Cleaning a stainless firearm

M

MusclesMcGee

Moderator
Since I am unable to search the archives, can anyone give me tips on cleaning a stainless revolver ?

Should I use Outers gun oil to maintain the finish ? Or are their products out there specifically for stainless ? Thanks
 
Same methods as any other gun Muscles... Same same.
I dont do anything different as on my other guns.
Of course I would wipe off my Glock with Tuff Cloth dispite its tennifer finsh anyways...

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I dont suffer from insanity - I'm quite comfortable with it.

[This message has been edited by George Hill (edited March 02, 2000).]
 
Wipe clean with a KleenBore (or similar) lead-wipe cloth (and you can cut patches to scrub the bore; just make SURE you remove any residual) and then use BreakFree CLP on that stainless gun.

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
Muscles, I use "NEVR-DULL" (that's how it's spelled) magic wadding polish on my 686's. It's available at hardware stores for about five bucks a can, which will last for years. It takes the carbon right off the cylinder and frame. I'll even put some on a bore brush to clean the chambers now and then. It makes my 6" 686, with 80,000 or so rounds through it, look shiny as new. I've even started using it on my wife's blued Taurus .357, although I don't know it's long term effects on bluing. Anyway, I like NEVR-DULL because it's a lot less messy liquid cleaners.

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johnnyb
A slow hit beats a fast miss.
 
What about stainless guns with a brushed finish? Like my 92FS... It's not supposed to be shiny, so wouldn't something like that really cause a problem? Also, I have heard a few things about using special lubricants for stainless guns too. It confuses the heck out of me since the slide is brushed stainless steel and the frame is some sort of hybrid aluminum. If anyone can help, please do!
 
BB, at one point in time, stainless guns with stainless slides and frames had a problem with galling. AMT used to recommend white lithium grease to prevent this from happening.

You do not need anything special on any of the guns made in the last ten years. (at least) If you have an AMT, then you might want to worry. Your Beretta would be fine with BreakFree.

JohnnyBravo, thanks for the tip on the Neverdull. I've used Flitz for the same problem but the Neverdull sounds much less messy.

Giz
 
No problem, Giz, glad to help out. Beretta Boy, last spring I picked up a 5" model 625 in brushed stainless with laser etching. I use it weekly in summer competition, so it gets a lot of rounds through it. I use the Nevr-Dull on it, and when I'm done, you have to look real close to even tell it'd been fired. So far, there are no apparent detrimental effects to the finish. A cotton terry cloth towel works best for wiping the cleaning compound off. The reason I went to this stuff on revolvers is because the liquid cleaners were goobering up the lubricants in the action and cylinder, giving me less than desirable performance.

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johnnyb
A slow hit beats a fast miss.
 
Johnnybravo - thanks for the reminder on the Nevr-Dull. I've been using it for years on my boat, it takes all kinds of crud off most any metal and has cleaned some brass and bronze stuff I thought was unrecoverable, as well as cleaning a knife that had been left in salt water for a month. It's good stuff, but I had never thought to use it on my SS guns. I took it to my S&W m60 that had some stubborn powder burns onit and it came right off (did require some elbow grease, but what the hey, none of the liquid cleaners had touched it). It is easy to use - rub it on/in, wipe off, buff. Stubborn stains require a couple of tries, but at $5/can, it's a deal. Find in most hardware stores. Thx, M2
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Gizmo99
Moderator posted March 03, 2000 01:29 PM
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BB, at one point in time, stainless guns with stainless slides and frames had a problem with galling. AMT used to recommend white lithium grease to prevent this from happening.
You do not need anything special on any of the guns made in the last ten years. (at least)[/quote]

Well, Gizmo, for the most part I agree with you, however in the Feb 2000 Gun Tests, a Springfield PX9510 V10 Bi-Tone enhanced would not function. Here is what Gun Tests had to say, p. 14:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>...we had need of taking the V10 apart for inspection shortly after receiving it because it would not fire two shots in a row. We couldn't find the problem, so we had Houston-based Barr Performance Products, a custom porting and compensator gunsmith shop examine the gun. John Barr's diagnosis: galling between the frame and slide...on the V10, the tolerances were too tight and the slide and frame steels were too similar, which caused binding in the action. Barr carefully machined out some of the galling material that jammed the pistol and refit the frame and slide.[/quote] The pistol worked fine after that. Also tested was the Springfield PB9151 Ultra compact, essentially the same Officer's Model sized pistol less the compensator, also all stainless. It worked without problem; this was felt to be due to the more generous tolerances and better fit of the slide/receiver. This fit definitely wasn't sloppy, as the accuracy with two types of ammo was virtually identical between the two pistols.

So it would appear that the galling problem of stainless steel is seen less frequently today, but is still encountered. Remember the iodine based grease that was in vogue 20-25 years ago? Yetch!!

Hope this helps, Walt
 
Oh, BTW, Muscles, you should apply a rust preventive to your stainless gun just as you would to a blued one. Stainless means just that, it stains (corrodes) LESS, it is not stain proof. Sentry Products makes Tuf-Cloth and Tuf-Cloth Marine, which work absolutely wonderfully. They dry to a non tacky finish within a few seconds, but form a very productive coating. You can get them from the store at our sister forum, www.Bladeforums.com. or at Discount Knives:
http://www.discountknives.com/index.html

They are cheaper at Discount, running $6.21 for the reg, and $6.85 for the Marine version. Each should treat your gun about 40-50 times or so, and then can be revived with mineral spirits, so essentially is a lifetime investment.

I owe the pristine blue finish on my 1957 Gold Cup to a Tuf-Cloth. I was shooting in AZ, about 500 miles from home, and didn't bring any cleaning equipment as I thought others would have it. Unfortunately they were all shooting Grocks or some damn things, which apparently don't require cleaning. Luckily one person had a Tuf-Cloth, and let me use it.

When stainless rusts, it is worse than carbon steel, as the corrosion exhibits itself as pitting, damaging the steel much more deeply than with the familiar brown rust on carbon steel.

Hope this helps, Walt

[This message has been edited by Walt Welch (edited March 03, 2000).]
 
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