Revolvers Reliability in Sand

S

Smith and Wesson

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I know revolvers and sand mix as well as hot sauce and milk, but how much sand does it take to lock up a revolver? And would a revolver function in an enviroment with blow sand where some would get in it. And I do NOT repeat DO NOT wish to expose my guns to sand. I would just like to now the limitations of a revolver to make an informed decision in my next gun purchase.
 
This is a hard question to answer. It depends on where the sand ends up more than how much sand there is. A very small amount of sand in exactly the right area can really mess up the function of a firearm. A lot of sand in non-critical areas could be totally harmless.

Fortunately, most of the more critical areas in a revolver are fairly well enclosed/protected. The downside is that if some sand does get in there and jam things up, you may have to do a good bit of disassembly to get the gun working again.
 
The Army tested a number of "modern" revolvers years ago, including the Colt New Navy, the New Army and Navy, and the Colt New Service (adopted as the Model 1909) as well as other swing cylinder revolvers that were not adopted. (The S&W and Colt Model 1917's and the revolvers purchased during WWII don't count, as they were considered "emergency" purchases and never subjected to full testing.)

Anyway, the revolvers stood up quite well to sand tests, since with the hammer down and the trigger forward, there are not a lot of openings for sand to get into the actions. Sand did get into the chambers (the barrels were sealed at the muzzle) but was easily cleaned out. The cylinders always could be opened to load the gun and sand could be easily cleaned out of the cylinder windows. When the revolver was loaded before the sand test, and sand blown out of the chamber areas, the gun fired all rounds.

It is interesting to note that in 1911, when the Colt and Savage pistols were going head to head in the competition for a service pistol, two Model 1909 revolvers were fired round for round with the pistols as a control. Both revolvers fired all the rounds with NO breakages or malfunctions except for two misfires that were found to be due to the Government (FA) cartridges
having no powder.

Jim
 
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What are the more critocal areas of a revolver, which shouldn't have sand in them?
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Anytime you get sand into the internals of a revolver (inside the sideplate, or into the hammer/trigger group areas there's the potential for a grain (or grains) to get lodged between parts and jam something. As pointed out, it's not terribly likely that sand will get in there, but if it does it could be a hassle to clean it out.

Also, if you get sand/dirt in the area where the hand/pawl engages the cylinder, that could cause problems. That's fairly easily remedied since one can simply open the cylinder and brush the area off to get the gun up and running again.

On guns with ejector rods that provide the front cylinder lockup point (like the S&W revos) getting sand in that area could cause some issues. Again, that's pretty easily remedied since the area can readily be accessed for cleaning.
 
Odds are, if sand does get into a revolver, you just might be able to muscle through it and the gun will fire.

If you ever look inside a factory Smith revolver, they are very dry. Less oil=less chance of dirt an grit sticking inside the gun. The vast majority of revolvers are over oiled. I'm as guilty as anyone.

Back in the late 70's at the Dallas Police gun range, they took all new guns, and officers guns brought in for repair/inspection and completely cleaned out the insides. Bone dry. Then hosed them down with silicone spray and used compressed air to blow out the excess and dry out all the carrier.

Officers were instructed to leave them as is, no oil. I never heard of a revolver malfunctioning from lack of oil, on the contrary, a lot of old guns are sluggish because of the congealed oil and grit stuck in them.
 
A grain of sand (or a grain of powder from the fired cases) under the extractor star during a reload will easily lock a revolver up like it's been welded shut.
 
My dad and stepmom live out in the New Mexico desert. There are real sand storms there that blow in like freight trains. Even without the storms, the sand gets everywhere. They dust several times a week, but its a loosing battle. After a sand storm, I've actually found sand under the sheets of the bed in a room that had the windows and door closed. It's insane.

In addition to that, you'll find that folks around those parts don't take to the same gun cleaning regiments that other parts of the world do. It's so dry that rust isn't an issue. My dad owns a stainless steel 1911 style gun in 10mm that I don't think has been cleaned in 20 years. He doesn't shoot it much, maybe 50 rounds a year.

All that being said, my stepmom has a 2" Smith and Wesson that's blued. I'm not sure of the model because it's been years since I've seen it. Probably a 10 or a 36, something common. Anyway, it hasn't seen a bronze brush in decades, doesn't even know who Hoppes is. But the gun always runs. I've went shooting with them twice in the past five years, and both their guns always work flawlessly. We always shoot outdoors in sandy environments as well.
 
I know revolvers and sand mix as well as hot sauce and milk, but how much sand does it take to lock up a revolver? And would a revolver function in an enviroment with blow sand where some would get in it.
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From what I have read (insert standard internet disclaimer here), that is a real weakness of revolvers. Any little bit of crap can tie it up.

Get yourself a Glock if you're going to be in that kind of environment.

Eric Shelton (Handgun Podcast) Abuses His Glock.
 
I am going to get a reputation on this forum as being some kind of "anti-revolver" guy, even though that's a hundred miles from the truth. I absolutely LOVE wheelguns, but I'm very much of the camp that when a revolver has a problem, it usually ends up be QUITE a problem, where a semi-auto typically recovers very quickly and with little hassle. And sand seems to be an extreme enemy of any kind of tool with moving parts, but I'd much rather be able to shake and rack a semi-auto free of loose sand than HOPE it comes out of tight places in a revolver.

Bottom line is, if a lot of sand is going to be something I'm faced with and I have to choose a handgun, I'm going with a semi-auto every time.
If you ever look inside a factory Smith revolver, they are very dry. Less oil=less chance of dirt an grit sticking inside the gun. The vast majority of revolvers are over oiled. I'm as guilty as anyone.
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At the risk of drifting this topic, I think there is a great discussion to be had here. I own many revolvers, but only two of my double actions came to me *NEW* in box. And with those two, I have never had the side plate off and I have NEVER dripped, squirted or shot lube or solvent in to them. Around the cylinder/crane, sure. Never inside the guts or had the side plates off those two.

And I don't see me -EVER- putting lube or solvent in there unless something has gone horribly wrong.
 
Auto pistols don't do that well in heavy sand/sandstorm conditions either. And getting one cleaned out generally involves complete field stripping. As to the complicated lockwork of a revolver, the lockwork of a Glock is not exactly simple and would be tied up by sand or dirt just about as easily as a revolver.

Jim
 
Since this has turned in a vs. discussion, I'd have to say that all things considered, an autopistol is probably more likely to be affected by sand than a revolver given that it has more (and larger) openings to let the sand into the internals than the typical revolver.

HOWEVER, autopistols, in general, are easier to get running again once they do go down. If some simple manipulations and a mag change won't get an autopistol working, field-stripping it takes only seconds.
 
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