Cleaning a FA!?

[Wiking]

So people... how often do you guys clean you Freedom Arms revolver? When you do, do you just run over it with a cloth or do you remove the cylinder and use oil and copper-brushes to clean the cylinder?

I personally clean my 9mm and my S&W 686 every time I come home from the range! Some say: "Way to go kid, that'll keep your guns accurate and functional for a long time"! Other people say: "If you keep cleaning that poor pistol, you'll end up with nothing to shoot with"! I think one of reasons as to why I do it is that I just like sitting and cleaning and holding the guns, the smell of oil and to see the residue come off the steel! When you take a gun apart, clean it and assemble it again, you feel the weapon is a part of you, a part of your DNA... as it should be!

I think my question is, do a Freedom Arms need to be cleaned every time you shoot it due to the "bank-vault" - lock-up and the overall tightness and all??

[MS Hitman]

I clean mine most every time I shoot it.  Meaning, if I step out the back door and test the velocity on a load, I do not take it apart and clean it.  If I have been shooting a good bit or been out in nasty weather, I take it down and clean.  I do not try to remove the rings around the end of the cylinder.  I do apply a small bit of motor oil to both ends of the cylinder prior to putting it back together. 

I have yet to have a FA lock up or fail to function due the tight tolerances. 

[Graybeard]

I'm LAZY!  I clean my guns no more often that they tell me I must. I'll give them a wipe down to remove finger prints after each use but more than that happens only when any given gun speaks to me and says "hey GB it's time to clean me".

Mine (all the revolvers I'm speaking of here) get very much covered with crud like carbon from powder and even lead on the flutes of cylinders before I clean them. I don't run anything down that barrel from the wrong end anymore than absolutely necessary. If I could clean from from the proper end I'd do it more often as I do with rifles but I hate to put a rod in the muzzle of any of my guns so do it as infrequently as possible.

I have just not generally found handguns shooting straight wall cartridges to copper foul much when using jacketed bullets and generally those I've owned don't lead up much either. So as long as the gun is still shooting accurately for me I don't mess with that barrel unless it needs it. If it's been out in bad weather and I figure it needs it I'll do it but not much. Now the FA guns are very tight on tolerances and do require a bit more frequent cleaning than looser tolerance guns so get it more often from me.

When I do I take the cylinder out and clean it and the base pin thoroughly using Hoppe's and patches and if needed a bronze brush but seldom find that needed. I begin using Q-Tips with Hoppe's to clean from both ends of the cylinder and then run more down it dry to remove most of that and then use patches to finish the job. I inspect and decide if that's adequate or more cleaning is needed. I then lube it and put it back together. I might or might not clean the barrel at that time but don't always.

I use the same basic procedure on all revolvers but just do it a bit less often on guns with looser tolerances. As I said I'm lazy in the extreme and don't do work I feel isn't necessary.

[Ken ONeill]

I was a Marine, a lifetime ago. Marines don't like dirty guns. I clean mine every time I shoot them, unless I'm on a hunting trip, am likely to shoot it again the following day, and the gun is otherwise not very dirty.
If you haven't removed the cylinder, cleaned it, and cleaned the barrel, you haven't cleaned the gun. But that's just me, with my guns. Anyone else can do what they want to with theirs.

[Dusty Miller]

I'm SLOWLY coming around to the point of view that my guns don't need cleaning every time I take'm out of the safe!!

[kennisondan]

I wipe off the outside, and the cylinder etc. then I decide if I need to clean the cylinders, and if I do it I still am not likely to clean the barrel. Wet weather or lots of sweat or lots of mud and dust inclines me to clean the cylinders. I always try to lube the front and rear of the cylinder where the pin passes, as I do not want that to batter back and forth without some oil there. Once in a while I will pass a patch down the barrel, and less often than that I work the bore.. but that is not often so far.. been using jacketed though and nor worried about leadng until I start shooting a bunch of lead in the near future.
I have shot a lot of lead recently, and not even checked the barrel these last couple of months, and not taken the cylinder out either but did drop a little lube as stated above.. I will have to check it out now... I wonder if it is all leaded up or anything.
dk

[MarkH]

I don't clean them every time I shoot - that would be a lot of cleaning.  FA's tend to tell you when they NEED cleaning - cylinder rotation starts to get sluggish.  When they get it, though, they get it done thoroughly.

[WL44]

A little off the point, but I always lube where necessary prior to shooting hoping it will "reduce wear". That's on everything, rifles, pumps, semi's, revolvers etc.

I base cleaning mostly on round count and what I'll be shooting next (I don't want to lose function half way through a hunt). I clean my .357 FA barrel more often than revolvers where I shoot lead because I feel copper fouling is bad - from rifle influence I suppose. I never - ever - clean the barrel in my IPSC .40S&W that shoots lead only. I brush the chamber to be sure the ammo will make it in there without a problem and that's it. The barrel leaded heavily in the beginning and is leading less and less with time. Accuracy does not suffer. I like to keep revolver cylinder throats fairly clean; because I think the dimension is important and because I like to seat the cartridge easily. If I shot 38 spl in a 357, or 45 colt in a 454 I'd clean the cylinder each time.
 
I short, I keep it lubed and as long as there's not so much lead as to mess with accuracy or function I pretty much leave it. I also wipe down the external surfaces.

[revo]

Man, I'd love to not clean my FA after every range trip. I tried it a few times, but that dirty gun is on my mind and I finally break down, get her out of the safe and clean'er up.

I end up cleaning everything -- bore, chambers, wipe down, light lubeski on the cyl pin. I don't brush every time though. Maybe every 3rd or 4th cleaning I use the brush if things are starting to look funky.

I must admit though -- one Ruger 22 and a H&R 20ga do not get anything but a wipe down and a pat on the back after dirtying them up. Taffin's article on beater guns helped me become a bit less anal with these.   

[paul105]

I mostly shoot cast bullets.  Periodically check barrel for any lead buildup -- if needed, I'll take a couple of passes with the lewis lead remover  or shoot several jacketed bullets thru the bore.   I clean the barrel with Outers Foaming Bore Cleaner when switching from jacketed to lead.  I don't mess with the cylinder unless I start having chambering problems.  Then will just leave some kroil in over night and dry patch the next day.  About once every six months or so (or when needed), I take the grips off and hose the whole thing down with some cheap Wal Mart brake cleaner (Idea courtesy of Lloyd S).

I do lube the guns more often.  Cylinder/frame contact surfaces, pawl cut, bolt/bolt cut in frame, and center pin all get frequent attention.  I do wipe down the guns with a Rig Rag after every session.

A thorough cleaning/lubing is in order when guns have been exposed to bad weather or other harsh conditions.

Paul

[Wiking]

Thanks for the many replies! It's good to know I can clean away as I desire. I just feel guilty when I shoot them and just put them back in the vault without taking good care of them first!

[Ken ONeill]

Good for you.