Carbon build up on outside of cylinder

O

onespeedbiker

Inactive
I have a Uberti 45 Colt Schofield revolver. It is a great gun and I have shot it a lot. The one issue is carbon build up on the outside of the cylinder. For what ever reason there is a considerable amount of burnt powder and lead residue on the cylinder, which is very hard to clean off. I have been using M-Pro 7 and a brass brush, but it takes hours (usually over a course of several days) to get all the residue off (I have sometimes passed on shooting the gun only becasue the cleaning the cylinder takes so much time). I was wondering if anyone knows some method to mitigate the problem. The only thing I have found (but have not tried yet) is to smear chapstick on the cylinder prior to shooting. Has anyone ever tried this? Or have any other method that may work?
 
Lead remover cloths work well on stainless steel and nickel plated guns. But be aware that they quickly remove blueing.

You might try one of the carbon removers like Bore Tech C4 to remove the fouling if it's a blued gun.

You might also try applying a paste was like Minwax or Johnson's to the cylinder after it's clean. It might make the carbon easier to remove.
 
Hello, I have two Uberti Schofields and none of them show this problem. As far as the burnt powder it could be the powder itself; i.e. there are powders which leave a lot of black burnt stuff and others that don't. Lead is a different matter as it might be a sign of not proper alignment with the barrel. Did you had the gun checked for timing and possibly gap between cylinder and barrel? Just my 2 cents.
 
I had the same problem with my SS GP100. I ended up fitting my bench grinder with a soft buffing wheel. Some green rouge and I only need to touch the cylinder and it’s clean. Has saved me a lot aggravation and doesn’t seem to be detrimental to the SS. Not sure if this would work on a blued or hardened steel.
 
I would forget the bronze brush and use a toothbrush. Discoloration is not a problem. It is the buildup that tightens the action that demands cleaning. I would stand the cylinder in a jar cap and pour a pool of solvent around the standing cylinder. Let it soak, and whatever won't come off should just be left, while researching reasons for the gun to shoot that dirty. Once soaked, you could press the cylinder face into a plastic scrubber pad and just wind back and forth, not trying to clean the thing to perfection at the expense of the finish.
 
A silicon cloth is your friend.

Before shooting and between cylinder fulls of shooting wipe the
gun down with the silicon cloth, particularly the cylinder in this
case.

I've found that the film left by the silicon wiping helps keep
powders and other residue from sticking.

Might not be a total cure but it's worth a try in this instance.
 
onespeedbiker said:
(I have sometimes passed on shooting the gun only becasue the cleaning the cylinder takes so much time).
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Then don't spend so much time cleaning the cylinder. The carbon on the outside is not going to affect function and is not going to promote rust. Just shoot the dang thing and quit worrying about how it looks. I hardly ever get all the carbon off the outside of the cylinders on my most shot .357s, 44s and .460s. Found out it only makes them look like they get shot a lot.
 
Lead remover cloths work well on stainless steel and nickel plated guns. But be aware that they quickly remove blueing.

You might try one of the carbon removers like Bore Tech C4 to remove the fouling if it's a blued gun.

You might also try applying a paste was like Minwax or Johnson's to the cylinder after it's clean. It might make the carbon easier to remove.
Click to expand...
Yes it is blued. I will try some waxy substance next. BTW the M-Pro 7 I am using is a bore cleaner.
 
Howdy

Let's clarify things for a moment.

Are we talking about the carbon rings that build up on the face of the cylinder or are we talking about soot on the side of the cylinder.

Regarding, cleaning the carbon rings off the face of the cylinder, if you are taking days to clean them off, you are spending way too much time doing something that simply does not have to be done. As far as not shooting the gun because you don't want to clean off the rings, that's silly.

The carbon rings that build up on the face of the cylinder are a result of high pressure hot gas blasting carbon and lead particles onto the face of the cylinder.

No, there is nothing wrong with your barrel cylinder gap, this is completely normal with any revolver.

Frankly, I stopped trying to clean the carbon rings off of the face of my revolver cylinders years ago. It is akin to the labors of Sisyphus who is condemned to forever roll a boulder to the top of a mountain only to see it roll down again.

Carbon rings will build up on the surface of any revolver. They are inevitable. They are a waste of time to try to remove. It is a really bad idea to use any abrasive to remove them, because you will inevitably be removing metal too.

Just clean the gun normally. Any rings left on the face of the cylinder, just leave them there. They will not hurt anything, and they will just show up again the next time you shoot it.

I always say, once you have enough revolvers you will realize it is a waste of time trying to remove the carbon rings. You don't have enough revolvers yet.

The other way to avoid carbon rings on the surface of a cylinder is to shoot Black Powder. For some reason, I never get carbon rings deposited on the surface of a cylinder after shooting it with Black Powder. Unfortunately, because of the way Uberti modified the collet at the front of the cylinder on their version of the Schofield, they tend to bind up when fired with Black Powder.
 
What Driftwood says. What doesn't come off the front with a swipe of hoppes 90 soaked patch, stays. If on the 'side' of the cylinder, I mostly leave what does come off with a patch, but when bad enough, I'll get a piece of steel wool and carefully wipe those little silver/lead color deposits that just won't come off. Yes, that is on my blued revolvers. So far I don't see any ill affects over the years. YMMV of course. These are my guns :) .
 
On the fairly rare times when I give a darn about the carbon buildup on the cylinder, I use a brass/copper brush and some Hoppes. The brass won't damage blued cylinders, but is still stiff enough to remove the carbon.

Jim
 
For the past fifty plus years I have used a 50/50 mix of motor oil and Three-In-One oil on my guns. Motor oil is formulated to combat carbon.

This has kept my guns in relatively build-up free condition.

Bob Wright
 
The gun cleaning and polishing mania shows an underlying disconnect with, and fear of, the elements of fire and brimstone that are the physical and spiritual basis of the non-socially subjugated animus of the firearm.
 
On a blued revolver I couldn't care less about the carbon, I would just wipe it down and call it good. Now on my stainless revolvers the carbon stands out enough that I have to remove it because I am a bit OCD and it drives me crazy.
 
M pro 7 and Hoppe's will not do anything with carbon. They are both good with powder fouling. As mentioned by BBarn, Bore Tech C4 is made specifically for carbon.
 
Howdy

Let's clarify things for a moment.

Are we talking about the carbon rings that build up on the face of the cylinder or are we talking about soot on the side of the cylinder.
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I am talking about carbon and lead residue on the side of the cylinder, not the face. I should also mention I shoot reloads that consist of 7.5 gr of Unique with either 250 gr RFN or 255 SWC.

M pro 7 and Hoppe's will not do anything with carbon. They are both good with powder fouling. As mentioned by BBarn, Bore Tech C4 is made specifically for carbon.
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Darn, I thought I was using the right stuff. Okay I'll get some BBarn or Bore Tech C4. BTW, for those with SS revolvers, I found the white sponge "Magic" erasers take the carbon right off, but I also suspect, if you use one on a blued gun, it will remove the bluing, so I only used them once.
 
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The thread below has pictures of two revolvers owned and used by the greatest revolver shooter of our time. I doubt anyone here would say his priorities are screwed up or that he doesn't know how to take care of his equipment.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=549872
I have been using M-Pro 7 and a brass brush, but it takes hours (usually over a course of several days) to get all the residue off...
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There's absolutely no reason for you to be spending that much time cleaning your revolver unless you just really like spending that much time to clean it.
 
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