting over each other here. Great minds & all that stuff.

[wogpotter]

Completely un needed for B/P. if you want a cleaning solvent many swear by ballistol. I just use hot water & soap myself.

Once you get used to it you'll find B/P is easier to clean than smokeless!

[eightclicknine]

Ok, thanks for all of the help guys. I'll work on this when i get home from work. I left the bottom of the cylinder soaking in CLP to try and get the rust out of those spots i couldn't hit, is that ok? The nipples turned out good, no rust on those and as clean as a whistle, same with the bore.

[Doc Hoy]

I mis-spoke when I talked about the trigger.

I forgot that on a Remington the Trigger and bolt pivot on the same screw.

So it is not just the trigger that could be causing the interference. It could be the bolt as well. Just as easy to fix and just as obvious when you gets the revolver apart.

[bedbugbilly]

Great advice from all of these guys.

When I clean my Remington, I use my laundry tub. I draw it full of hot water, add a little Ivory liquid soap and Windex. I take the grips off, remove the cylinder and that is it. I put it all in, pistol frame and cylinder so it is all covered under the water, let it set a few minutes and then go at it.

I use a pistol cleaning rod with a jag and patch on the barrel and cylinder chambers - working the rod like a piston to draw and expel the hot water. When done with that, I then use a small paint brush and clean all the nooks and crannies. When I stop getting dirty soapy water, I let the water out and draw in some clean hot water. I have a sprayer attachment on the faucet, I spray the cylinder inside and out, let the water run out the nipples and then swish it around for a few times under the clean hot water int he tub. I do the same with the frame/barrel. I shake 'em of, set them over on some paper towel while I let the water out and clean the sink to keep the wife happy.

I wipe the parts down with paper towel and then I use a hair dryer set ont he thottest setting to blow dry everything. The air helps force out small drips of water that may be hiding plus it heats the metal up which will also help dry everything up. It's possible to heat the metal up with the hair dryer to the point it is quite warm and hard to hang on to with bare hands - I usually hold the parts using a clean cotton work glove. I then spray it all down with RemOil - inside and out making sure to get an adequate amount inside the action. That's what works for me but others have methods that work just as well.

After cleaning BP firearms - I feel it is important to check them everyday for a few days just in case you missed some moisture or fouling and it could cause a problem with rust. The secret is to get the parts clean and make sure that they are dry - then oil down with whatever you choose to use. I usually take the nipples out and lightly oil the threads after cleaning as well.

You'll get the hang of it and it will become easier. A lot of fellas like to break their pistols down all the way which is fine also - just make sure you know how to get it back together and the parts positioned correctly. I've never found the need to do it on a regular basis as with the way I'm cleaning, it seems to work just fine. I might break mine down once a year or so but that's it.

Welcome and glad you had a good time shooting your Remington - every time you shoot, you'll love it more!

[Bezoar]

turn the bathtap on to warm setting. pull the grips off. and hold the whole thing under the running water. no soapy baths are needed for the gun, just fo ryou when your done cleaning.

Sensitive persons may prefer you to run it under the outside hose first.


Take down is best, complete takedown unless your using smokeless powder in a cartridge conversion.

[maillemaker]

If you remove the grips, you can put the whole gun in soapy water. Use an old toothbrush and you can clean up most of what you need to get at. Swishing the gun around will get most of the debris out of the internals.

Rinse in very very hot water, that way when you take the gun out and shake it off the remaining water wants to evaporate.

If you have compressed air, blow it through the openings in front of the hammer, around the trigger, and the arm, so as to blow all the water out of the internals.

Then use your can of RemOil with the spray straw to put a good shot of oil all inside the internals.

In this way you can usually clean the gun quite well without having to do a complete disassembly every time.

It's still good to disassemble every so often to do a thorough cleaning and lubing.

Steve

[mehavey]

Then there's us Philistines who have finally learned that throwing everything into the dishwasher
-- and immediately spraying down the hot gun before the final dry cycle starts with WD-40 --
does it all.



post: Don't let it dry in the norrmal dry cycle. It's sooooo clean at that point a
patina of surface rust will start.

[wogpotter]

Soaking wont hurt anything. (unless its soaking in water!)

[Doc Hoy]

Has a bag full of brushes that the sell for about a dime.

Various sizes.

Some bags have only nylon or plastic bristle brushes. Other sets have steel and brass bristle brushes.

There are sizes that are great for barrels and chambers and there is a small diameter brush that is good for the holes that the nipples turn into and the cylinder pin hole on a Remington cylinder.

Can't beat the price.

[swathdiver]

Get a set of Grace Colt Peacemaker SAA screwdrivers (HG-3).

I had one break on a stubborn screw last Friday and sent an e-mail to Dan asking how to buy a new one quick as I had 8 dirty guns to clean from a range trip. He replied at 1230am and in this Tuesday's mail there was a replacement free of charge! Now that's service!

Also have them for the Ruger and general gun sets but the Colt set is used the most on Pietta and Uberti reproduction Colt and Remington revolvers.

[Beagle333]

Chapman is a great screwdriver too. You won't twist em off. And they sell individual bits. You can put together a great kit for a few bucks. No need to buy 34 bits you can't use. Here's an old thread on screwdrivers.

[Doc Hoy]

Not sure your question was answered but yes.

If you take the grips off, you can soak the entire revolver.

I do recommend removing the trigger guard because this really opens up the revolver innards.

All of the gunk comes out a lot easier.

[Hawg]

First you need to unscrew the 2 screws holding the trigger guard to the frame.

Where pray tell is the second one?

[Doc Hoy]

It is the one behind the firewall gasket

[eightclicknine]

Thanks everyone, and thanks to your help i was able to obtain a decent gunsmithing screwdriver kit, and get the revolver assembled correctly. It took some effort but i nearly had to tear the rest of it down to get that one screw back in correctly, but it was a great learning experience. I was able to clean up and neutralize the remaining oxidation, and it is ready to go for tomorrow. I will be taking your advice to do a better and more thorough job cleaning so i don't get into this same predicament again. Gun show tomorrow, so I might have another post queued up if i find something cool.

[Doc Hoy]

Good luck at the gun show.

[wogpotter]

See, he found it with no problems.

[Hawg]

Hmmmm.