Cleaning chambers of .357
- Thread starter croyance
- Start date
How long are you going between cleanings?
If the .357s are difficult to chamber, it definitely needs to be cleaned more. It's the heavy build-up of crud that can potentially cause a problem. Shoot 100 lead .38s, then shine a light into the chambers. Those standing rings are a potential problem... I doubt they would survive a bore snake, although I usually just brush them out with FP-10 (a CLP, but Hoppes 9 or whatever is fine) and a .40 cal brush. At the range, I'll shoot .38s and end a session with .357s without even the brushing. It's still hot, hasn't really set and isn't that built up. It's when you don't clean your gun for multiple sessions, let it set and harden and built up, then push your luck with tightly chambered .357s. In general, if you can drop the .357 round in, you can shoot it, but in general it sounds like you should be cleaning your gun more.
I clean my reolver every session. If I want to do a half-assed job, I can do it in 15 minutes. Usually it's 30-40, sometimes an hour if I've put 400-500 rounds down. It's just some spraying, brushing, jagging, wet and then dry-patching. It is redundant and a bit boring, but a) there is nothing like showing up to the range every time with a gun that looks like it's never been fired and b) you eliminate all these problems.
Before you fire next, take a patch with a few drops of CLP, Breakfree, or my fav FP-10 and put a light layer on the forcing cone, front of the cylinder and back plate. When you are done shooting, take a few dry patches and you can wipe 90% of the black crap off. And if you wait until you get home to clean, it still makes it much easier. Learn to love the FP-10. It is your gun's best friend.
If the .357s are difficult to chamber, it definitely needs to be cleaned more. It's the heavy build-up of crud that can potentially cause a problem. Shoot 100 lead .38s, then shine a light into the chambers. Those standing rings are a potential problem... I doubt they would survive a bore snake, although I usually just brush them out with FP-10 (a CLP, but Hoppes 9 or whatever is fine) and a .40 cal brush. At the range, I'll shoot .38s and end a session with .357s without even the brushing. It's still hot, hasn't really set and isn't that built up. It's when you don't clean your gun for multiple sessions, let it set and harden and built up, then push your luck with tightly chambered .357s. In general, if you can drop the .357 round in, you can shoot it, but in general it sounds like you should be cleaning your gun more.
I clean my reolver every session. If I want to do a half-assed job, I can do it in 15 minutes. Usually it's 30-40, sometimes an hour if I've put 400-500 rounds down. It's just some spraying, brushing, jagging, wet and then dry-patching. It is redundant and a bit boring, but a) there is nothing like showing up to the range every time with a gun that looks like it's never been fired and b) you eliminate all these problems.
Before you fire next, take a patch with a few drops of CLP, Breakfree, or my fav FP-10 and put a light layer on the forcing cone, front of the cylinder and back plate. When you are done shooting, take a few dry patches and you can wipe 90% of the black crap off. And if you wait until you get home to clean, it still makes it much easier. Learn to love the FP-10. It is your gun's best friend.
To remove the cylinder: Take out the screw on the right side (when holding it pointing away from you) that is immediately below the cylinder. Open the action, and pull the crane with the cylinder on it forward, releasing it. Get one of these to clean your cylinder, it works great! http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...287&title=BRONZE+RIFLE/PISTOL+CHAMBER+BRUSHES
Guy B. Meredith
New member
Competition revolver shooters use .38 spl almost exclusively. I usually clean after every session; when in competition that may mean cleaning after 400 to 500 rounds. I have only once had a problem droppping a .357 magnum round into a 'dirty' gun.
I do not use lead bullets, though. The lubricant on lead bullets really piles up the carbon fouling. I do not know whether swagged lead bullets might leave lead in the charge hole. Others here can answer that.
Cleaning is no problem except for maybe lead bullets. Just brush the charge holes as usual and take a look to make sure there is no carbon ridge near the front. There will be discoloration like that on the front of the cylinder, but it is no problem. You do not need to remove the cylinder.
I do not use lead bullets, though. The lubricant on lead bullets really piles up the carbon fouling. I do not know whether swagged lead bullets might leave lead in the charge hole. Others here can answer that.
Cleaning is no problem except for maybe lead bullets. Just brush the charge holes as usual and take a look to make sure there is no carbon ridge near the front. There will be discoloration like that on the front of the cylinder, but it is no problem. You do not need to remove the cylinder.
Jim Watson
New member
I don't know about a bore snake.
When I was shooting a lot of .38-.357 revolver the best cylinder cleaner I found was a .410 Tornado brush with the shotgun-to-pistol adapter turned down to where it would go in the chamber. A .40 Tornado might do as well with less trouble to get it on the pistol rod.
