Thread: Oiling/Cleaning a Ruger GP100 or any other Revolver

Figured "The Conversation" was the best place for it. I have jumped into the world of handguns Friday after the goverment deemed me worthy to own a handgun. After firing a friend's Ruger P-95 and his Blackhawk I was convinced I wanted a revolver. The "Handgun.. any recommendations?" thread was great and there was a suggestion about the GP100. The local gun store/range had just got one in stock.

I fired 100 rounds Sunday at the range and started to search for more then just the manual's instructions to clean it. I came up with a few different thoughts about oiling the barrel/cyclinders.

Some say yes, but to get all the excess out. Some say no, "more damage has been done to handguns by over cleaning them then firing them".

I have just the basic cleaning kit with the brass brush rod attachment and "patch holder" attachment. It came with BreakFree and it seem like this is all I need to clean/oil the gun. Any thoughts or experiences?

I always use Hoppe's Nitro Solvent with patches and brass brush for the barrel & cylinder. Hoppe's Gun Oil follows. I run a few patches through to get the major residue out and then follow with brushes to get the remainder and then patches until the patches run through clean. I use R.I.G. applied with an Outer's silicone gun cloth on the externals to prevent rust. I shoot semi autos mostly now as revolvers are so much more of a hassle to clean.

If you clean them properly, firing the gun will do more damage than cleaning it ever will. They might be referring to the bluing or something. Gun powder will corrode the metal if you're not careful to get it all. I use CLP or hoppe's. I've been known to use carbuerator cleaner on somebody else's gun when I'm in a hurry, but I wouldn't recommend that for your own weapons, though. This leaches everything out of the metal's pores - dirt, carbon, oil and all. You just gotta make sure you oil it well afterwards every few days for a week or so to make sure the metal doesn't soak it all up. I've heard some people take it to the extreme and coat their barrels with some kind of moly lube/sealer which makes it much easier to clean. Some say you don't need oil if you coat your barrel and bullets with that moly stuff, but I've never gotten that far into it. Anyway, the thicker the oil, the longer it should stay on there.

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

I always use Hoppe's Nitro Solvent with patches and brass brush for the barrel & cylinder. Hoppe's Gun Oil follows. I run a few patches through to get the major residue out and then follow with brushes to get the remainder and then patches until the patches run through clean. I use R.I.G. applied with an Outer's silicone gun cloth on the externals to prevent rust. I shoot semi autos mostly now as revolvers are so much more of a hassle to clean.

This is what I used to do.

Now I have this:

The BoreSnake from Hoppes

But gun cleaner ever invented.



A review from the front lines:

Bore Snake Bonanza - Kit Up

Break Free is the old standby. Good stuff. Bore snakes are really good to have, too. If you want the simplest solution, remove the grips and run it through the dishwasher. It's going to come out really, really dry if you do that, so you'll have to oil it well. That doesn't mean a lot of oil, it just means a thin coat over everything, paying attention to the parts that move or are hinged. As mentioned above, if you clean it properly, you wont do any damage to it. Harsh solvents (not made for cleaning guns) can damage/ruin bluing, and scratch the metal, but whatever you get at the gun store is fine for cleaning, just make sure to get it clean.

That is really neat! I just bought a Ruger Mini 14 from a co-worker and I will have to get one of those for cleaning.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

This is what I used to do.

Now I have this:

The BoreSnake from Hoppes

But gun cleaner ever invented.



A review from the front lines:

Bore Snake Bonanza - Kit Up

Originally Posted by Wildtim

This is what I used to do.

Now I have this:

The BoreSnake from Hoppes

But gun cleaner ever invented.



A review from the front lines:

Bore Snake Bonanza - Kit Up

That's pretty damn cool. I think I'll be buying one of those very soon. Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

I always use Hoppe's Nitro Solvent with patches and brass brush for the barrel & cylinder. Hoppe's Gun Oil follows. I run a few patches through to get the major residue out and then follow with brushes to get the remainder and then patches until the patches run through clean. I use R.I.G. applied with an Outer's silicone gun cloth on the externals to prevent rust. I shoot semi autos mostly now as revolvers are so much more of a hassle to clean.

I do the same as above, only wipe the gun with a dry flannel rag first to get any moisture or paw prints off as they are acidic, then wipe over with an oily rag. Nothing wrong with the silicone rag, just I don't have one. Just make sure you don't leave any excess oil in the barrel or chambers. Doesn't hurt to wipe out your barrel and chambers before loading so you don't get any excess pressure problems. A toothbrush and bore solvent is a good thing for any hard to get at corners, particularly under the extraction star at the back of the chambers.
Modern primers are not corrosive so cleaning is pretty straight forward.


Cheers

Gordon

I carried a weapon for many years on the job. In the early days the hoppes nitro solvent was what we used but probably the last 15 years we switched to Breakfree. The boresnake is fast and convenient but its not the last word in real cleaning. Its great if your at the range firing many hundreds of rounds and want a fast cleaner that does a good job.

You should use an OTIS breech-to-muzle kit to clean your revolver, and Mother's Mag and Aluminum cleaner for the front of the cylinder, Never go from the muzle to the breech, you may damage the barrel crown and ruin the gun's accuracy.