I have three single action Rugers that I shoot fairly often. Is there a quick and easy way to clean the crud out of the cylinder? I was thinking about soaking them in a jar of choke tube cleaner, or a C&S Dunk Kit. It's just very tedious to me to scrub cylinders until they are spotless.

I would guess you can handle the problem this way. I just clean mine, never tried to eat off 'em.

You will never get any revolver cylinder spotless. Just clean them with a patch and then a brush and solvent. M-Pro 7 and a brush will remove a lot of the carbon but not all of it. The black you see will not hurt a thing, just forget it.

Thanks for the help.

In the new MidwayUSA Master catalog there is an advertisement for Hoppes Elite cleaner. The picture shows a cylinder before and after. The cylinder looks like it has never been fired through. Take this with a grain of salt because it is, afterall, an advertisement

Try Ed's Red with a nylon bore brush for the inside and a toothbrush for the outside.

I've never been able to get my revolver cylinders squeaky clean. I use a mixture of shooters choice/kroil/gm top engine cleaner and a brass tooth brush and 0000 steel wool to clean with.
I've tought about applying something before I shoot them but I haven't tried anything yet. Some of the IPSC shooters spray their compensators on their guns with some kind of spray to stop build up in their comps.

Larry

easy as cake.....buy a package of Birchwood lead remover cloth and cut it into 3/8 x 4" strips. wrap a strip around a brass brush and have at it. cleans cyl and barrels faster than anything else i've found.

The lead remover cloth works but I would not use it all the time. They say it is non-abrasive but I got black on it even with a clean gun. I rubbed it on a clean piece of plate steel and it turned black. I can only figure that it is steel being rubbed off. Might make a good lapping material!

Thanks bfr, Bob Baker has told me not to use these on FA revolvers because use of this product will lead to rounding out the chamber mouths near the muzzle. .

quote:

Originally posted by LeeOtis:
Try Ed's Red with a nylon bore brush for the inside and a toothbrush for the outside.

I carry a one gallon bucket of Ed's Red to the range. Most of my shooting is with model 25 S&W's, 45 Colt. I'll shoot one 'til it gets too warm, summer time, drop it muzzle down into the bucket and continue with one of the other S&W's. When there's three S&W's in the bucket I declare a break, swamp out the barrel and cyclinder and return to shooting.
To get the black crude, that none of the commercial cleaners have any effect on, I use some WWII bore cleaner while the handgun is still warm.
When I leave the range all of my S&W's are clean and oiled ready for the gun safe.
Jim

Ok, here is the easiest way I have found.

Use a bronze rifle brush one or two sizes up in a cordless drill with a little solvent. It cleans up a cylinder in a jiffy, it takes no more than two passes per chamber. Over time it puts a nice polish on the inside of each chamber. Don't worry it only polishes the high spots and will not wallow out the chambers. I have been using this method for 10 years with no adverse effects.
a 375 rifle brush works great on a 357
a 45 rifle brush on a 41
a 475 rifle brush on a 44
You get the idea.
I hope this saves you a ton of time, it has for me. I use it on my Freedom, Rugers and Smiths, it really makes cleaning the revolvers easy and fast.
Joe

That sounds like a good idea. I use oversize brushes all the time. I just never worried about the black color left after cleaning. One shot and it is back. M-Pro 7 and a powered brush would make it shine. But is it worth the work?

quote:

Try Ed's Red with a nylon bore brush for the inside and a toothbrush for the outside.

It works. I cleaned my S&W inside and out with Ed's Red last time we were at the range and went home with a spotless .357...

This is great information. Thanks for the help. Where do I get Ed's Red?

The only thing I've found that will remove the carbon, etc. is Flitz. Just a very small dab on a cloth will wipe it away with just a few strokes. Try it you won't believe how well it works.

Do you mean the Flitz Rifle and Gun Wax?

quote:

Originally posted by jelmore4:
This is great information. Thanks for the help. Where do I get Ed's Red?

Here is a good link: http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews/edred/index.asp

What I do is mix the four equal parts of about 2 ounces each. (or use a shot glass). Use a sealable glass container for storage. I would avoid plastic because the chemicals, over time, could deteriorate a plastic container. I have used other empty glass bore cleaner containers such as Hoppe's, Birchwood Casey, etc. This formula is easy to make and will produce a lot of Ed's Red.

Also, you may consider buying glass eye droppers to apply the mixture from the container to your cleaning patches. Wally World sells a set of two for about $2.00 in the pharmacy dept. Be sure and try to keep the end of the dropper in the down position to prolong the life of the rubber squeeze bulb.

I mean the Flitz paste metal polish & restorer.
Flitz.com

Flitz is great. Another tip is to use one of those brass suede brushes on the front of the cylinder and front of the frame. It really gets them clean. Would work good with Flitz.

I like to use RIG cleaner on my revolvers. It is rather like a gel and it will cling without running off or quickly evaporating. It leave it in the cylinder for about ten minutes then brush. Really works well around the forcing cone where a brush can't always get into sufficiently.