Finally took my 1851 Colt apart, wow, lots of crude inside.

[His lordship.]

In the old days I used to immediately take my cap and ball revolvers apart when new and coat everything internally with grease, and then take them apart for inspection/cleaning every 4 years or so.  

With my newer guns I have not done so.  A few days ago I noticed that my 5 year old 1851 Uberti Colt in .36 caliber had the trigger jammed back after the screw that held the cylinder lockup bolt had backed itself out, causing the trigger to not rebound.  The gun was working fine up to that point.  Decided to do a tear down and major cleaning, wow, the amount of crude and flattened caps that were inside was scary, amazed that the gun worked so well all this time.  I usually shoot this gun 2-3 times a year, and put around 5-6 cylinder loads through it each visit to the range.

I have not fully disassembled a Colt since the early 80's, did not forget anything.  No signs of rust and the parts seem to be of good quality steel.  But, my 7 month old Remington 1858 revolver will get a tear down/cleaning much sooner than five years.  

[goodshot]

Saw a message on another forum , gent takes grips off his, places it in a ultrasonic cleaner with Windex with vinegar , takes it out when clean , blows it off with compressor, spray lubes it, is good to go.
 I think it might work, what do you think?

[hillbill]

im trying  a new method on my ruger old army that a guy posted on here a while back. pull cylinder and grips. throw everything but the wood in a bucket of hot soapy water, scrub and swab, pull gun out and let drip, blow out with air, spray action from every angle with penatrateing oil, let drip and blow out, oil and reassemble. dont see how that can go wrong.should keep any crud from building up inside the gun.oh and yea im workin on gettin one of those ultrasonic cleaners. my mom has one for her vaqueros that she dont use but im not sure i can git the roa in it.

[El Gringo]

I'm quite a new shooter to the BP revolvers, but I've always stripped them down to the screws for a total cleaning after a range session.  Perhaps its my paranoia of rust. (?) But I never know when I'll get to them again.  Which is a good thing cause its been about 6 months now since I made some smoke.

[beerbelly]

If I were going to depend on my 51 Navy for defense, I would strip it all the way after every shooting. It has a tendency to collect a fired cap down in front of the hammer. It will flatten out but still prevent some of the chambers from firing.
   I got it out three days ago and had just that problem. Striped it down ,got out the cap and it worked like a charm.
                                        Beerbelly

[His lordship.]

I rarely take my cap and ball guns all the way apart, as I am concerned that the constant unscrewing of the assembly screws will strip them out.  I shot my Remington today, bought the gun this March 10', I probably will take it apart totally in 2-3 years.  I suppose there might be more "crud" inside.

[beerbelly]

I read some where that Wild Bill fired his 51 navies every morning. That he would fire one clean and reload it , then do the other. seems he meant to be prepared at all times!

[His lordship.]

I always thought he had cap and ball Navies, read somewhere that they were concerted to fire cartridges?  Converted models would make sense as it was 1876 and he was a gunfighter.

[kid buckskin]

try take the wood off and toss um in the dishwasher workesgreat

[coyotejoe]

Yes, I used to do the dishwasher trick with my Remington but there is more to it than just tossing it in the washer. You still need to swab out the bore and chambers before going into the washer and oil it inside and out when it comes out of the washer so I really don't find it a great labor saver.

[Gatofeo]

I would hope that you're throwing a STAINLESS STEEL Remington into the dishwasher. A regular blued steel gun would, I'm certain, be rustier than the hinges of Hell.
I suppose if you pulled it out immediateliy after the washing cycle, then rinsed it in hot water, followed by an air-blowing and oiling, you might get by.
I'd rather just clean it with hot, soapy water as I've been doing for about 40 years.
But I don't detail strip my revolvers like I once did. Living in the Utah desert, where humidity is generally low, lets me get by without detailing each time. If I lived in Seattle, as I once did, humidity there would probably mandate a thorough cleaning each time.
I remove the nipples, thoroughly clean the cylinder, clean the nipples, clean the bore and use a damp rag to swab around the frame and hammer. Pay particular attention to the hammer channel in the frame, which can get a lot of crud. I use Q-tips to get down in there.
Eventually, the action gets balky so a detailed cleaning is necessary. I almost never find a spent cap in the innards of my Colts, because I've adopted a practice of turning the revolver upside down while I cock it, all the while keeping the pistol pointed downrange.

[fistmil]

I always take my revolver completely down after a day at the range. If I know I am going to shoot it the next day than I don't, but if it's going to be longer than that. It gets stripped.

[jlchucker]

Saw a message on another forum , gent takes grips off his, places it in a ultrasonic cleaner with Windex with vinegar , takes it out when clean , blows it off with compressor, spray lubes it, is good to go.
 I think it might work, what do you think?

On another thread (maybe another website) someone asked how to develop the "antique" look on a C & B revolver.  My brother acquired a Colt 1860 Army copy, and a gunstore guy told him the way to clean it was to take it apart and put it in a solution of hot water and vinegar, then dry all the stuff off, oil, and reassemble.  When he did this (stripped frame, cylinder sans nipples, and barrel only), his gun came out looking like a genuine Civil War relic.  The vinegar solution ate off most of the blueing.  If you want to keep the blueing on your gun, I'd stick with disassembly followed by washing and scrubbing with a toothbrush in a solution of hot water and dishsoap, and forget about stuff like vinegar, which might etch all of the bluing off your gun.  I don't know what would happen with a stainless gun but plain ole soap and water would be my own preference there as well.

[Longknife 76]

Dishwasher? My Lord!  Are you cleaning or sterilizing??? all you need is a little soap and cold water to clean ANY muzzle loader, followed by a generous application of a moisture displacing lube (WD 40)....Remove barrel and cyl and grips, put entire assembled frame into a coffee can full of soapy (Dawn) water for a few minutes, agitate a little remove from can flush with clean water, dry with compressed air (not necessary) and oil it. I submerge the whole frame in a coffee can full of WD for 15-20 minutes then remove and let drip dry over night ---Don't try to make it complicated with chemicals...Ed

[FourBee]

My very 1st BP Colt taught me a lesson about not keeping it clean.  The cylinder nipples seized up, and I liked to have never gotten them out.  I clean'em all up after use, and if they don't get some action for awhile they're always good to go.