Cleaning the lead inside chambers of .375

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Cleaning the lead inside chambers of .357

So, I took my new Model 66 to the range yesterday and afterwards quickly learned that cleaning a revolver is not so easy. Before I only had experience cleaning a Nagant where due to specific design the only place you really need to clean well is a bore. Here it's a different story...

I used Hoppe's #9 and it cleaned the bore well, but did not do a good job on the inside the frame and the cylinder when I used it with a toothbrush. I ended up using a bronze brush and cleaned the face of the cylinder and most parts of the frame. But there is still a carbon ring in the chambers (left by shorter .38 I shot) and a line above the forcing cone I can not get rid off.

I searched the internet and a few suggestions I've seen are to use Birchwood Casey Lead Remover patches. Supposedly they clean the cylinder of a stainless revolver like a charm. The other recommendation was to push a empty.357 case soaked with Hoppe's#9 through.

Is there any value in these suggestions? Anything I should be aware of or any other useful tips? Thanks.

carbon.jpg
 
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You may be looking at the throat - the portion of the chamber that narrows down to the bullet's diameter. It stabilizes the bullet and guides it smoothly to the barrel's forcing cone, so it's critical to a revolver's accuracy. You don't want to get too vigorous inadvertently trying to clean out the throats, lest you'll damage them, and I don't recommend regular use of LeadAway cloths for the chambers. If .357mag ammo drops freely into your cylinder, you're clean enough.

FWIW, many go to unnecessary heroics to clean the cylinder. Just some solvent (I'm using Kroil or Ed's Red), a brass brush (.357 or .40, not chucked in a drill :rolleyes:), a few swipes, then clean with patches. I've got 70k+ .38spl rounds through my 686, and no trouble dropping .357mags in. I'll give the cylinder the quick cleaning as described about every 200 - 300 rounds.
 
Go out and buy froglube paste. Clean your gun with hoppes #9 and then let it dry and evaporate. Wipe it down dry. Take a hair dryer and heat up the entire gun until it's hot to the touch. Apply froglube all over the gun; outside surfaces, inside chambers and barrel. Let it sit for an hour. Wipe down. From now on do not introduce any oil/CLP or cleaners, except froglube. From now on you simple wipe down the gun after you shoot.

Next time you go to the range take a dry patch and wipe the barrel and chambers and then go shoot. Bring the gun home and wipe off all the carbon and powder residue with a clean patch or an old T-shirt. Repeat the process above with the hair dryer and froglube, (it's good to repeat this a couple of times after the initial application.) From now on when you shoot you can clean the gun with a couple of dry patches and a jag. No more scrubbing. If you don't like frog lube you can use fireclean or slip 2000 or whatever. There are better and safer (you can eat froglube,) cleaner and protectors out there.
 
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A flared, sharpened .357 case will scrape the chambers clean. Finish with a dry .40 caliber bore brush on a handle.
I use flat hobby brass to make thin scrapers that will clean around the forcing cone. Finish with the toothbrush style bronze brush.
 
As a gunsmith, I didn't time to fool around with soaking, electric drills, larger bore brushes, etc. I needed to quickly, SAFELY, and thoroughly clean chambers of leading or carbon.

For that I used, and still use bronze chamber brushes from Brownell's.
These are over-sized, extra stiff bristled brushes that will remove all fouling, usually with one pass.
To use, I "screw" the brush into the chamber so about 1/3rd of it's sticking out the front of the chamber, then I rotate the brush 2 to 3 turns, push all the way though, then pull back out.
Usually one pass is enough to clean even badly fouled chambers.

Use bronze, NOT stainless steel.

http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleani...ze-rifle-pistol-chamber-brushes-prod1287.aspx
 
Thanks everyone for replies! If I were to by some bronze brushes from Brownell, should I go for 38/357 caliber size, or slightly larger 40 caliber size?
 
For the chamber brush, buy the size that is the same caliber as your wheelgun.

And for Pete's sake, do not try the .375 size as in your original title :D

Bart Noir
 
If I were to by some bronze brushes from Brownell, should I go for 38/357 caliber size, or slightly larger 40 caliber size?
Click to expand...

