Revolver cylinder 'crud ring' cleaning methods

Just to ask pretty much everyone that posted.

Do all these methods work equally well on

blued

and

stainless steel finish

and would not damage either one?
 
Just to be clear here, cylinder is squeaky clean with mirror like shine, it is just a ring that formed from using 38 special in .357cal revolver that needs to be removed.

I am pretty sure that with all good suggestions, I am now well equipped to deal with this.

Your willingness to share your knowledge and experience is always appreciated.


Now that we know how to clean up 'crud ring', let's talk about how to prevent it from becoming a problem again.
Is there a chemical/ spray that I could use immediately after shooting revolver that would do good job on softening/ removing crud from cylinder right at the range and/ or prepare it for proper clean up job later in a day/ week.

Something sort of what SKS owners do after shooting corrosive ammo.
 
I hear that Flitz metal polish works too, but I've never tried it.

Yep, Flitz works very well. It is just a touch more abrasive than JB Bore Cleaner.

Flitz is also great at getting thick lead and copper fowling out of a barrel, and polishing it up a little. Did this on a used Norinco 1911 I bought. Barrel looked pretty bad and cleaning didn't do much. So with nothing to lose, went at it with Flitz. 10 minutes later with Flitz on patches and using a 45 cal brass jag, it was bright and shiny.

I have also used Flitz on a bore mop chucked in a cordless drill to polish the inside of cylinders in a revolver. 30-60 seconds works wonders as residue and lead don't stick as much and clean up much easier. Have also polished up Lee reloading dies the same way.
 
I believe he is actually talking about the external "smoke" rings on the face of the cylinder, not the "crud ring" that we all know to be on the inside of the cylinder, mainly generated from using 38Spl in 357 chambers. As mentioned earlier Flitz works fairly well but Nev R Dull is xlnt at removing it.
Cheers
dB
 
G96 and Butch's Bore Shine?

Yesterday, I tried both Hoppes 9 and Break Free, which is what I had at home, but have G96 Gun treatment and Butch's Bore Shine also- that I did not try.

I got gun squeaky clean but rings are still there.

Nobody mentioned G96 and Butch's Bore Shine so far, so I am assuming that those two are not good for this job either?

Friend at the club mentioned Flitz, I will bring it along next time and try spraying it down cylinder while still hot, might help clean up efforts later.
 
Friend at the club mentioned Flitz, I will bring it along next time and try spraying it down cylinder while still hot, might help clean up efforts later.

Flitz is a paste (think toothpaste). No need to put it down a hot barrel since it is an abrasive and doesn't work through chemical action but by mechanical action.

Also, don't worry about it "wearing" away the steel. A few people have done tests and after polishing (they did it on reloading dies) they couldn't detect any change in dimensions with a precision micrometer.
 
I used to use those spiral stainless brush's on my PPC revolver with really good
success. I only used #9 solvent and a little elbow work and never experienced
any difficulties. I found the spiral brush's to be nice and stiff to get that lead
out but not have sharp edges to etch the chambers. You could probably flare
the mouth of a brass case fairly close to the chamber size and use that to help
scrape that lead out but I never found the need to.
 
Eraser is used for removing fouling on the outside parts of revolver, it would be helluva task stuffing it inside the cylinder.

I misunderstood; I thought you were talking about the cylinder face.

For lead build-up in the cylinder, I use a stainless steel brush.


 
This maybe to obvious but make sure you are looking at the step in cylinder that rises to the throats. At the wrong angle it can appear to be a ring.

Take Care

Bob
 
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