Cleaning revolver help Please

[Tconfo]

I had a death in the family so I'm in NY right now. My father is in Florida on vacation. He has 2 blued Smith and Wesson revolvers that need a good cleaning.
One has a rust spot and is filthy from carbon build up and grime. The other has no rust but is also filthy and another has some rust on the internals.
What can I use to clean them without hurrying the bluing?
Any tips or tricks for disassembley?
Normally I would use kroil but am afraid of it hurting the finish.
I care more about these pistols than him. So I would like to to the least amount of damage possible.

 

[JavaDan]

My suggestion is to use Ballistol. Spray it liberally, let it soak for about ten minutes. The carbon should wipe right off.

Then you can give attention to the bad areas. Ballistol will remove any surface rust. As for the deeper rust, if any, that stuff will stop it in it's tracks.

Ballistol is all I use. It will not harm any finish and is also good for the wood grips.

I'm also reading good stuff about the new FireClean.

Hope this helps.


Sent from my Droid DNA using Tapatalk2.

 

[Jimbob2.0]

I had a death in the family so I'm in NY right now. My father is in Florida on vacation. He has 2 blued Smith and Wesson revolvers that need a good cleaning.
One has a rust spot and is filthy from carbon build up and grime. The other has no rust but is also filthy and another has some rust on the internals.
What can I use to clean them without hurrying the bluing?
Any tips or tricks for disassembley?
Normally I would use kroil but am afraid of it hurting the finish.
I care more about these pistols than him. So I would like to to the least amount of damage possible.

I use a variety of strategies.

1. Get a good gunsmithing screwdriver set with property sized bits, we have all seen way to many buggered screws from "Home Depot or Harbor Freight hobbyists". I wasnt a believer at first either, but after buggering a screw on a nice gun, I decided to pop for the $100. Also if you get into older guns where someone has already started to splay the screw slot gunsmithing sets have a variety of widths to help you from extending the damage.

2. Do a good basic cleaning for starters, use hoppes on any carbon, wipe the rest of the gun down with something like CLP. See what is left. If things still look ugly. Disssemble the gun and soak it in a pan wiht a good spray of CLP every couple hours (sometimes I will use Rem oil as it is thinner and cheaper).

3. If you still have rust spots, now get some 0000 steel wool (or brass if you can find it) and with generous amounts of oil begin rubbing the rusted areas down. Slow, careful, and it can take hours. You will probably have to work the bore and cylinders with a bronze brush on a brass jag.

4. Reassemble and rub down with CLP or Eezox, remember to run a patch of these products down the bore and cylinders to keep them from rusting.

In general, you will be surprised how good things can come out. Wont be like new, but very representative of guns that were used for their age. All of this millsurp stuff we play with, if carried and not refinished has certainly had its share of rust and a lot of them look surprisingly good.

I havent used ballistol yet, I have a can of it on my bench I got to mix with water for neutralizing corrosive ammo. Though i am hearing very good things about it and the ingredients seem a little "healthier" than some of the other stuff we play wtih.

 

[Boom Boom]

Ballistol everywhere to start with, including wood, plastic, and polymer. If Ballistol is not good enough for the cylinder and barrel bores, try something like Gunzilla (bores only), then follow up with a light coating of Ballistol. Be very careful with random bore cleaners since many will instantly strip bluing off.

 

[Tconfo]

So gun scrubber is out

 

[Mdeng]

+1 for Balistol and 0000 Steel Wool. Use a liberal amount of Balistol let it soak into the grime and rust. With little or no preasure rub the steel wool over the affected areas. Once everything is broken loose wife the gun down with a clean cotton cloth.

This will take some time to do correctly without further damage. Save the gun Scrubber for the final clean and apply Eezzox to preserve the guns for long term storage.

