Just bought a new Taurus Tracker in 45 ACP. First revolver I have ever owned. My question is two fold.

1). How often or after how many rounds should I clean my revolver?

2). What cleaning gear can anyone recommend for the proper care of a revolver? ie... cleaning rod, brushes, solvent etc...

#1 Somewhere between every time and never? Other than keeping it wiped down and oiled to prevent rust every time you use/handle it, how often you clean it depends on lots of things. Mostly you.. and what kind of shooter (and gun cleaner) you are. How often you NEED to clean it will depend on many things like what kind of ammo your using, some being more dirty than others, and if your using jacket or cast bullets. Lead bullets will require a bit more work, more often to keep the bore clean. It's really just something you'll get the knack of. Like I said, it depends on you. You'd have to shoot it a REAL long time before you ran into any problems from NOT cleaning it. It'll come down to a personal thing. (I have many handguns and would hate to admit how infrequently I really clean them. I ALWAYS wipe them down and oil them, but I rarely REALLY clean them good.)

A regular pistol cleaning rod, bore brushes and patches... that sort of stuff is all you'll probably need. An old tooth brush can come in handy for things as well. Most bore cleaners will work fine. If you shoot lots of lead , that may require a little more attention and effort, but it's nothing that cant be done with standard stuff and elbow grease.
You'll get a feel for what your revolver needs, cleaning wise. Good luck with it and congradulations.

Three things you need first. Get a tapered bore protecter to fit the rod and hold it in the muzzle to keep the rod from touching it. The best rod is a one piece steel rod with a swivel handle. Next use a good fitting jag instead of a slotted patch holder. Midway sells a great kit with all the jags for every caliber. I clean mine after I'm done shooting unless I will be going out again soon. If I use the gun a lot, I don't clean until the boolits are gone.

You might consider using a quick wipe down and just a patch or two run through the barrel and cylinder with Hoppe's #9 and just leave it in the gun for a few days after each shooting session.

Then you'll likely find that almost all the "crud" will come off with a dry patch and minimal elbow grease. Then oil with a good quality gun oil.

Note: Some nickel (and other) finishes can't stand to have ANY cleaner left on them for extended periods. All my guns are either factory blue or stainless and I've never had a problem with Hoppe's #9 being left on for extended periods.

Note: A good thorough cleaning should be used on most revolvers every hundred or so rounds of cast bullets and ever 300-500rds of jacketed bullet shooting regardless.

Your Mileage Might Vary considerably.

$bob$

Range report for the Taurus Tracker in 45 ACP. So far I am very impressed with the Tracker in 45 ACP. The only drawback is I have extremely large hands so the grips seem a little small to me. Otherwise, I have been wacking bowling pins at 50 yards like crazy. So far all I have shot is Remington PMC ammo from Wal-Mart. $10 for 50 rounds of 230 RN FMJ. I have shot total of 300 round through the gun in the last two weeks. Cleaning is a breeze. Will start shooting cast bullets after I put 500 rounds of jacketed through it. The powder I can't wait to try for my jacketed hunting load is Ramshot Enforcer.

Test barrel - 5.0 inches
Bullet - 200 grain Hornady HP/XTP
Primer - Federal 150
Brass - Winchester ACP
OAL - 1.215 inches
Powder - Ramshot Enforcer
Charge - 16.2 grains max load
Velocity - 1,165 fps
SD Velocity - 10 fps
Pressure - 19,043 psi

I talked to the folks at Western Powder and they provided a load for this bullet but at +P pressure of 23,000 psi. I won't share it because I haven't tried it yet. I should be able to achieve over 1,200 fps easily from my 6.5 inch barrel. There test barrel was a 5.0 inch barrel.

Thanks for the range report. Everytime I fondle the Tracker I've been eyeing, I tell myself that the grips are way too small for me! I guess I'm going to have to break down and get one someday , make it #3 on my list of got to have guns

Rick