Old,hard and dry gun lube removal - A Boiled Revolver Recipe

[Petander]

Take one old revolver,remove the grips and soak the gun with brakekleen. Keep dry firing while you soak. Rinse with hot water:



Boil the revolver for one hour in a pressure cooker with Fairy:





Dry in an oven:



Clean with brakekleen again,let dry,oil to the taste inside out and enjoy a clean gun.



I ordered a Wilson spring set,this is such an accurate gun out of the box that I may do a proper polishing job... if the gun moves to my safe. Now I'm just feeling the main spring a bit.



This 1980 Mod 28 has been in a safe since the early 90's. I received it for test completely bone dry, it worked for a couple of boxes,heavy and "like new rough". I then lubed it and all kinds of problems started coming up,to the point that I suspected a faulty gun.

I cleaned with brakekleen and compressed air three times,in three days,still occasional problems and a strange feel. Trigger reset was changing randomly,hammer slipped out of cock etc bad stuff.

Now that I boiled it,everything settled back to normal.

[Outpost75]

That's one way.

What I do with gummed-up wheelies is remove the grips, dunk them in a 50-50 mixture of ATF and acetone and let soak for a couple days until most of the acetone evaporates, then pop off the side plate, scrub the exposed lockwork with a toothbrush, rinse in clear mineral spirits, blow out with compressed air and reassemble.

Works every time, I find less work and no danger of flash rusting from the water boil.

I cleaned up two Victory Model S&Ws which were packed in solidified Cosmolene and they cleaned up like new.

[DaveM]

The last time I had to clean a really gummed up S&W it was a Victory Model that looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the 40s. The action was full of a goo which looked like a mixture of dirt and grease. I removed the grips and sideplate and blasted it out with Brakleen, relubed and assembled. I figure the trigger pull dropped by several pounds.

Took maybe 15 minutes.

(And yes, I know how to properly remove the sideplate from a S&W so it doesn't get boogered up.)

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Guess I'm hopelessly "old school". I completely disassemble them, clean all the parts with kerosene and a toothbrush, reassemble. Whole job might take 30-45 minutes, but no rust worries.

[LAGS]

I too am Old School and do a full disassembly.
But your method will be of great help to the guys that lack the proper tools or knowledge to do the disassembly.
I may give your method a try on a Rossi 88 and a second Victory model that I have , but have too may other projects going right now to do a full year down and cleaning.
Thanks for the input.

[Drm50]

There is only one sure method and that's total strip. Anything else is just an excuse for not dropping the running gears. I would bet most of the handguns floating around today haven't been properly cleaned. If you totally strip a revolver there is no need for wild cleaners and boiling. It will work as well as anything else on a stripped gun.
Some don't have the mechanical skill to strip a gun and reassemble. Throwing pistol in a pot and boiling it is no substitute.

I collect antique fishing reels. Many times these reels have set years in attics and garages and lube ends up as a hard crud. At auto parts store they have a GUNK product ideal for cleaning this type of hardened grease and residue. Comes in gallon paint can and has its own parts basket in the can. Solvent is none flammable and action is stopped by rinsing with water. I started using this gunk on Revolvers and is about the only thing I use now. After gun is clean and dry your favorite gun oil or grease should work fine.

[Petander]

Of course a proper strip & clean is the right way.

I didn't want to open this one because, in case there had been real problems inside,I'd be the one to blame as the first one to open,most probably,ever. I may or may not be buying this one , can't contact the owner until Jan 2nd. We only talked oiling & boiling and shooting.

Feels really good and healthy,nice condition 49 year old gun. Strange good accuracy! Very tempting...

[Petrol & Powder]

Can't say I've ever boiled a gun to clean it. I have boiled parts to remove bluing........sort of surprised that worked for the OP.

The Model 28 is a great revolver.

I would detail strip that gun, clean and oil everything.

[LAGS]

Heck.
I once had my Ruger SS Blackhawk get dropped in the mud.
I took the grips off and washed it in the dishwasher.
Where I was staying that weekend for hunting , I did not have access to tools or a shop.
It worked out fine and was able to take it on the hunt the next day.
So in a pinch , things can work.
But I still opt for doing things the proper way.

[Petander]

I would detail strip that gun, clean and oil everything.

Yeah because of boil / solvents,I oiled it very well inside out,no dry spot anywhere.

I'll ask the owner about opening it next week. I'm interested in proper polishing with stock springs.

[Petander]

I have made the turn ring more visible already. But this is a shooter,not a safe queen anymore.

Ergonomics are great even for my large hands, I rarely change grips anyway but this feels much better than one might think by only looking. And I'm very happy that the boil revealed a healthy revolver.

[Thin Man]

If one has the knowledge and tools to disassemble a firearm for cleaning that is my preferred way to go. Many years ago one of my tasks at work was to maintain the department's firearms. This included cleaning, making repairs and allowed adjustments, etc. The day came when the boss told me he was buying an ultrasonic pistol cleaner for the shop. I answered that this was an unnecessary expense as I had not found a handgun I could not disassemble and correctly reassemble and we could use the cost of this equipment better on tools and parts. He got stiff with his answer that we were getting the ultrasonic cleaner and that was the end of the discussion. A few weeks later the cleaner and chemicals arrived. I carried it into the shop and placed it and the solutions on a high storage shelf. A few days after that I saw the sales representative who had sold this gear to us. Yikes, she was really cute. About 15 years later when I retired the cleaner and solvents were still on the storage shelf and were never used. We didn't see the sales rep come back ever again.

[Petander]

LOL @ Thin Man.

But yeah,boiling is just a quick fix. Dry and oil real good,like after ultrasonics,rust can surprise.