how to remove carbon residue & fingerprints

[kmrcstintn]

I have a deep blued S&W 19 and cannot get stubborn carbon residue and fingerprints off the cylinder after getting cooked on after shooting;

I cleaned the entire gun with Remington solvent aerosol cleaner...no luck; I tried wiping down the cylinder with a patch soaked with Kleenbore Formula 3 CLP...no luck; these are the usual 2 care & maintenance products that I use; I refuse to use Flitz on this bluing for fear of wearing it off (I use Flitz on stainless revolvers that have the same problem)

any suggestions?

 

[UncleS2]

If it was mine, I'd try Hoppe's #9 solvent & 0000 steel wool. Wet the problem areas down good with the Hoppe's #9 solvent & let soak for a while, then rub gently with Hoppe's-soaked steel wool. I dunno if the newer Hoppes #9 is as good as it used to be(I still have a small bottle over 20 yrs old, seems to melt any kind of burnt smokeless powder residue almost instantly), but at absolute worst, this won't hurt anything.

Whatever you try, good luck!

 

[Laminar Lou]

Whew, I first read that and I was thinking "blood residue and fingerprints". I thought we were consorting with a felon.

 

[kmrcstintn]

1) thanks for the vote of confidence!!!

2) I don't appreciate the inference!!!

3) You might start stuff that is not true!!!

JUST MESSIN WITH YA!!!

 

[Tempest]

MC25 from Milcomm and a bronze brush. I just went through what you are talking about on several of my revolvers, and this is the only combination that I have found to work. MC25 is the best cleaner that I have used. Easily beats Mpro7, but is a similar water based product.

An old "mushroomed" brass punch is also very helpful to "scrape" or "push" off blasted on lead.

I hear you on the Flitz. It will thin blueing with enough use. Don't ask me why I know this...

 

[chevrofreak]

Carburetor cleaner will remove carbon from firearms very easily. You'll need to clean it really well and put a protective oil on the finish after doing so, though.

 

[Laminar Lou]

I don't have any blued weapons, but I have had Mpro 7 tackle almost every job I have thrown at it. Save maybe copper fouling in the bore (and given enough time and effort probably would have worked). It's great stuff and not toxic. I'll have to look into the MC25 that Tempest talks about.