When I was shooting a lot of .38-.357 revolver the best cylinder cleaner I found was a .410 Tornado brush with the shotgun-to-pistol adapter turned down to where it would go in the chamber. A .40 Tornado might do as well with less trouble to get it on the pistol rod.
Garand Guy
New member
Don't know what the issue is. I can shoot a box (50 rds) of 38 lead loads and jump right into 357's. The only problems I have are with the crimp on the bullets (no fault of the gun, of course).
AttackTurtle
New member
I have had that problem. You just have to put a lot of work into cleaning. 40-50 back and forths are often enough to get rid of anything left in there. I always dip my .40 cal brush in hoppes #9 first. Im sure that helps. Something you can try that I dont do much anymore is to get an electric screwdriver and add the brush on the end. Just dont go too fast
Use a drill
A guy here on this board turned me on to this. Its the only thing that works 100%. I have a milk crate full of cleaning stuff that I have tried.
I use a .375 rifle brass brush and a brass pistol cleaning rod. I use a q-tip and put some Shooters choice in each cylinder. Let it soak in for about 45min(I always put a clean towel on the trigger parts of the gun soas not to gum up the internals). I then use a cordless drill (with brass brush) and let'er rip for about 20secs. The result is one clean ass cylinder. I have done this quite a bit and it works. However, I stopped shooting 38spls out of my gun. Its a pain in the butt to clean those rings.
A guy here on this board turned me on to this. Its the only thing that works 100%. I have a milk crate full of cleaning stuff that I have tried.
I use a .375 rifle brass brush and a brass pistol cleaning rod. I use a q-tip and put some Shooters choice in each cylinder. Let it soak in for about 45min(I always put a clean towel on the trigger parts of the gun soas not to gum up the internals). I then use a cordless drill (with brass brush) and let'er rip for about 20secs. The result is one clean ass cylinder. I have done this quite a bit and it works. However, I stopped shooting 38spls out of my gun. Its a pain in the butt to clean those rings.
few drops of CLP, Breakfree, or my fav FP-10 ?
Greetings All,
I saw some real useful info in this thread and I appreciate the responses. I'm relatively new to 357/38 shooting and have had the same questions regarding the cleaning of a revolver. One question to SJshooter though, what is CLP, Breakfree, or your fav FP-10?
Thanks
kdb
Greetings All,
I saw some real useful info in this thread and I appreciate the responses. I'm relatively new to 357/38 shooting and have had the same questions regarding the cleaning of a revolver. One question to SJshooter though, what is CLP, Breakfree, or your fav FP-10?
Thanks
kdb
Take a fired .357 magnum case and push it into each cylinder after firing .38spl's.
The longer case scrapes the ring right out.
No need for anything fancy.
Takes me all of a second or two to do.
PS - you can even do it at the range before you switch from .38's to .357 mag.
PPS - IMHO, power tools and loaded rounds shouldn't be allowed in the same room as a gun you're cleaning..
The longer case scrapes the ring right out.
No need for anything fancy.
Takes me all of a second or two to do.
PS - you can even do it at the range before you switch from .38's to .357 mag.
PPS - IMHO, power tools and loaded rounds shouldn't be allowed in the same room as a gun you're cleaning..
I like Hoppes#9 and a 40 caliber copper bore brush. I find that combination does an excellent job cleaning the chambers. I use 38 semi-wadcutters in my 357 magnums and haven't had any trouble. I get a little leading, but my experience has been a good cleaning shortly after returning from the range does the job. I also like to use boresnakes when it comes to the barrel.
Breakfree and FP-10 are two different CLP products, meaning they (C)lean (L)ubricate and (P)rotect... ie. you don't have you use one solvent, then another lube, then another gun oil.
FP-10 can be bought at www.fp10.com. It is also sold in stores as "Shooter's Choice FP-10" The Shooter's Choice label sells other solvents, so they only label it as a lube, but it's great. It is the only thing I use on my blue gun. I love it. A lot of folks like BreakFree CLP, too. I haven't tried it, but same concept. I find this stuff smells a lot less toxic than Hoppes, too. Try it!
FP-10 can be bought at www.fp10.com. It is also sold in stores as "Shooter's Choice FP-10" The Shooter's Choice label sells other solvents, so they only label it as a lube, but it's great. It is the only thing I use on my blue gun. I love it. A lot of folks like BreakFree CLP, too. I haven't tried it, but same concept. I find this stuff smells a lot less toxic than Hoppes, too. Try it!