Colt style blackpowder revolver

[thebeeth]

Is it a good idea to take apart the frame when cleaning? Or do you have to be a gunsmith to get the thing back together again, so better stop at just taking off the barrel, cylinder and nipples?

[Will]

It's not hard to disasemble, and I would suggest taking it down to every last screw and giving it a good cleaning then a coating of bore butter on everything and reasemble. The guts are fairly simple and fouling does get down in there. Start by taking the grip frame off and hammer spring, then the trigger spring, then trigger screw and trigger, then locking bolt screw and bolt, then hammer screw and hammer-the cylinder hand will be on the hammer. Reasemble in oposite order, you do it once or twice you've got it mastered. The only tools needed are a decent set of hollow ground flat screw drivers to keep from messing up the screw slots.

I normaly run 50-100 rounds through mine, then just take the grips, barrel and cylinder off and dunk the action in a 4-1 mix of water and Ballistol and then dry it with a hair dry or oven and clean the barrel and cylinder. I shoot pretty regular so 'bout every two or three weeks I take it all the way down and give a good cleaning. I don't have any rust on my guns, but differant areas and weather may be differant. Basicly when the action starts getting a little stiff I clean and lube it up.

[thebeeth]

Thanks, Will. Maybe I'll chance it. Hope I don't have any parts left over.

[Gatofeo]

The Colt revolver is rather easily disassembled. In the beginning, however, separate screws and parts according to their use and clean them separately.
Put the cleaned parts in a labeled envelope, if it helps, or lay them out on a large towel according to their groups.
Then, reassemble from there.
After a while, you'll be able to readily recognize the two slightly longer screws, and one short one, that hold the trigger guard to the frame.
Typically, if you don't switch them out you'll have screws going into too deep or protuding just a hair, requiring that they be swapped around.
But it's really not a problem. Just requires a little extra time to swap screws around until the screw heads are recessed or flush.
Identifying the various screws in a Colt design is the biggest challenge. The various parts are unique and easily recognizable.

Will is absolutely right. You need not totally disassemble the revolver each time you shoot, unless you live in a place with very high humidity or store the revolver in a place of high humidity or without air circulation.

You shouldn't have any parts left over if you clean each group separately, then place everything in groups for reassembly.
It's a good idea to thoroughly dry each of the parts in a warm oven with the door open a bit, or with a hair dryer. You can use a muffin tin to keep parts in their groups as you dry them.
Give the parts a good coat of Bore Butter, olive oil or even Crisco (best when the parts are warm) and reassemble.
This should keep your revolver in fine shape for decades, provided you store it in a warm dry place where it is protected against condensation.

[mec]

deleted- corrupt path

[ 03-09-2005, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: mec ]