sonic cleaning cap and ball pistols?

S

swedish champion

New member
Hey....i was at cabalas' today and saw a GIANT sonic cleaner. I am pretty meticulous about cleaning my c+bs piece by piece. Can't stand the thought of a little residual sulfur on a pawl...or bolt pivot. Plastic tub, toothbrush, and hollow ground driver bits is the norm. So....saw this enormous sonic basin you could put a newborn in....and I thought...my walkers would fit in there. Hear me out....general field strip...remove the grip....scrub the chambers and bore...compressed air at the ready. You get the idea? Now, this is a question posted in the form of a hypothetical scenario. I know NOTHING of sonic cleaning machines accept that it advertised I photo of a partially dismantled revolver cleansed on the box. Is there any reason said machine couldn't be used to streamline my cleaning by at least 40%? Anyone....thoughts?
 
I've seen similar posts before and I really can't answer the question. I have to wonder just how well it would actually clean out caked on fouling in little nooks and crannies . . . but again . . . never tried it or heard a report by someone who has.

I draw hot water in a big plastic pan, add soap, toss the parts in and let soak for a couple minutes and then use a brush to brush the hard to reach areas and a cleaning rod with a bronze brush for the cylinders/barrel. Then, I rinse in hot water, dry with a towel and use a hair dryer to heat up the parts to dry them. The hair dryer gets them hot enough that you can't hang on to them so it takes care of any moisture that doesn't wipe off. Then, I oil.

I don't break my actions down like a lot of folks do. I hold the frame by the grip under hot water and scrub with a brush. I then do the hair dryer treatment - and then oil. I get oil down into the hard to reach areas by dripping it in - any excess get's wiped off on the final rub down with a lightly oiled rag. Never had a problem.

Originally, during the Civil War (based on several first person accounts listed in a book on '51 Navy that I have - can't remember the name but it was a private publication) - revolvers were hung into tubs of hot lye soapy water by the grip frames - then rinsed and dried and oiled.

I think today that folks (and I include myself) get a little OC about cleaning their C & B revolvers. Sooner or later you'll have one that you find a little rust on after you've thought you've cleaned it well - it happens to us and i'm sure it happened to our ancestors. But if a good general cleaning is done and then the revolver is oiled, it should hold it until you use it again. If a person is putting it away for an extended time . . . then maybe a general tear down is warranted.

It will be interesting to see if anyone uses a sonic cleaner. For myself, I think I could probably break my Navy down or pull the cylinder on my Remington and give it a good scrubbing, drying and oiling a lot quicker than putting it in a sonic cleaner. YMMV though. :)
 
I have one, it sits mostly in its box now, too much work. Take it out now and then to clean watch bands and jewelry.

Ours is the Harbor Freight model which is nearly identical to Lyman's save for the basket. Pay the extra $10 and get the Lyman model if you're so inclined for that basket.

It does a good job on dirty guns but we still gotta get in and scrub those hard to reach places. Simple Green will simply thin or remove your bluing so beware. Hornady's Sonic Cleaner is good stuff as is plain old Dawn dish soap.
 
They do work but have to measure the need. ..

Is there any reason said machine couldn't be used to streamline my cleaning by at least 40%? Anyone....thoughts?
Click to expand...
Not really but you have to pay attention to the specs. In a past life, we had an industrial sonic cleaner and they work great. Takes a little discipline to use one as basically you turn it on and walk away while it does it's thing. I too have a smaller cleaner that is limited to size. It takes more time but it too will clean well. It's important to understand the working process. ..... :confused:

However, I can get the job done without one and save that money to buy other stuff I really need. ..... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
Bedbugbilly....sounds like we share the same routine to the Tee. Like you, I don't tear the lockworks apart every time....toothbrush and hot water, I do rip it all apart every OTHER time. Ha ha. Thanks for so much input from all of you guys. I wouldn't make such a purchase accept I figure brass operations PLUS the pistol test, as well as any other intricate hobby cleaning I may have. No one is saying "absolutely not, don't do it" so if it isn't worth it for the c.b.s, ill have plenty of other uses for the thing. Think ill give it a try.
 
i have a sonic cleaner that was made for cleaning fuel injectors. i break down my revolvers 100% after a range session. i flush the parts with clear water and run a bore brush down the barrel, then into the cleaner just using dish soap and hot water. the frame can only be done half at a time due to the size of the unit. i rinse all the parts in clear water, put rubbing alcohol down the the barrel and cylinder bores, then into the oven at 225 f. from the oven i use a patch and a small paint brush to coat the parts with johnsons paste wax. oh, and i do lube the pivot points on assembly. the revolvers sit spring, summer and most of the fall, not a spot of rust anywhere.
 
As a read the various methods y'all are posting...

My reaction is that I am not the only one who is a fastidiuos cleaner.

By completely disassembling cap and ball revolvers including removal of the nipples I thought I was overdoing it.

I do like the fact that I can get the nipples out of every one of my pistols without resorting to an air hammer.

But I now see that there are enough people who are very careful with their post shooting cleaning that I don't feel so out of place any longer.
 
yup, i pull the nipples as well, no worries about resorting to an impact gun. my first bp revolver was a stainless roa. never having been inside the roa i took it down to discover the inner workings. the po had stuffed the inner works with some kind of orange coloured grease like lube and called it day. after i got all that lube out i found lots of pitting in the frame cavities. at that time i decided a good cleaning is called for and breaking down a revolver does not add a lot of time to process.
 
I strip my C&B revolvers down almost everytime I shoot it, put it in a tub of soapy water, clean everything of with patches and Q tips, sometimes a bronze brush to scrape off any caked on residue, (though useing a brush takes the bluing off sometimes) and I liberally use ballistol to lube everything, and put the gun back together.
 
Ultrasonic cleaners work pretty well, if you leave the gun in them for a long time, and let them work.

Simple Green will not harm bluing. Any "thinning" you notice is because there is no oil on the surface.

If you are scrubbing bluing off a gun with a brass brush, you're doing something very wrong!

After-based solutions, you can flush the gun with WD 40 to remove ALL the water from the gun. Dry and lubricate as necessary.
 
From my experience....

Sonic cleaners make it easier to clean, but are something used in conjunction with brush and elbow grease. We used to use bamboo BBQ skewers to get at the tight spots.
 
I tear my revolvers apart once a year to totally clean them and have found that .22 cal bore brushes work great to clean the inside channel on the 1858 Remington where loading lever goes and to clean out nipple threads.
 
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