Best way to clean revolvers?

I've been using gloves since day one, and for stuff like Hoppes and Gunscrubber I also wear a disposable dust mask.
It may not keep it all out, but I think it helps.
 
Palerider -- no, it's the little slotted doohickey that you insert a folded patch through. This particular one is one-piece plastic about six inches long and came with a CZ I bought a couple years ago. It's ideal for revolver use because it's easy on the crown.

BillCA -- I also want to chime in with others and thank you for posting such a detailed procedure.

I really like FP10. Also I think Bore Snakes are really useful when used with other cleaning tools. I wouldn't rely on a Bore Snake by itself, but I do take one to the range with me and swab out the barrel just before shooting.
 
I have one real trouble spot on my revolver. The space on the topstrap above and slightly behind the top of the forcing cone... there's a line of fouling there that I can't get rid of. It's roughly equivalent to where the front/top of the cylinder crosses the inside of the topstrap.

I've tried taking a de-leading cloth and "shoeshining" it up under there, have tried single-row nylon brushes... still a black channel there. Any suggestions?
 
To remove leading from cylinder or barrel use a patch cut from a COPPER Chore Boy wrapped around a brush, it is tremendously faster and cheaper than the Lewis Lead Remover. I shot PPC for a number of years and had tremendous problems with leading from the swaged wadcutters used for best accuracy, I used the Lewis Lead Remover with decent results during that time, then I saw a Bill Wilson video on cleaning the 1911 and he recommended the Copper Chore Boy method, I tried it and never used the Lewis Lead Remover again, the Chore Boy works better and faster than the Lewis Lead Remover. Make sure to get the Copper Chore Boy, the Copper mesh cannot harm your barrel or cylinder.

The lead remover patches I have seen warn they can remove blueing, I have found them very handy to remove the carbon discoloration from the front of the cylinder on stainless finished revolvers.
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Of course, dumb me! That eyelet is exactly what I use most of the time. I just never put a name to it.
As for fouling in hard to reach areas, try pipe cleaners.
 
Thalo

The underside of the topstrap that sits just above the cylinder-barrel gap is always going to show some discoloration. This is the flash-gap and what you are seeing may not be a lead build up, but gas cutting of the topstrap. Use of magnum loads or +P loads that show a large muzzle and/or cylinder flash can force hot gasses (i.e. high pressure flame) up against the underside of the topstrap. Continued and constant use of those loads can etch quite a deep groove in the topstrap. Believe it or not, this is normal for a wheelgun and a clue as to how hard the gun has been used.

Check your flash-gap with a feeler gauge. Insert the gauges to see if your gap is between .02 and .06" (anyone feel free to correct me, I'm working off really tired memory). Repeat the procedure whilst gently pushing rearward on the cylinder at the 5 or 7 o'clock position to see if it changes (it shouldn't).

The only way I've ever tried to clean that area is with a Hoppe's bath, a bronze GI "toothbrush" cleaning brush, a used .22 cal brush and lots of patches. If you use a tool, like a dental pick or (preferrably) an aluminum scraping tool go lightly. Especially with steel tools!

To be honest, I usually "shoeshine" a solvent soaked patch through that area to remove powder fouling. That's it, besides a wipe-down with an oiled patch. It's usually not worth trying to get it ultra-clean.
 
This thread contains great, detailed cleaning information. If I may, I'd like to ad one more bit of information, on cleaning the powder burns from the face of the cylinder. The one product I use and like the best is IOSSO bore cleaner; it can be used on blue guns as well, according to the product instructions. This product comes in a small tube, like toothpaste, and I use it with a tooth brush. If you clean your guns after each shootout, it will take you about one minute to clean that ugly black stuff from the from of the cylinder. If you don't clean your guns that often, you may need to use your brass bush. This stuff, in my opinion is about 100% better that the lead-away cloth. I buy it from Brownell's of Cheaper than Dirt - about $5. bucks per tube and it last for a while.

Pete
 
Brother BillCA,

Thanks for the advice. I suspected I'd never get that area lickety clean. This is on a S&W 625, by the by... and no high pressure loads have been through it yet, though I do have a couple of boxes of Cor-Bon standing by. Only jacketed range ammo (Winchester white box) have been shot in it, during its break-in period. I'm really pleased with the gun. I think the tolerances overall look perfect, but I have no feeler gauge.

It's not a bad line of fouling, at first I thought it might have been a machined ridge that was collecting residue... But no matter what I did, it didn't seem to come clean. It's good to know I don't have to be a maniac about it, though. I appreciate it. If this wasn't a stainless gun, I'd never have seen it.
 
I just went to Cheaper than Dirt's website and did a search for IOSSO bore cleaner.

I found nothing at all by that name.

Flitz polish works very well for fouling on stainless revolvers.
Another actual CLP I found gets it right off is Eezox.
 
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