Sand!

B

B. Lahey

New member
I pocket-carried to the beach last evening, and, unsurprisingly, some sand found its way into my handgun.

I broke it down, cleaned it, put it back together... but it still sounded crunchy when I worked the action. So I broke it down, hosed it down with a spray cleaner, let it dry, lubed, put it back together... and it still sounds crunchy. There is no sand visible anywhere.

How do you get rid of phantom sand in your action?

It's an LCP, by the way, but I figure there may be significant overlap regarding techniques to de-sand handguns.:)
 
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Let it dry, then use an air hose. If you do not have access to one then use a can of compressed air for cleaning keyboards. Take a patch that is verry lightly oiled and wipe the groves in the slide where they contact the frame rails. If it is dry then the sand should stick to the oiled patch. Then wipe it with a dry clean patch. It worked for my P-64 last time I went to the lake.
 
Yea I would say just keep cleaning it( be careful not to let sand scratch the finish, I know that would drive me insane.) Sand is horrible in general not to mention in your gun. If you know your going to be in a sandy area next time try to keep minimal oil on the firearm it will help some. At least thats what I have noticed with some firearms when I was doing some drills.
 
So I broke it down, hosed it down with a spray cleaner, let it dry, lubed, put it back together... and it still sounds crunchy. There is no sand visible anywhere.
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Field strip? If so, it sounds like you'll have to take it down further.
 
Take it completely apart , put everything in a pot with water and detergent , boil ! Rinse with hot water and air dry won't take long. Lube and assemble.
Unless you do this any lube in the gun will hold grains of sand .
I do the same with empty cases to remove dirt so it won't scratch and wear reloading dies.
 
Like previously said - complete strip, hot water, blow dry with compressed air, lube and reassemble.
 
Never had the problem with a hand gun, but my trout fishing fly reels occasionally come up "gritty". When they do, I pour boiling water through them after breaking them down as far as possible. The boiling water takes it all out: oil, grease, and grit. Obviously I re-lube when they're dry. For persistent crap, I've also scrubbed them out with a tooth brush and dish washing soap, then the hot water treatment and re-lube.

Can't say how this would work out with the innards of a hand gun, but the black powder guys routinely use hot soapy water to clean up then re-lube with no ill effects.

Good luck, Rodfac
 
Sand and rust are the two arch enemies of steel. Working in the oilfield I've seen sand eat right through steel fixtures in short order.

This is when knowing how to completely disassemble your firearm from stem to stern is so valuable.

If there is one grain of sand in that sucker it WILL score the steel or polymer, aluminum etc. Not all grains are the same size. You can get the big stuff pretty easy but the smallest ones are the dickens to get rid of.

Nip it in the Bud!
 
Everyone....note that Mr. Lahey's weapon is an LCP; is it possible that the sand eroded the polymer and now he's getting the gritty feeling not because he's still got sand but because the polymer parts, etc are a little rough?
 
I don't agree with that. Sand particles can easily become imbedded in soft materials such as plastic and aluminum. Plastic itself will not create a gritty feeling or sound but sand imbedded in plastic can .
 
After carrying a pistol in Afghanistan, my experience is that there is no substitute for a complete tear-down and cleaning.

The worst area for sand is the trigger assembly, but anywhere with a spring (for sand to hide in/behind) or gun oil (for previously stated reasons) is also prime real estate. Based on the short exposure its unlikely that anything will be embedded in the polymer (yet), but that risk will grow every time you work the slide or pull the trigger until you get all of the grit out.
 
Can't say how this would work out with the innards of a hand gun, but the black powder guys routinely use hot soapy water to clean up then re-lube with no ill effects.
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Black powder guys that use hot, soapy water to clean only do so because they use water-soluble lubricants. Hot, soapy water doesn't work as well on firearms that have received oil-based lubricants and solvents. It might help a little, but it's not as great as most people claim.


(Coming from a former black powder guy, and firearms cleaning experimenter.)
 
You might consider immersing the receiver in warm, slightly soapy water. The soap can neutralize the charge on the very small particles that could be causing you trouble; much as shampoo does to hair. Then pull the trigger, under the water, repeatedly, and shake the receiver as you do, and work the grit out that way.

I would then spray the dried receiver with EEZOX thoroughly, and let it dry before reassembly. EEZOX will dry and coat the parts of the receiver, the trigger/hammer assembly, which will both preserve and lube them.
 
There's a little hole behind the extractor on the LCP, make sure you blow through that with some compressed air. Sand could get trapped there and interfere with the extractor. There's a similar hole in the frame used at the time of assembly, not far down from the slide on the right side.
 
Got it.

I have been extremely busy lately, so I wasn't able to take it out and test fire it until today. I seem to have put everything back correctly and without sand. No more crunchies and it shoots fine.

I cleaned it with some cheapo spray gun cleaner that smelled like straight alcohol after I took it apart again (more completely this time), then let it dry completely and hit it with some canned air, then did that again before lubing and putting it back together. That did the trick.

Thanks for your help, all.:)
 
Larry Vickers recommended on his site to use TW-25B lube. I'd tell you that I've used it for years, but I'm a nobody and he's been there and done that a few times over.

You can blow the dirt off because it's a dry finish when applied properly.

John
 
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