 

[rico903]

So gun scrubber is out

You can use the newer version that is safe on synthetics and it should be fine. Of course, take the grips off before doing a detailed cleaning. You can also soak it it mineral spirits overnite to loosen up all the grime then blow it out with gun scrubber. Or Ballistol if you have the spray can. it's good stuff. For rust removal it is hard to beat a product called Big 45 cleaning pads. They are a metal composite and will not take off bluing. Steel wool can. You can find copper scrub pads in the grocery or drug store. Just be sure to read the package to be sure they are not copper coated steel as they will take bluing off. Chore Boy is pure copper. Google Big 45 and the reviews, you'll be surprised. They are $5 shipped and worth every penny. You can tear off pieces to use to clean bores. Nothing nicer than an old Smith revolver. Take good care of them.
You have received a lot of good responses, none of them will hurt your gun, but go easy on the steel wool. A good set of gun specific screw drivers is a must. I actually got a set for $10 at WM that serve my needs. They are in a Winchester box.

 

[K31]

I've literally soaked blued parts with rust in Kroil for days without hurting the bluing (your mileage may vary).

You want to use Eezox afterwards to keep it from getting worse.

 

[Tconfo]

Thank you guys. Ill try and find ballistol up here. If not kroil. Let you know how it turns out

 

[IndispensableDestiny]

I use a variety of strategies.

1. Get a good gunsmithing screwdriver set with property sized bits, we have all seen way to many buggered screws from "Home Depot or Harbor Freight hobbyists". I wasnt a believer at first either, but after buggering a screw on a nice gun, I decided to pop for the $100. Also if you get into older guns where someone has already started to splay the screw slot gunsmithing sets have a variety of widths to help you from extending the damage.

Brownells has a nice set. Get it before taking the guns apart.

 

[shooting again]

I've seen the product mentioned several times and I have some, so now here's the question. Is it pronounced Bal' - is - tol or Ba - lis' - tol? I've
heard it both ways from people who really thought they knew.

 

[Goose Guy]

Another +1 for the oil and #0000 steel wool. Worked well on my shotgun.

 

[Tconfo]

So im up here in NY. Im going the Kroil route. That hasn't failed me before. I cannot find ballistol up here in any of the shops. For the police special Smith and Wesson which is a 38, after the rust is clear I will touch up the blueing with formula 44/40 instant blue. First behind the hammer where the finsh has also come off. Hopfully it will match it. I completely forgot about this thread otherwise I would have ordered the ballistol too from brownells. As for the other 357 magnum, which I love by the way. I will get all the surface rust off of it. Clean the bore very well then call smith and Wesson to see if they can reblue it. These will be my inheritance one day and I would like them in nice shape. A little backround. Since I last posted, the pistols have come out great with the few spots of non pitting rust. Then I get a call from my Dad saying the relovlers and pistols have a shit ton of rust on them. My heart sank. Thought I did something wrong. Turns out, my Dad put a gallon of distilled water ontop of the lock box that had holes n the top of it for refilling his humidor. The gallon container had a pinhole in it and completely soaked the revolvers and the pistols. He sent me pics and they look terrible. I have exhausted my supply of kroil so I ordered more, 44/40, a bunch of brushes and a bunch of 357 jigs, patches. Im going to take my time. If the blueing comes off of the 357 is it such a big deal that smith and Wesson wont refinish it?

 

[Boom Boom]

Cripes! You've been cleaning it for 2.5 years? Time to give it a break.

Skip the cheap touch-up bluing. It kills value and tends to stick out like a sore thumb.

S&W will refinish it. But how bad is the pitting? Rebluing alone won't cover pitting. You need a professional restoration for that.

 

[Stoveman]

Check the welding supply houses for Ballistol. I picked up my last can at Roberts Oxygen.

 

[BigDaddy]

http://www.ballistol.com/ny/

Or the Amazon will send the Brown Truck right to your door, at least until the drone gets here.

 

[Bafflingbs]

Hopp's elite for the carbon, and Ballistol or Barracade for the rust. As others have mentioned, use a very fine 0000 steel wool in conjunction. This actually works very well.