Cleaning Titanium Parts

[MichiganShootist]

I managed to wear out the cylinder notches on my 625... to the point that peening etc. just wouldn't work.

With the help of my buddy Cheetah the cylinder was replaced with a Ti unit from S & W... I love it. It actually made the trigger pull even lighter.... and it came chamfered (really large) from the factory. Plus after 2K rounds the cylinder notches look like new.

But --------I can't get it clean.

The face of the cylinder is toasted black and there are burnt marks on the outside of the cylinder that just won't come off. I was warned against using anything other than nylon brushes....(no steel wool or metal brushes)----- but Hoppes, Rig Rags, and everything else I've tried won't take off the black residue. I even soaked the cylinder for several days in a mix of Hoppes and penetrating oil... and it did nothing.

So what's the trick to cleaning Ti parts ?????????

Edited July 31, 2007 by MichiganShootist

[yoshidaex]

Whats the reason for not using steel wool or metal brushes? I asked our resident metallurgist and he said the only thing you should NOT do is mark titanium parts with a permanent marker. He said the ink gets into the pores of the metal, will stain it and eventually cause cracks in that area (microscopic level). Good to know since i was about to mark my titanium comp to indicate where i wanted the machinist to do some cosmetic cuts. I've cleaned titanium valves and titanium exhaust canisters with steel wool to get it clean and have had no adverse effects but we change parts on a race by race basis so YMMV.

Our metallurgist did say our ultrasonic cleaner would do the trick. Though he did say it was one of our industrial size unit (200 gallons ).

Edited July 31, 2007 by yoshidaex

[Nemo]

I dunk mine in MPro7, leave it overnight and then brush it. That does it for me.

[Bubber]

I dunk mine in MPro7, leave it overnight and then brush it. That does it for me.

Nemo beat me to it. The MPro 7 is a good product. I used it when it was just MP 7. That should do the trick. Just one question....What is cleaning? ....

[HSMITH]

I THINK the outside of the S&W cylinder is clear coated, and that is why you don't want to get frisky cleaning it.

Don't worry about the marks, as long as the charge holes are clean life is good!!

[underlug]

I dunk mine in MPro7, leave it overnight and then brush it. That does it for me.

Nemo beat me to it. The MPro 7 is a good product. I used it when it was just MP 7. That should do the trick. Just one question....What is cleaning? ....

The secret ingredient in Bubber's Bar-BQ sauce?

[slflr]

So what's the trick to cleaning Ti parts ?????????

I use my 50 hp bench grinder with a 000 unobtainium bristle hog brush.

[Carmoney]

What's a bristle hog?? Is that anything like a Mayzola??

Edited August 1, 2007 by Carmoney

[JohnRodriguez]

go down to your local auto parts store and look or ask for eagle 1 "nevr-dull" wadding polish. A friend of my purchased a 386 several years ago and he talked to S&W rep and that was the product they recommended to clean the exterior of the scantium frames and ti cylinders. The only problem that we have over the regular joe blow shooter, is that we tend to go out and shoot 300-400 round in a practice session and the wadding polish tends to not work on very heavy lead build up. This is when I took my cylinder to my 10" bench grinder with a SS brush wheel. At this point, my ti cylinder almost has the look of brushed SS, and is very easy to clean up with out the coating that was originally put on it. This is my solution and you may not want to get this extreme.

[vrmn1]

Ya'll clean your guns?

[festus1]

I sent my Ti cyl to Birdsong and had it coated with their black T finish. Now cleaning amounts to wiping the outside with an oily rag and running an oily patch thru the charge holes. That is it. The cost was less than $20 incl. return shipping and it was done in 2 weeks. Small parts have a pretty quick turn around compared to a whole gun. I am planning to shoot the IDPA match this Sat at Linden if you want to take a look at my gun. Chris

[Hunter-Booth-A43995]

I use a stainless steel brush, and Shooters Choice, and scrub it good. I have no problem. I have had the 646 for four years. If they have a clear coating on it I've never sean it, even when the gun was new. Ive had two new ones and one used one. There was an old rumor floating around when the 646's came out, that if you did not keep the Ti cylinders clean they would build up carbon deposits in the ball end of the cylinders and crack. I'm not sure that is true or not, but I clean mine every time I shoot it. As I said no problems. ---JWB

[Randy Lee]

Hi Guys,

The Ti cylinders have a Melonite treatment to make the surface more blast and abrasion resistant. Think of case hardening. If the melonite surface were to be removed from the face of the cylinder, erosion and pitting would occur at an accelerated rate. The first gen Ti cylinders were susceptible to chipping and fracture at the front of the individual throats because of the sharp 90 degree edges. Smith has since chamfered the exits and to my knowledge, the chipping problem went away.

My personal cleaning preference is to use an ultrasonic cleaner with L&R water soluble cleaning solution(available thru Brownells). After each match, I remove the cylinder from the crane, stick a spent 9mm case under the extractor star and put it in the ultrasonic cleaner for an hour or so. Once it's done, I pull it out, rinse it with tap water and blow out the water with an air hose. Running a clean or oiled patch thru the charge holes and I'm done.

The L&R cleaning solution in the ultrasonic is the first combination I have stumbled across that removes the carbon rings on the front of the cylinder(stainless guns too) without any scrubbing.

As far as ultrasonic cleaners go, Harbor Freight has some that run around 100 bucks that are big enough to easily clean a cylinder or two.

~Randy

[Waltermitty]

I don't sweat it.

Whatever comes off with Hoppe's #9 and a stiff plastic brush is all I worry about. Anything more is just putting custom paint and a wax job on a wrecking ball; and if you get too aggressive you'll do more harm than good.

Of course, it's your soap and your water and you can wash it as much as you want.