Best tips / tricks for cleaning capnball revolvers

Newbie here (to BP guns, not guns generally)

I looked around a little, didn't find what I was looking for, so I figgered I'd ask here.

Is there already a list, or can y'all post here a list, of best techniques / tips / tricks for cleaning cap n ball revolvers?

Thanx.

It's a real short list (in my book).

• WATER

Disassemble gun.
Clean everything with water.
Dry everything.
Oil everything.
Reassemble gun.

No tricks, although I do remember reading about a guy that had a stainless steel Ruger Old Army that he put in the toilet and flushed until the water ran clear but I haven't done that :barf: .

I take the cylinder out and pull the nipples. I drop the cylinder in hot soapy water. I run hot soapy water and a brush through the barrel until it is clean. I wipe everything on the frame down with a wet rag. Then I dry everything off and oil it. I use a 50/50 mix of 2 stroke motor oil and kerosene, you can use whatever works for you.

Then I take the cylinder out of the water and run a brush into each of the chambers and also try to run one through the cylinder pin opening. Then brush out the 6 nipple recesses. Dry everything and then oil the cylinder and the inside of the chambers.

The nipples should be cleaned by dipping in water for a couple of seconds and then blow them clear. I oil the nipple threads and then reinstall them just slightly tighter than finger tight.

Grease the cylinder pin with white lithium grease, that will make a big difference the next time you shoot.

You can disassemble the action if you want to, I usually do because I like playing with fiddly machinery. There will be some dirt but you can just oil it if you want to. You will need to completely strip the gun every few times to get the crud out and make sure that everything is oiled or that a piece of cap isn't stuck in there.

Many Klatch

Some guns and depending on loads and lubes, some guns seem to have more nooks and crannies for fouling and dirt to get into.

I keep a small can with enough old fashioned WW2 bore cleaner to submerge the cylinder, nipples and all. The cylinder stays in the stuff for ten fifteen minutes and then is wiped clean with an old rag. The gun is wiped down with the same bore cleaner and that usually stabilizes everything for a few hours to a day, (depending on the length of the ride home from a match) Then I strip the gun down and clean it with hot soapy water and blow it dry with the air compressor and oil it up to put away.

I have heard of guys with stainless steel cap and ball guns taking the grips off and putting the guns through the dishwasher. But that is probably a black powder myth, sort of like left handed smoke shifters and muffler bearings.

There was a gentleman that posted a while back that he pulled the grips on his 1860 army and stood the barrel, cylinder, and frame upright in the dishwasher, ran it, cleaned nd lubed while hot from the dryer, no problem. There was some discussion for a while. Try the archives. I've never tried this personally, but he was serious, no joke. God Bless, Good smoke, Ron

There are a lot of small parts so I use a pizza pan to hold them all. You need to grind down some screwdrivers to EXACTLY fit the bolt slots so you don't mar the slots. I always totally strip the gun although others just take down the major components- depends to some degree on the humidity of where you live.
Qtips and pipe cleaners work great cleaning nooks and crannies. A hot air blower/brush will dry out the parts pretty quickly.

... don't shoot it :surrender: !

That's what my Dad used to joke ...

One thing I'm particularly interested in.... drying the gun.

I think I read somewhere that using rubbing alcohol dries the gun well, to prevent rust. Then a light very coat of oil to protect the metal.

Any truth to teh rubbing alcohol trick?

Also....

What about cleaning chemicals specially designed for BP. Should I just stick with hot soapy water?

FWIW,
Most of the "over the counter" BP cleaning solutions are pretty much soap an water anyways.

When the MSDS is looked at it's not really soap, but "slippery stuff" in laymens terms.

Heaven forbid, I'm not trying to say don't buy it, or that commercial products don't work.

The deal Isopropyl and/or DeNatured alchohol thing is, the alchohol mixes readily with any remaining water molecules and evaporates. I use mostly Denatured because it's 100% alchy, whereas the Iso is 10-30% water already.
Trouble is it mixes with oil too and will effectivley degrease gun parts. I use Alchohol on the cylinder and nipples only, the rest of the revolver I can pretty much reach with rags an patches.

I wrote this in response to an earlier post about cleaning:

Flash Pan Dan said:

I shoot my Pietta New Army revolvers every week and I have 12 extra cylinders for them. So, cleaning the cylinders can be a chore. Or you can do this:

Take the cylinders out.
Dunk the front end of the pistol(not the trigger guard) in a bucket of 10/1 water/Ballistol (COLD, hot water is for washing your undies) use old tooth brush to scrub all exposed metal.
Take it out and dry.
Run 3 wet patches and 3 dry patches through the bore with the same solution as above. Oil with Ballistol
Dunk the cylinders into bucket of 10/1 water/Ballistol. Use Brownell Speed Mop (which has six mops attached) to pump solution through all the chambers at one time.
Use tooth brush to clean cones (nipples) and surrounding area. Use compressed air (in the field I use cans of compressed air) and rags to dry.
Oil with Ballistol.
Done.

