Cleaning cylinder face on blued gun

[larryf1952]

...This is what I'm talking about. If removing carbon scoring repeatedly involves removing the finish too, that suggests to me that it's not really a fouling or buildup on top of the finish. It suggests that it's actually staining/altering the metal/metal finish and therefore removing it requires removing some of the metal/metal finish.

It's your gun, and you're welcome to clean it as vigorously as you wish, but I think that it's probably a little overboard to suggest that people who don't polish the carbon scoring (and eventually the finish) from the front of their cylinders aren't taking proper care of their revolvers.

I understand what you are saying. I will simply state that, in the few times that I have used my method for cleaning these guns, the blued finish has not appeared to be adversely affected.

Having said that, I also understand that if I do this enough, the finish will, indeed, be worn away. I know that there is a limit to the number of times that this can be done. I understand that any polish, however mildly abrasive it might be, will eventually wear away the surface material. That's what polish does. In my case, I'll never shoot my guns enough, nor clean them enough times for this to be a concern.

I meant no slight or offense to people who obviously don't share my enthusiasm for cleaning their handguns to the extent that I do. I realize that I am OCD in many others' eyes. But, if a gun is covered in fouling, it appears "dirty" to me, whether it is actually dirty or not. I don't judge anyone for it, I just prefer not to see it on my guns, and I seem to be in the obvious minority in that regard. Perhaps, since I made my career in broadcast television, where I maintained and repaired small precision mechanical and electronic systems every day, I developed an attitude for being patient and meticulous. As I said, I don't recommend or expect anyone else to do this, but, by the same token, I appreciate not being criticized for it, either.

 

[AustinTX]

If this were the case, would you not also be removing the bluing on the blued guns?

I clean it off the face of both my SS and blued guns, and the bluing is still in place on the blued guns, and really shows no wear on it.

Depends on what you're doing to clean it. If you aren't using a polish on the cylinder face, then you aren't removing steel or bluing. If you are using a polish, then you are ipso facto subtracting steel or bluing from the surface beyond just the fouling, regardless of whether or not you're able to see at this point that this is taking place. Polishing a metal surface or its finish by definition entails abrading that surface, and it is not possible to abrade a metal surface or its finish without removing some amount of the metal or its finish.

But, if a gun is covered in fouling, it appears "dirty" to me, whether it is actually dirty or not.

I understand where you're coming from, and it seems that you're well aware of what you're doing and its implications, but I just wanted to be clear for the sake of precise terminology that carbon fouling and carbon scoring aren't the same thing. A gun with carbon fouling is a dirty gun.