How often Y'all wash your nipples???

[bum steer]

I always hear how " I can clean my BP pistol faster than smokeless after a shoot" I agree BP cleaning ain't tough, barrel is bout 3-5 minutes, clyinder bout the same but man them nipples take me forever. I been pulling em after each shoot and cleaning everyone of em. Seems to take forever. Do I need to or can I just scrub em with a toothbrush and run a pipe cleaner throgh em and call it good. Sure would save me a bunch of time.

[ribbonstone]

A rusted in nipple is an ugly thing...furstrating too.  Tend to take them out at each firing, toss them in a little plastic continer full of solvent (in this case, Sinple green and water) and  let them soak while I clean the rest of the gun.  By the time I'm finished with the other parts, nipples get blow out, toothbrushed, rinced, lubed, and reassembled.

Do you have to?  Have bought older revolvers that evidently never had the nipples out in the last 25years.  Was trouyblesome getting them out, but they cleaned up just fine, so evidently it's not a :must do" for some shooters.

Do like the anti-sieze compounds sold for modern shotgun  choke tubes on the nipple threads used on thye nipple threads...not only makes them easier to get out, but fills the thread and blocks fouling.

[filmokentucky]

I rarely remove the cones anymore. I fill each chamber with dish soap and let it soak in for a minute and then I flush with the hottest tap water until the entire cylinder is clean. Barrel is the same and I run a brush through it a few times just in case.  I do strip the action down because fouling gets blasted into the guts of the gun and nothing knocks a revolver out of time like having to use too much effort cycling the action. I dry the whole gun-minus the grips- in the oven at 250 degrees for 2 minutes.

   Don't know how long the cleaning process takes and I don't care. I'm in this for the fun of it and don't rush any part of it. I do know it works, and other than a little wear silvering on a couple of my older Colts, my guns are in perfect order.

[Mark whiz]

I pull the nipples every time I shoot a piece.  For my revolvers, I usually pull the cylinder(s) and let them soak in the Simple Green/Water solution while I clean the frame & bore.  I have a cheap ultrasonic cleaner that I usually soak them in and let them vibrate awhile to break everything up.

Then I take a wet patch and work back & forth in each chamber, pulling/pushing cleaner thru the nipples as I pump clean each chamber.  Then I pull the nipple and let them vibrate some more while I finish cleaning the cylinder and then give the nipples a final brushing and reinstall everything.

Takes maybe an hour total when I take my time doing it................ it's a small price to pay to know I wouldn't have any problems with "funky" nipples.

[Robert]

I try to do them every time I shave.

[Cactus Cris]

I don't take them out--instead stick the cylinder in my ultrasonic cleaner (from Harbor Freight) with Cabelas BP solvent & a dash of Balistol, run for 15 min. while I clean the frame/barrel.  Take cylinder out, brush with tooth brush, wipe chambers,cylinder  pin hole, blow dry with compressor,  Wipe down with Balistol, add bore butter to cylinder pin hole.  Ultrasonic cleaner is the best thing in cleaning small areas.

[J.W.Neely]

After every shooting, I pull'em and clean'em.... :shock:

[Will52100]

Never.  Or at least I never pull them.  Dunk the whole cylinder in Ballistol and water and scrub inside and out.  Never had a rust problem and never had them freez up.