Stainless revolver turning black...how much is normal?

sparq

sparq

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So I had my GP100 out for the first extended shooting session yesterday, and as I've never done this before I thought I'd ask you guys if this much dirt is normal. This is after about 175 rounds of .38 Special and another 12 of .357 Magnum. A little bit of Winchester but mostly Wolf. Is it just the ammo, or should I expect this regardless of what I'm shooting?

gp100smoked.jpg
 
Yeah, I knew it'd get dirty, I was just surprised at how much grime built up, and how quickly. I WAS getting thick face-fulls of smoke as well, maybe it's particularly dirty ammo?
 
I'm usually burning 200 rounds of 38 per session.
Your revolver looks a bit too dirty for that, but I would blame the ammo.
Wolf as I can see :)
Some brands (especially the cheaper rounds - no surprise there) may turn your gun into the black one pretty fast.
It's especially visible on SS finish, not so much on the blued gun though.
Just clean it and keep going.
Congratulations on your Ruger.
 
Get yourself one of these and along with some elbow grease, your GP100 will clean up real nice. Not as nice as a S&W but nice none-the-less. :D

sm_lead_remover_polishing_cloth.jpg
 
The Breeze said:
Get yourself one of these and along with some elbow grease, your GP100 will clean up real nice. Not as nice as a S&W but nice none-the-less. :D

sm_lead_remover_polishing_cloth.jpg
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I would caution you on using this lead free cloth if you don't have to. This will remove the grime but it will also remove metal as well. Never use it on a blued gun and only if you have to on stainless guns.

Graydog
 
graydog said:
I would caution you on using this lead free cloth if you don't have to. This will remove the grime but it will also remove metal as well. Never use it on a blued gun and only if you have to on stainless guns.

Graydog
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Nonsense! Although I too wouldn't use it on blued guns as it will ruin the finish, it's perfectly fine on stainless steel.
 
normally I also fire 200 round each session, I have a 4" SW stainless but never got it as dirty as yours, it must be the type of powder.
Mine will dirty the 1/3 front of the cylinder the forcing cone area and a front portion of the top strap but lesser than the lighter portion on your cylinder.
I use a small brass brush and solvent and within two minute it shine again.
 
Thanks guys, I'll need the cleaning tips... I've got about a thousand rounds of Wolf remaining ;) Aside from the front of the cylinder, chambers, and barrel, most of it came off easily with a tooth brush and Hoppes solvent.

It was a VERY humid day, so I'm wondering if that may also have contributed to more gunk settling on and sticking to the metal.
 
As others have mentioned cloth works well but be careful with it. I does leave swirl marks on SS, so if you go against the grain be prepared for a mis-matched "pattern"

Drafting White Erasers are also good for SS.

Just remember to not let it build-up too much w/o cleanings, it gets really hard to clean then . . . ask how I know :(
 
I shoot lead home cast bullets /231wpow 100 per session ,probably have at least 1000 down the tube & my 686 is not that dirty that wolf ammo must be dirty stuff
 
There's a lot more to this story than simply dirty ammo. The back of the cylinder and frame being that black tells me that the cases are not sealing at all well against the chamber walls. That is a MASSIVE amount of blowby. Also there is simply no way that you should be feeling any sort of blowback into your face while shooting. Again it says that the cases are not expanding and sealing the chambers properley at all.

Is this Wolff ammo sloppy fitting in the chambers? Is it some of the steel cased stuff? .38Spl is not a high pressure round but I've never seen anything like the condition of your gun. And that's even with shooting lighter cowboy action loads in .38Spl. At most I get a little blackening part way down the case. Nothing at all like what I'm seeing here.

I seriously suggest that you ditch using the Wolf ammo and go with brass or aluminium cased stuff. That'll cut down your cleanup by a HUGE amount just for starters. Or if the gun continues to shoot this dirty after only a couple of hundred rounds then it suggests that your cylinder chambers are WAY out of spec.
 
Thanks BCRider. Maybe I'll have to try shooting a few boxes of factory ammo and see how it looks. I don't recall feeling any blowback in my face with the .38, but I did feel an impulse from the .357 magnum (Winchester). I wish I'd saved the brass, each round had a black mark extending from the case mouth about half way down the case in a sort of half-oval, I don't know whether that's normal either.

The Wolf ammo I'm shooting is 158g Lead SWC in what looks to me like a brass case marked Dominion .38 SPL. I took a picture, but my camera died immediately after, so it'll be a while before I can post it (batteries charging...). Magnet won't stick, so I don't think it's plated steel, if that's even a thing anyone does...

A chambered round has a very minute amount of play in the chamber (same as an aluminum A-Zoom snap cap). I have never had any trouble extracting - they don't fall right out like an unfired round when the gun is tipped up, but they've never felt tight either. No additional pressure on the ejector rod is needed compared to ejecting unfired rounds.
 
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