Powder Deposits in Cylinders

[WaddWatsonEllis]

After two days of shooting in stages, I started to clean my Schofields the next day. The barrels cleaned up quickly, but I noticed an irregular ring of powder on the cylinder bores just where I would imagine the end of my .45 Schofield cases were. I put the bore brush through them 11 times, but the rings are still there.

I have two ideas about why they remain:

1.) The cylinder bore is the width of casings, which is just a hair wider than the lead bullets. Could my brush, designed for a barrel, be a bit too narrow for a cylinder wall. If so, would a larger brush work better? And if so, where would I get such a brush and what diameter should I look for?

2.) Is the powder kind of carboned on, and need to be soaked or be scrubbed with something like 'ice cream sticks' (like one finds in craft shops).

If the cylinder needs to be removed and soaked in gun solvent, how do I take it off?

Thanks !

[St. George]

I've always cleaned my weapons by first using the correctly-sized bore brush and patches - then taking care of any stubborn fouling by using a larger bore brush.

In the .44/.45 calibers - I use well-worn M16 Chamber Cleaning Brushes, as the larger stainless segment works perfectly to clean away any and all fouling.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Flint]

There are two screws on the latch part, (called a "barrel block" by Uberti) on the topstrap.  Loosen the front one and remove the rear one, the barrel block will pivot up out of the way.  The cylinder will then slide to the rear and off.  When you replace the cylinder and screws, leave them a bit loose until you close the action, the block will align itself with the latch, then tighten the two screws with the barrel closed.

When cleaning cylinders that have fired short cartridges, like Schofield in Colt chamber or 44 Russian in a 44 Colt or Special chamber, it is sometines necessary to put a brass brush in a drill motor and spin it in the chamber with bore cleaner like Hoppe's 9 or MP7.  Smokeless powders do leave a hard ring.  You might soak the cylinder in carburetor cleaner, just keep your fingers out of it....

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[WaddWatsonEllis]

St George; Sage Advice!

I think I will have to go over to the Army Reserve unit and see if I can scrounge an M16 Cleaning Brush ....

Flint:

But for right now, I have Makita Cordless and an extra .410 barrel brush (and a bit of Hoppes). I had thought of the drill and brush drill, but I was unsure if it could damage the wall of the cylinder. So now that I know that someone has done it before, I will try it tomorrow ...

Flint and St George; Thank you for this and so many other tips ... if all else fails, I have relied on you two more than necessary.
Thanks be to the both of you for your support!

[St. George]

Put the Makita down and step away...

Old-fashioned 'elbow grease' and some applied diligence will handle your weapons maintenance chores.

Stop by the USAR Center and ask the Supplyman for any used M16 Chamber Cleaning Brushes he might be getting ready to throw away.

He 'should' have a goodly supply on hand, and can help you out.

Failing that - check the 'surplus guys' at the next gun show and pick up a couple of new ones, as they hardly ever wear out - the bristles just bend., and that's of little consequence.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

St. George,

The Makita was never picked up ..... I didn't feel good about the use anyway. I was going to use the screwdriver speed, which I am guessing is less than 200 RPM.

As an old retired USAFR E-7, I am hoping that I can develop a enlisted to enlisted bond and get those M-16 Chamber brush before I go any further ... the stainless steel rather than the brass bristle bore brush I am using might be just agressive enough to rid the cylinder of powder without damaging the cylinder walls.

As far as the use of a gunsmith, they say it is a wise man who knows his limits. As a military and civilian medical person, I can build you a mean traction ... as an adequate woodworker, I can build simple furniture that you might allow in your house ... but my learnde skills stop at gunsmithing ... except things like starting a minigun with dead batteries or setting up and firing a .50 Caliber machine gun or M-60 ... for anytining besides changing barrels, we had a armorer to call  ... but for 'smithing a pistol, I am defintiely out of my league ...

BTW, the previous owner did two very nice things to the weapon that add to the pleasure of shooting them. First, he filed the vertical sides of the rear site enough so that there is 'visible air' on each side of the front blade. Seconldly, he repladed the blue steel front blades with brass one which, when combined with the front sites, make finding the target *really* easy and a pleasure.

I just feel as if I was left in recievership of these really fine weapons, and would like to preserve them as best I (or someone who knows better) am able.

[Flint]

Although the original Smit & Wessons had an integral steel front sight, the Ubertis have a bronze (German Silver?) front sight pinned in.  The Schofield by Uberti has a two step rear sight, a wide notch with a narrow notch at the bottom of the wide one.  The wider notch allows a quicker sight picture for fast shooting with the narrow notch would be better for precision, but obviously would hit to a different poin of impact.

As for using a drill motor, I would never use a stainless steel brush in one, only a bronze brush. 

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Flint; your post brings me back full circle to the original problem. My ".45" bore brush is too small in diameter to fully contact the sides of the cylinder .... so should I get a .50 caliber bore brush and use it just to clean the cylinder walls?

I do not have a micrometer, but I seem to remember that the actual bore in the barrel is .429 caliber.
But I have no idea what the diameter of the cylinder bore is ... I would imagine it is .020 or so larger than the barrel?

