VIII. Techniques
      A. Pistol Techniques
         2. Cleaning
            b. Revolvers

By Joshe Grosseman

Note that this is not a generic revolver cleaning FAQ, as the
author is only familiar with Smith and Wesson revolvers. Apparently
Taurus revolvers are S&W clones, so this info might be OK for them
as well, and should at least partially apply to all revolvers.

You will notice that I refer to Birchwood-Casey Gun Scubber and
Hornady One Shot, I do this because both of these products have
worked extremely well for me.  There certainly are many products
that are similar and probably work as well.  Do not feel that
you must use the products I recommend. - JAG.

HOW TO CLEAN A SMITH & WESSON REVOLVER

1. Open the cylinder, make sure the gun is unloaded, look down
the bore, make sure it is not obstructed

2. Remove the screw that is securing the grips to the frame,
remove the grips

3. With the cylinder closed remove the one small screw from the
right side of the frame that secures the crane (the crane is the
gizmo that the cylinder spins and swings on).  Be careful, the
screw is spring loaded!

4. Open the cylinder carefully, you should be able to pull the
crane out, and the cylinder will be free from the gun. (You
should now have the frame with lock work intact, the cylinder,
the crane, the crane screw, the grips, and the grip screw(s),
you should not disassemble the gun any further unless you are a
gun smith IMHO)

5. Put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a
patch wet with solvent through each chamber of the cylinder. 
You can use the same patch for all of the chambers, the idea is
to get them wet with solvent.

6. Take a cleaning rod with the appropriate size brush, wet the
brush with solvent, and brush out one of the chambers.  I would
use at least 10 strokes with the brush.  Then wet the brush
again and move on to the next chamber.  Do this till all of the
chambers have been scrubbed.

5. Put the correct size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a
patch wet with solvent through one chamber of the cylinder. 
Flip the patch over and do it again.  Then take two dry patches,
and force them through the chamber, flip them over and do it
again, they should be fairly clean.  If the chamber is not
clean, or the patches aren't coming out clean, run two stacked
patches wet with solvent through again, then two dry, if the
patches still are not coming out clean, go back to scrubbing
with the brush.  Do this rather long process for each chamber,
till they are all clean.

6. Wipe down the exterior of the cylinder, pay close attention
to all of the little grooves on the outside diameter of the
cylinder, and the star on the back.  You may find that an old
tooth brush wet with solvent helps to scrub crud out.  If you
have a stainless steel or nickel plated gun ONLY, you will
notice that the cylinder front is still dirty, the only thing
that I have found that works to remove this baked on crud is the
LEAD FREE CLOTH or FLITZ Metal Polish, but ONLY use them on
stainless steel or nickel plated guns!  It takes some serious
elbow grease to remove that fouling.

7. Spray down the entire cylinder with Gun Scubber, dry it off,
then spray it down with some One Shot.  Let the One Shot dry. 
Set the cylinder aside.

8. Put a bore guide on your cleaning rod then put the correct
size jag on the cleaning rod, and force a patch wet with solvent
through the bore. (Since you must clean revolvers from the
muzzle end, a bore guide is recommended to protect the crown of
the barrel)

9. Change the jag to the correct brush, wet it with solvent, and
run the brush in and out of the bore at least ten times.

10. Take two patches wet with solvent, stack them and force them
through the bore, flip them and do it again.  Keep running two
stacked wet patches through the bore until they come out clean. 
Then run two stacked dry patches through the bore, they should
come out clean.  If not, try a few more wet patches, followed by
a few dry patches.

11. Spray down the bore with Gun Scubber, let it dry, then spray
it down with some One Shot.  Let the One Shot dry.

12. Wet an old tooth brush with solvent and try to scrub the
crud off of the front and sides of the forcing cone, and scrub
the underside of the top strap.  Wipe the areas with a wet
patch, they should be fairly clean.

13. With a wet patch wipe down the rest of the interior of the
frame.  Pay attention to the firing pin hole, and the area that
the ejector rod fits into.

14. With a wet patch wipe down the exterior of the frame, and
the lockwork you can see in the grip area of the frame.

15. Spray down the entire frame including the bore, including
the bore and lock work you can see with Gun Scrubber, wipe off
the excess and let it dry.  Then spray down the entire frame,
including the bore and lock work you can see with One shot.  Set
the frame aside to let the One Shot dry.

16. With the toothbrush wet with solvent, scrub the crane, then
wipe it off with a patch. Then spray down the crane with Gun
Scrubber, wipe off the excess.  Spray the crane down with One
Shot and let it dry.

17. Replace the crane and cylinder.  Replace the screw that
retains the crane, but DO NOT replace the grips yet.

18. Cock the hammer on the pistol, spray Gun Scubber down into
the lockwork from the area that has opened up because the hammer
has been moved out of the way.  Let it dry.  Follow the Gun
Scrubber up with One Shot.  Let the One Shot dry.

19. Wipe the entire revolver down with a clean rag and reinstall
the grips.

You should now have a clean revolver!