Total time cleaning two revolvers and 12 cylinders is 40 minutes. Note I don’t remove the cones from the cylinders. I have anti-seize lube on the threading and as long as I have been shooting and cleaning like this I have never had a cone get rusted or stuck. I don’t remove the grips either. I also have being using the same bucket of 10/1 water/Ballistol for 6 months and I top it off every few weeks. You don’t have to go completely OCD about these things, clean is clean.

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The thing about using the Ballistol solution is that after you dry the parts, as best as you can, what ever moisture is left evaporates and only the Ballistol is left. So I don't have to worry about rust in any of the nooks and crannies I might have missed in drying. If I shoot the guns and can't clean them after I'm done I spray them down with WD40. That keeps them safe from rust for several days.

You really need to disassemble the gun IMHO. To prevent the slots on the bolts from getting all chewed up you need to get some screwdrivers and slowly grind them down until they fully and exactly fill the slots without any play. You can slightly smooth the edges of the screwdriver but don't round them.
I usually take off the grips first, then the mainspring, etc. The first time you do this write down where everything goes, it is really pretty simple.
I use a variety of brushes, an old toothbrush works well as do q-tips and pipe cleaners. Soapy water is fine, the bore is usually good and free of lead fouling. If the gun is spitting lead there may be some lead build up at the back rim of the barrel- the end of the barrel closest to the cylinder.
I use a pizza pan tray to put all the parts. After the scrub I put them on paper towels to sop up any excess water. I use an oiled rag to rub everything down and reassemble.
The biggest danger is damage from too much disassembly and re-assembly so take care when taking things apart and putting them back together.
Probably takes 20 minutes or so, I actually take about as much time with modern pistols because there is more leading in the barrel due to the higher velocity/pressure- requiring time to clean.

One thing I'm particularly interested in.... drying the gun.

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I would put all the dissassembled parts, except grips, on a pan and put that in the oven set at 225 degrees with the door slightly ajar for an hour or so.

when camped out I usually take my bp revolvers and shoot a good bit. I carry windsheild washer fluid in a spray bottle and an old toothbrush to scour with. spray down real wet and see the crud run off then spray again and work over with the brush. wipe off good let dry well and relube.
at home I'll do a detail strip then clean and rinse good with hot water also.

Disassemble, put in dishwasher on Pots, and Pan, fast dry setting. Remove and oil. Don't Let "she who is in charge" know what you are doing. :blah:
All kidding aside it works well, though I would run the dishwasher through a cycle without dishes after I was done. It's good to be single.

Bill

Remove cylinder, and loading lever. Remove nipples from cylinder, scrub with brush, set aside. Run a patch soaked in cleaner through each chamber...I use Simple Green. Put cylinder to soak in diluted cleaning solution. Run a soaked patch down the bore, then flush with hot running water. Scrub frame thoroughly. Continue scrubbing barrel until clean. Rinse, dry barrel and frame. Scrub cylinder...it'll clean fast. Dry. Lube and reassemble. Disassemble fully every six months for detail cleaning.

I love a thread like this. Used to get laughed at when I mentioned I was cleaning my revolver in the kitchen sink.

Plain ole water will work but just a couple drops of a dishwashing liquid helps it to work better (something about changing something about surface tension).

I take mine down as far as I feel like it then let some parts soak a bit while I scrub on the others and then once everything is scrubbed I dry everything (might even stick some parts in the oven for a minute or so after an initial dry just to make certain) then I generally give everything a good rub down with some sort of oil or black powder lube. Lots of people do not care for bore butter but I find if I make certain that every thing is clean and dry then give them parts a really good rub down with it I don't get no rust for months on end.

I use what I happen to feel like at the time. Hot water, Hopes#9 plus, cold water. It all works. I usually only pull the cylinder clean the barrel, clean the cylinder and pull nipplesw and clean then reassemble. I very rarely take them down to their component parts. I used to take them down every time but found the work was more trouble than needed. The insides don't get that dirty from fouling in a shooting session. I usually just give it a few dabs of oil and let it go. I have never ever had a piece break due to black powder corrosion, it's always been wear the few times something breaks. I have been shooting BP since the 70's when I was a teen ager, and have only had a couple springs break, and a hand.
I just don't get so anal about it. remember most of these guns we are buying now are repros and the cost on most is less than 300 bucks.

Poor Private said:

I use what I happen to feel like at the time.,,,
I just don't get so anal about it.

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Now that, and the rest of the post is good advice.

There isn't a right or wrong, it just needs to be done.
No Rocket science, clean it till the fouling is gone, dry it till it's not wet and protect the metal so it won't rust.
If ya missed a spot, it'll show itself right quick so you can get it,,

I got an ol coffee pot you put on the stove add water and alittle dish washing soap,turn on stove and let them clean there self.after that like every one agrees oil good I found hot metal drys faster than cold.my long barrels I put in the tub. but the the wife don,t like that.ha ha

After any way you clean your gun, drop the clean parts in a bucket of the hottest water you can get from the kitchen sink.
Let the parts heat up for a few mins.
Dump the parts out and just shake the water off.
Good idea to where gloves.
Lay parts on towel and oil them while you put the gun back together.