This is a brand new problem for me ... even my Webley shooting .45 ACP never did this. (The only problem would be that the .45 ACP would be expanded to fit the cylinder wall of a .455 and the brass could not be reloaded to use in .45 ACP. Or that's what the store who had previously bought my brass told me ....)

By the way, the previous owner replaced the german silver front sites with brass ones, filed down to where they are spot on for me. And between the 'stag' handles and the sites, it really makes them look good.

[Coal Creek Griff]

I personally use a .50 caliber rifle brush, which I put on a T-handle rod (without a swivel).  I twist it as I slowly push it through each chamber, then pull it straight back out.  Dipped in solvent with every other chamber or so, it cleans out deposits pretty well.  I then use patches to finish the job.  I've used this on all of my .45 revolvers.

CC Griff

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Flint; your post brings me back full circle to the original problem. My ".45" bore brush is too small in diameter to fully contact the sides of the cylinder .... so should I get a .50 caliber bore brush and use it just to clean the cylinder walls?

You could try a bore brush for the 45-70 rifle.  That's what I've done on occasion.

[Fiddler Green]

The other option is: Go to your local boating supply store and get some Bronze wool. Wrap your .45 cal brush with it and get to cleaning. The bronze woll is softer then the steel of the cylinder but harder then most things that build up in it. I use it all the time to get lead fouling out of my Muzzle loaders.

West Marine carries it in fine, medium and course. I use "fine" most of the time, but, will move to medium when the going gets tough.

Bruce

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Fiddler Green/Bruce:

That is a great idea!  I have to be going there anyway (I also kayak and sail), so I will pick some up...

[Fiddler Green]

Fiddler Green/Bruce:

That is a great idea!  I have to be going there anyway (I also kayak and sail), so I will pick some up...

You'll find it works well on everything. I use it to clean up my BP cases as the wool is not as hard as the brass but it is harder then the crud. That reminds me, I've got the cases from last nights match drying in the sun....time to load the tumbler!

Bruce

[Flint]

There are two types of bronze brushes, bore brushes and chamber brushes, which are a bit larger.  A 50 cal might also work.  Soaking the cylinder in Hoppes 9 or MP7 or other powder solvent for awhile might also help.  Smokeless carbon is difficult to remove.  I had to clean 44 Special chambers I'd fired 44 Russian in, they would not accept 44 Special cartridges anymore, I used a 45 cal brush in the 44 cal chamber.

Could take them to your mechanic and have him soak the cylinders in carburetor cleaning solvent, nasty stuff that will remove anything organic........

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I was able to get some M-16 chamber brushes. They have a long brass brush that I am guessing is for .223 with about an inch of stainless steel 5/8ths brush at the end. I measured how far I had to place the cleaning rod with M-16 chamber brush down the barrel in order to get the stainless steel brush over the powder deposits on the cylinder. Then I coated the cylinder opening with Break Free CLP and gave the cleaning rod about 50 one eighth rotation turns. The powder came right out!

So I have free M-16 brushes and Break Free CLP. Depending on the cost of bronze wool, I may try that way out the next time I am cleaning after a day at the range.....

[Capt'n Jack]

My Uberti in 45 Colt has a case stop ( for headspacing ) machined into the cylinder for 45 Colt cases.  It may be that this is what you are seeing in part and causing the issue.  Take a close look.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

That is quite possibly what I am seeing ... after cleaning the cylinder bores, there is a ring of brighter metall that runs from about three quarters of the way down the cylinder that continues to the end of the cylinder (or put another way, the last approximately 1/4 the length of the cylinder.

But the guns are now squeaking clean .... now I just have to get a rifle length cleaning rod to clean the .45 cal. LC Model 94, and I will be all set ... am still having to borrow a cleaning rod that will fit the rifle/pistol threads on the .45 bore cleaning brush.

Any preferred suggestions for a rifle cleaning rod? Something that you have used and are happy with? If so, where is the best buy on them?

Thanks in advance.

[Virginia Gentleman]

The other option is: Go to your local boating supply store and get some Bronze wool. Wrap your .45 cal brush with it and get to cleaning. The bronze woll is softer then the steel of the cylinder but harder then most things that build up in it. I use it all the time to get lead fouling out of my Muzzle loaders.

West Marine carries it in fine, medium and course. I use "fine" most of the time, but, will move to medium when the going gets tough.

Bruce

Or go to the grocery store and buy some Chore-Boy copper mesh pot scrubber it is cheaper than brass wool and does a better job overall using a worn brass brush..  I also use a home brewed solvent called Ed's Red which is basically equal parts of varsol, kerosene and automatic transmission fluid with acetone being optional.  It is cheap to make, works great on powder fouling and lead too.  You might consider having the chambers "honed" by a gunsmith that will reduce this fouling.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

The M-16 chanmber brushes seem to be working just fine with a little gun oil ... once the initial deposits were out it is easy to keep up with it.

I think the reason for the powder deposit is that the Schofield ammo is a 'bout a quarter inch shorter than the .45 cal LC, and all the deposits are in the last 1/4 inch of the cylinders ... or just about where the end of a Schofield case would end.