If it were me, I'd get a 12-pack .357 chamber brush set from Dfariswheel's link. Some use .40 brushes for the chambers, claiming they're better for stubborn fouling, but I don't think they are (or ought to be) necessary.

BTW, I know it's tempting to get your gun squeaky clean every time it's shot, especially if you're a new revolver shooter, but it's not necessary or even good for the gun in the long run. Keeping the front of the cylinder face looking "unfired" is a prime example.

Really, you're better off in the long run just wiping it down afterward. Then use a little solvent to get the heavy stuff off the front of the cylinder, around the forcing cone, the inside of the frame window and from under the ejector star. Run a patch down the barrel (preferably from the breech end with an Otis thingie), and give the chambers a quickie as described. Done. The rest of it gives it character. Every 20,000 rounds or so, maybe pop the sideplate for a detailed cleaning and lube.
 
MrBorland, as always - thank you for a great insight. Unfortunately your advise contradicts with my OCD. :D:D:D Especially since this gun looked spotless when arrived. However I completely understand your point and will go into heavy negotiations with my OCD, since I am planning to shoot this gun often. ;)
 
I understand the OCD thing completely. It really wasn't very long ago I got my first revolver - brand new & squeaky clean. I hated to see it dirty, and just handling it during the cleaning helped me get my revolver fix. Heck, I'd even take the cylinder off the gun for regular cleaning (not recommended).

The best cure for this, though, was to dry fire and shoot the beejeebers out of it. Not only did rigorous cleaning show itself to be futile, my "like-new" gun didn't make any of my bad shots into good shots. ;)
 
After looking at your photos, I'm inclinde to agree with MrBorland that what you're seeing is probably the cylinder throats rather than carbon fouling. In my stainless steel guns, simply dripping some solvent into the chambers and then making a pass or two through each one with a bore snake usually gets them clean enough to remove any visible fouling and make .357 cartridges drop in freely and extract easily when fired. I also like the lead away cloths for cleaning the exterior of the revolver as they work great for those pesky burn rings on the front of the cylinder.
 
Bronze chamber brushes - checked. General utility Bronze brush to clean inside the frame and around forcing cone - checked. Order is placed. Thank you! :)
 
Ok, I feel kind of stupid, because I think I am fighting a problem that does not exist. I got some brushes today and cleaned the chambers again. Upon completion the "ring" was still there, but when I inspected it with a flash light and the loupe it looks like the "ring" is in the metal, not a black lead/carbon like ring. Please look at the picture...

So, in fear of being ridiculed, I still want to ask this question... Are there suppose to be rings in the chambers of .357 revolver? For some reason when I received it, I did not notice them, but I wasn't really paying that much attention and may just overlooked them... FYI the gun was used when I bought it, but I am not sure it was ever fired, as it was extremely clean :o

rings.jpg
 
Yep - the holes in the cylinder narrow down towards their end. Open the cylinder and try sticking a cartridge into the back of the cylinder (bullet first, of course). Won't go, will it? ;)

The throat is what pre-stabilizes the fired bullet so it enters the forcing cone straight on. Some think the forcing cone is a simple funnel that'll self-straighten any bullet that enters any old way. Ain't so. Under the kind of pressure it's under, the bullet will pretty much go down the barrel as it entered, so you want it to enter straight, lest accuracy suffers. It's the throats' job to see that the bullet enters straight & stable.

And the dimensions of the throat are important, too: If they're too small, the bullet gets swaged down, and rattles on down the bore. Too big, and they won't stabilize the bullet.
 
I knew the holes narrow, I actually measured them. What I failed to realize is that it creates an illusion of a ring in the hole... And I was readying so much about carbon rings in chambers and how they effect the accuracy and such. I guess sometimes too much reading backfires :rolleyes:

Thanks for an explanation and sorry for starting a topic on non-issue. At least I got a set of good brushes out of it :D
 
Right... what I meant to say "I guess it's been there all along since gun was new and not something I can actually remove by cleaning". Right?
 
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