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Old April 15, 2013, 05:21 PM   #1
chipchip
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Cleaning

New guy here. How do you clean your revolver after shooting. Do different powder require different methods. Thanks
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Old April 15, 2013, 05:41 PM   #2
ihctractor
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Black powder I assume?
All black powder & substitutes clean the same....hot soapy water.

Revolvers: I remove the grips, drop the cylinder and dunk the entire thing in the kitchen sink full of hot water and dish soap, scrub then rinse in as hot a water as I can stand, immediately go to garage and use compressed air to blow dry. Oil everything good and reassemble. Only takes a few minutes.(some purists will frown at my method but while they're cleaning with tedious overpriced specialty products I'll be out shooting!)

Warning: kitchen will smell like rotten eggs and wife will will give you the stink eye!
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Old April 15, 2013, 06:53 PM   #3
B.L.E.
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My wife will not tolerate a black powder fouling ring in her kitchen sink. Hotel staff don't appreciate it either when I go to an out of town shoot.
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Old April 15, 2013, 06:56 PM   #4
chipchip
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So your saying warm soapy water for 777 and Pyrodex
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Old April 15, 2013, 07:03 PM   #5
Bishop Creek
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I do pretty much the same as ihctractor said above, except that I don't use any kind of soap. Take the grips off and run it under very hot tap water, then run patches down the barrel and in the cylinder until they come out clean and dry. Use a Bore Butter type lube (no oil) on the cylinder pin and nipple threads. Been doing that for well over 30 years on all my black power revolvers and no rust, no problems. Still look and function like new. Hot water works better than anything else when cleaning a black powder gun, even clean my flintlock rifle with just hot water.
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Old April 15, 2013, 08:43 PM   #6
mykeal
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Water works for any kind of powder.
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Old April 15, 2013, 09:08 PM   #7
woodnbow
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Per the last thread on cleaning solutions I decided to try water. Plain old room temperature water, cause I have sensitive hands and I'm a sensitive man... no soap, no moose milk or other exotic chemicals.. Surprise surprise. It works as well as anything I've ever used on black powder residue and triple 7 too.. I followed it up with CLP and that, as they say, is that..

Give it a try, it's easy, it's cheap, no muss no fuss, no heating your guns in the oven or running them thru the dishwasher... what's not to like?
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Old April 16, 2013, 06:40 AM   #8
Newton24b
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the first issue is neutralizing the acids, with bp. im a happy follower of holding it under the faucet outside and letting the water come out clean. then break it down completely and hit it with T7 cleaner. its runny stuff but it seems to work.

the best stuff was made by knight.

but my barrel i still do with #9.
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Old April 16, 2013, 07:08 AM   #9
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I can't help it but I use el cheapo Walmart windex in with my water. When I shower I use a little soap so why not splurge with my BP guns.

.02

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Old April 16, 2013, 07:42 AM   #10
chickenmcnasty
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I use the hot soapy water treatment on my guns that the barrel is easily removed. For ones that have a trick disassembly, i stick to ballistol. I really love that stuff
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Old April 16, 2013, 10:06 AM   #11
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Hot or cold water. I like a drop or two of some detergent to float the crud away but it is not necessary.
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Old April 16, 2013, 10:43 AM   #12
BirchOrr
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First of all...

Welcome!

I'm very persnickity. I like all my guns to be as close to new as possible. But then, I enjoy cleaning almost as much as shooting.

I use Simple Green for cleaning, scrub with a toothbrush, (rinse with water), then a nice coat of Ballistol. I like to take the nipples out each time to clean and inspect. Also so they don't get seized up.

No huge production, cheap and effective.

All the best!

Birch
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Old April 16, 2013, 10:51 AM   #13
chipchip
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Do you coat the inside of the barrel and cylinders with ballistol.
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Old April 16, 2013, 10:53 AM   #14
chickenmcnasty
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Re: Cleaning

Quote:
Originally Posted by chipchip View Post
Do you coat the inside of the barrel and cylinders with ballistol.
I do. I use it inside and out. Occasionally I gargle with it and pets love it too!
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Old April 16, 2013, 11:07 AM   #15
chipchip
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So it does not contaminate the powder ?
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Old April 16, 2013, 11:32 AM   #16
BirchOrr
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Re:

I run a patch coated with Ballistol down the barrel and also spray some on a Q-Tip to coat the inside of the cylinders. I do this before I put the nipples back in and possibly plug the flash holes. Still not a bad idea to snap off a round of caps before loading the next time to be sure they're not fouled.

It won't contaminate the powder.

Birch
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Last edited by BirchOrr; April 16, 2013 at 11:41 AM.
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Old April 16, 2013, 11:39 AM   #17
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Quote:
Occasionally I gargle with it
LOL!!!!!



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Old April 16, 2013, 12:04 PM   #18
noelf2
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I remove grips.

Put the gun and cylinder (separated) in hot soapy water. Scrub scrub scrub, brush barrel out. Rinse with hot water. Dry as much as possible with rag/towel. Spray wd 40 into the inner works around hammer, trigger, bolt head opening, hand slot, and even down barrel and through the cylinder chambers/nipples. That romoves all water. Dry again with towel, shake out any wd 40 that I can. Push a dry patch through the barrel (usually only one is needed). Do same for cylinder chambers. Let set for about a half hour, then spray some remoil into the guts and all around except in the barrel. Rub with a rag to remove excess oil. Run a slightly oiled patch through the barrel and cylinder chambers. Done.
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Old April 16, 2013, 02:07 PM   #19
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Ballistol is wonderful. Great on gun metal as well as woodstock. I happen to use it on the hull of my boat. In Europe spas use it to rub guys and gals down. I suspect it has other uses in certain spas. ha!

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