Hi all,
If this has been covered before my apologies...I am the new owner of an S&W 642( Thanks Joel, great course!...."
Anyhow I was really dissapointed with the manual, it doesnt really seem to cover any upkeep issue's, mostly stuff such as "Never point a loaded gun at your head after consuming alcohol...LOL..."
Not making light, I know safety is #1, of course, but I was looking for tips on such things as upkeep?, where to oil after use?, and how to do that properly?
Any tips, greatly appreciated

Joe

I'm not the most fastidious keeper of guns, but here is what I do with my 642. Between shooting sessions: 1) After unloading and putting the cartridges in another location I run a patch through the barrel to get the dust bunnies out. 2) Push the ejector, q-tip moistened with oil on the "axle" and put it back. 3) wipe down with a silicon cloth, reload and holster.

After a shooting session I use the brass brush and Hoppe's #9 or gun scrubber in the cylinder and barrel followed by dry patches. Hoppe's or gun scrubber and plastic-bristle brush around the forcing cone, the front of the cylinder; anywhere there is soot. Wipe down with rag, oil in the before mentioned places and go.

Once in a while I will remove the grips, check, clean and lightly oil the springs.

Others may have a better method. I'm not one for removing screws and taking things apart as I'm not good at putting them back together again.

:)The 642 requires very, very little maintenance. You can easily get by, pretty much forever, by taking it outside (unloaded, of course, with the cylinder swung out) and spraying it with Powderblast, being sure to push on the ejector rod so the stuff can get in there, too. A quick wipedown with a paper towel, and that'll do it.

If you want to go a bit further (I do, m'self), put a small drop of something like Breakfree (or other good lubricant) on the ejector rod, and another on the crane hinge.

Now, some folks go through the whole routine with patches and Hoppes and all, and there's nothing wrong with that, either.

If you're shooting alot of lead you will need to clean the leading on the front of the cylinder. I usually use lead remover and a bronze phospor brush, followed by a quick wipe down with hoppes #9.

And IIRC do not use lead solvent/copper solvent on blued guns unless you want to reblue them.

Yup. But the 642 isn't blued.

It's a typical (good) revolver: it takes a lot of crud to affect it.

DO NOT USE "GUNSCRUBBER!"

It will remove the clear coating over the anodized finish.

They require very little maintance. Just clean the bore and cylinders. Wipe down the outside with a silicon cloth. Wipe the stainless steel parts with a very lightly oiled cloth.

The internal working parts can be cleaned and oiled by removing the sideplate but I do not recommend this unless you have a set of "gunsmith" flat blade screwdrivers that exactly fit the sideplate screws and you know what you are doing. These screws are easily damaged. These internal parts are lubed at the factory and should last the life of the gun.

If you get the gun wet or in a humid enviorment often, you may want get the internal parts oiled but in normal use mine all have been fine the way they came for 15 years or so.

A rubber pencil eraser does a great job of removing most of this really stubborn buildup.

you learn something EVERY day. I would never have thought of that. Thanks.

Thanks for all the tips!