Here's a cautionary tale for those of you who say you don't see why it's all that necessary to clean your revolvers often.
I recently purchased a used S & W 625JM. I love the gun, shooting it is sheer fun. When I purchased it I found it to be very dirty by my standards. There were carbon deposits in the chambers and around the forcing cone, the cylinder faces were stained black, and the bore of the gun had a pronounced film in it. I cleaned it thoroughly, several times and thought that I'd returned it to pristine condition.
However, after firing it last weekend, and cleaning it, I did my usual post cleanup inspection. I shone a flashlight into the forcing cone and, to my amazement, discovered that the entire interior of the forcing cone was coated with a silvery grey substance, about a millimeter in diameter. It wasn't a uniform deposit, it was bumpy, thicker in some places than in others.
Out came the bronze brush and I began brushing vigorously. After about 10 minutes, I ran a couple of swabs down the barrel, which came out coal black. I looked into the forcing cone again. Half the deposits were gone, but there remained many that were seemingly untouched. I brushed again, for about 20 more minutes (my right arm got very tired from doing this, I might add). To my dismay, there were still a lot of remaining lumps and bumps.
I then got out a dental pick and went to work on the lumps and bumps, one at a time. They came out, with much scraping, and it took me two hours of steady work to complete the job. The forcing cone is now as new. The total labor necessary to get it that way: about 3 1/2 hours of work.
When I began cleaning I was concerned that I was witnessing leading in the forcing cone. But, the deposits were made of a crumbly substance and they broke up easily into a powder that came out of the barrel black. I'm convinced they were carbon deposits.
Now, I'm not sure what are the effects of firing a gun with a forcing cone that's been significantly narrowed by carbon deposits, but I doubt whether they're good. I don't know whether continued buildup would eventually cause the cone to crack under the resulting increased pressure. So, I'll leave that possibility to the experts. Suffice it to say, I intend to keep my guns clean.
I recently purchased a used S & W 625JM. I love the gun, shooting it is sheer fun. When I purchased it I found it to be very dirty by my standards. There were carbon deposits in the chambers and around the forcing cone, the cylinder faces were stained black, and the bore of the gun had a pronounced film in it. I cleaned it thoroughly, several times and thought that I'd returned it to pristine condition.
However, after firing it last weekend, and cleaning it, I did my usual post cleanup inspection. I shone a flashlight into the forcing cone and, to my amazement, discovered that the entire interior of the forcing cone was coated with a silvery grey substance, about a millimeter in diameter. It wasn't a uniform deposit, it was bumpy, thicker in some places than in others.
Out came the bronze brush and I began brushing vigorously. After about 10 minutes, I ran a couple of swabs down the barrel, which came out coal black. I looked into the forcing cone again. Half the deposits were gone, but there remained many that were seemingly untouched. I brushed again, for about 20 more minutes (my right arm got very tired from doing this, I might add). To my dismay, there were still a lot of remaining lumps and bumps.
I then got out a dental pick and went to work on the lumps and bumps, one at a time. They came out, with much scraping, and it took me two hours of steady work to complete the job. The forcing cone is now as new. The total labor necessary to get it that way: about 3 1/2 hours of work.
When I began cleaning I was concerned that I was witnessing leading in the forcing cone. But, the deposits were made of a crumbly substance and they broke up easily into a powder that came out of the barrel black. I'm convinced they were carbon deposits.
Now, I'm not sure what are the effects of firing a gun with a forcing cone that's been significantly narrowed by carbon deposits, but I doubt whether they're good. I don't know whether continued buildup would eventually cause the cone to crack under the resulting increased pressure. So, I'll leave that possibility to the experts. Suffice it to say, I intend to keep my guns clean.
. There is unfinished (SS) and then ther is blued/case hardened/etc. 