Help with powder fouling

[ONE HOLE 4570]

Picked up a couple of used stainless hand guns that look like they have never been cleaned. top strap forcing cone & cylinder face are encrusted with powder. Been scrubbing on them for a couple of days with hoppes & a tooth brush without much headway. Any sugjestions to speed up this process seems like it may take forever. I would like to get them back to a clean stat before I shoot them to see how they perform. Also have my eye on a python in stainless that the cylinder face is black etc but need a few more pennies (its from the same shop & same guy who put the black hawk in for consignment so I may get a deal with how hard these are to clean). Can i take the grips off & soak the whole thing in some kind of solvent to clean it up?

[iiranger]

I had the same problem, maybe not as bad, with the face of the cylinder of my stainless Ruger .357. Nothing I tried helped. Even brass wool.  Thought it was permanent. I believe I had "Shooters Choice" to try by then ... then I tried a Bell made cloth called "Wipe Away"... orange yellow treated with something that works! Face of cylinder looked almost new. Black crud was gone. Haven't looked for a new cloth for a time, they last. I think someone else came out with the same looking product, but it works. After that I would look at the "gels." You got to have the action, which with burnt carbon products is slow, sit for a long time. That bore foam should be a good idea. Haven't got it tried myself, yet. luck.

[gwindrider1]

One Hole,

Try foaming it up with one of the foaming bore cleaner products.  Let that sit over night, then scrub it up with whatever your favorite cleaner is, followed by a good polishing with Flitz.  This procedure has worked for me on my stainless handguns.  It takes some elbow grease, but results in a gun that looks better than new.

[SuperstitionCoues]

Here's an idea.  Try a Black Powder cleaner.  I use Lyman's (came with the guns), and it does a great job on BP carbon fouling.  Shooters choice and Hoppes each make one, I think. 

If you have ever shot BP, then you know how heavy the powder/carbon fouling can be, and how nasty it can be.  I have been very impressed how easy the clean up of my BP guns is with the Lyman's - they are easier to clean with it than my centerfires are.

Also try Breakfree's Powder Blast and CLP.   Something that I haven't tried in my shotguns (12 gauges can foul with carbon badly) is WD-40, and that seems to be popular among the trap and skeet set.  You might consider it.  Powder Blast and CLP are the only ones that I have had direct experience with.

As for soaking, I have done so with the Breakfree products and it should be alright with WD-40,  but have never tried it with the Lyman BP cleaner.  Check the labels first (because of rusting), or even call the manufacturers first to find out if it is o.k.

Good Luck.

[gunnut69]

I use acetone and a brass bristle tooth brush. Actually it just looks like a tooth brush!! Works pretty good. The brass won't scratch and the extra action speeds up the process. Steel wool can also work well, but keep it 000 or 0000 to avoid scratches. I said acetone but actually it's spray carb cleaner from WalMart. The really cheap stuff. It contains fewer additives and is still very effective. Mostly contains acetone and mineral spirits..

[LaOtto222]

I have cleaned up cylinder faces by soaking them in Hoppes #9 Bench Rest. I find a jar lid that is just a little bigger than the cylinder. I turn the cylinder up on end, then pour in enough solvent to cover the face. I let it soak for at least over night, then scrub with an old tooth brush. If not enough I repeat the procedure. I had a SS Ruger single six that was real bad. It cleaned up just like new. The top strap would be a little harder to soak. I would try the same thing. Prop the gun up so the top strap is upside down and level, pour some powder solvent on it (foam might work well). Let it stand on there for a while (over night if possible with out drying out) and scrub with a tooth brush, repeat until it is clean. mostly it is the waiting, not too much elbow grease is needed.

[victorcharlie]

 Soak it over night in Kerosene.

[ONE HOLE 4570]

Thanks for all the info, found some of that yellow cloth at sportsman's wipe away elbow grease & it cleaned up. Says not to use on blue guns probably a good idea