Lubricant in the barrel of a revolver?

[MrMcCullster]

I usually always use a bore snake on my semi-autos, and patches for my revolvers. My cleaning regime has always served me well, and I make sure to take my EDC carry guns loaded to the range and pull it and fire it as if I was in a self defense encounter. The semi auto and my S&W 642 snub nose has been very reliable, and so far no failure to fire, failure to feed, or failure to eject.

Semi-autos:
Spray Ballistol or other cleaner into barrel and slide.
Apply cleaner to the head of the boresnake next to the embedded copper brushes.
Apply Hoppes or Gun oil to tail of boresnake to follow the cleaner.
Run a few times through and leave the small amount of oil for coating the barrel for storage or EDC.
Rub down exterior of gun with silicone impregnated cloth, or Remington rag.

Revolvers:
Ballistol the cylinder and barrel.
Clean all areas with copper bristle brush.
Run patches through both cylinder and barrel with cleaner.
Run clean, dry patches through barrel and cylinder.
Run patches with gun oil through cylinder and barrel.
Run a single clean, dry patch through cylinder and barrel one final time.
Rub down exterior of gun with silicone impregnated cloth, or Remington rag.

[Crash]

I usually always use a bore snake on my semi-autos, and patches for my revolvers. My cleaning regime has always served me well, and I make sure to take my EDC carry guns loaded to the range and pull it and fire it as if I was in a self defense encounter. The semi auto and my S&W 642 snub nose has been very reliable, and so far no failure to fire, failure to feed, or failure to eject.

Semi-autos:
Spray Ballistol or other cleaner into barrel and slide.
Apply cleaner to the head of the boresnake next to the embedded copper brushes.
Apply Hoppes or Gun oil to tail of boresnake to follow the cleaner.
Run a few times through and leave the small amount of oil for coating the barrel for storage or EDC.
Rub down exterior of gun with silicone impregnated cloth, or Remington rag.

Revolvers:
Ballistol the cylinder and barrel.
Clean all areas with copper bristle brush.
Run patches through both cylinder and barrel with cleaner.
Run clean, dry patches through barrel and cylinder.
Run patches with gun oil through cylinder and barrel.
Run a single clean, dry patch through cylinder and barrel one final time.
Rub down exterior of gun with silicone impregnated cloth, or Remington rag.

MrMcCullster,

Sounds like a good routine. Mine is similar except that I use LCP instead of Ballistol. Thanks for the info.

Crash

[hovercat]

On the topic of barrel lube. I have shot .38 wadcutters, home cast and lubed with a soft beeswa, based lube, until lube was dripping from the end of the barrel. No harm.

[JustSomeOldGuy]

I always run a lightly oiled patch thru the barrel and cylinder chambers as one of the last parts of cleaning revolvers.

JustSomeOldGuy,

I don't put any oil in the chambers because I'm concerned that it will flow out the back and get under the star extractor. I got some oil under the star one time and unburned powder stuck to it and built up to where it raised the star high enough to bind on the recoil shield.

Crash

which is why you often see revolvers in storage racked or mounted so that the barrel is inclined DOWN and any excess lubricant will train out the muzzle or cylinder face. The problem you mentioned isn't solely related to (excess) lubrication. It's one of the reasons I switched from Hercules Unique to WW231 or Hogdgon Titegroup in my all my revolvers about two decades ago......

[Take Down Sicko]

I saw a pistol at the range one day that had enough oil to cook french fries. I dunno how they could keep a grip on it. If i could have rubbed my hand on the barrel it would have been enough grease to comb my hair and changed my car oil.

[Crash]

I always run a lightly oiled patch thru the barrel and cylinder chambers as one of the last parts of cleaning revolvers.

JustSomeOldGuy,

I don't put any oil in the chambers because I'm concerned that it will flow out the back and get under the star extractor. I got some oil under the star one time and unburned powder stuck to it and built up to where it raised the star high enough to bind on the recoil shield.

Crash

which is why you often see revolvers in storage racked or mounted so that the barrel is inclined DOWN and any excess lubricant will train out the muzzle or cylinder face. The problem you mentioned isn't solely related to (excess) lubrication. It's one of the reasons I switched from Hercules Unique to WW231 or Hogdgon Titegroup in my all my revolvers about two decades ago......

JustSomeOldGuy,

In my case, it was Bullseye, loaded very carefully (IIRC 2.7 gr over a 148 gr WC) by the best handloader I've ever met. But in that particular revolver (Ruger Security Six, 4" bbl) it would leave a little bit of unburned powder underneath the extractor star which would stick to the oil I had put there. After a few shots, the mess had built up enough to raise the extractor star to the point that it bound up against the recoil shield.

Crash

[MechAg94]

I thought I heard you don't want liquid oil in the barrel as it could cause pressure build up in front of the fired bullet and bulge the barrel. I don't see any issue with a light oil film.