quote:

Originally posted by dflaniga:
So, I've experienced a similar type of exposure as hrcjon. Salt water! My P938 dropped onto the deck of my boat and sat there for a few hours. I'm guessing that there was most likely only surface exposure to salt water. However, I field stripped it and cleaned it as much as and as thoroughly as I could. Only issue is that the sights are rusting in the super tight contact points where they meet the slide. I clean it off and of course, as oxidation will do once it has a foothold, it comes back. The pistol was purchased in 2015 and the sights have plenty of life left in them. Any suggestions in how I should approach solving my issue? All comments, suggestions and sarcasm is welcome.

Use some elbow grease and a bronze brush with Hoppes number 9 on those tight areas. Clean up the solvent and apply oil. If the brush doesn't get the oxidation some 0000 steel wool on the end of a Q tip stick might do the trick. I also have a brass scraper that has a sharp point on one end that works in tight places as well

Rinse x3 with fresh water. Dry by heating with hair dryer until metal is too hot to touch.

Liberally apply a MDL of your choice, cycle a bunch, wipe off excess, shake it out, leave out and inspect daily.

I have done a lot of wade fishing inside the Mosquito Lagoon/Indian river and the Atlantic ocean and always have to do a complete teardown and cleaning afterwards.

I do a complete tear down to the frame, wash with tap water/brush and then end up soaking everything in Kroil. It will displace moisture also. Then remove the parts and blow dry them off, or you can wipe them down. I have noticed that on my "Fishing Glock" I go through springs faster than on my other ones...and I believe that is due to the salt water.

Sounds like the perfect job for a glock. Honey Badger don't care, Glock don't care.

.

Honey Badger don't care, but Glock...

After I shoot my stainless steel Ruger Old Army cap & ball revolver, I clean it in the kitchen sink filled with hot soapy water.

Then a boiling water rinse from the teakettle.

And last, several hours in the kitchen oven at 225.

when in the CG, we would get the guys bringing back 1911's, M9's and P229's from boardings drenched in saltwater...

There was a Preventative Maintance System card for everything you could think of:
Pre fire
Post fire
Layup
Severe use
Normal use


anyhoo...

on the ships I always received the guns from the guys and I took care of it myself (No, I didn't trust anyone with actually doing it right-especially if it might save your life)

I took the pistol/rifle/shotgun and
-rinsed it COMPLETELY with fresh water,
-let them drip dry while I washed the rest,
-then I blew them out with compressed air,
-then dunked them in a 50 cal can with BreakFree/CLP....or tore the M16/870 apart and sprayed it with oil until it dripped,
-stand in a corner and let the excess run of onto a rag....

When we had inspections from the servicing Armory, the GM1 or GMC always remarked as to how good shape my weapons were in.

I've inspected units that had weapons that were so bad I condemned them right there and that never goes over well....


Fresh water hot wash,
compressed air
soak in oil
drain and issue

If no contamination has occurred (saltwater, etc), then blow it out with dry, compressed air. If it has occurred, rinse the weapon. Simple cleaning with fresh water works, but if there's contamination with sand, dust, grit, then rinsing with a solvent first to flush the weapon is a good idea, before blowing dry.

Relube, reassemble, carry.

I'd slightly disagree with the above. If the contamination came via a water based intrusion method, get it out first with water. Fresh distilled if available, but just fresh otherwise. lots of it. Solvents are not good at displacing water based contaminants. Of course if you dropped it in a method that got it contaminated with a solvent based material start first with a solvent.

Stoddard solvent will clear the grease that's retaining the contaminants.

Water won't.

Yup sure enough, but if you read my original post its a two step, first get out the water based stuff and then second get out the contaminated lubricant's out. If you prefer Stoddard solvent OK it'd be fine with me, but I don't normally have it around. Especially on a boat. So I use something else. But any good solvent is fine.

Be very careful with any kind of Brake Cleaner. Quite often they will dissolve most plastics.

All have good advice. For a fast, shutdown of any salt water contamination, an easy to do, and works well solution has been mentioned. Field strip the gun and dis-assemble as far as you can go. Then(And I recommend everyone keep a can of this stuff around, it does everything fairly well, short of being proper gun lube!), take a can of WD-40 and liberally soak that pistol inside and out. If the pistol had wooden grips, take them off, as the solvent will darken the wood. And I do mean soak everything, mags, springs, all of it. After that, let the parts drip off, and if you have access to an air compressor, blow it off. The light oil and solvent in WD-40 does displace all moisture and water, and the light oil tends to penetrate the substrate of the metals a bit.
After getting 98% of the WD-40 off the pistol, proceed w/ a regular bore swab and pistol lube w/ a quality gun lube. End of problem.
WD-40 is a water displacement substance and it is very good for that application. It is not, in anyway, shape or form, Gun oil. But it does work very well just for this kind of problem.

For guns that get wet I field strip the weapon and remove the grips.

Then the whole thing gets soaked in a pan with enough "Hatcher's Frankfurt Arsenal Ordnance Solvent' (aka Ed's Red) to cover the the whole thing completely. I let the it soak overnight (exception is a slide with night sights is dunked and allowed to drain out and the whole thing wiped dry externally.)

Overnight is probably over kill, but other than the night sights it has never caused problems (and the night sights may not be a problem... I just didn't take chances.)

The chemicals in the Ordnance solvent soak up water in short order. An advantage to this solvent is you make it yourself and it is not only easy to make it is very effective... and CHEAP!!!

If the gun were in salt water I'd add a short soak in distilled water to remove as much salt as possible in advance of using solvent on it.

The Frankfurt Solvent is very aggressive and cleans guns better than any other solvent I have ever seen... In fact about as well as the Infantry School cleaning method,but the solvent leaves the gun with a thin coat that protects afterward.

FWIW

CHuck

quote:

What about the spray that you use on computer keyboards to blow out dust. Any problems with that?

I go through several cans cleaning all my guns blowing out the gun scrubber spray after wiping them down. Maybe I'm OCD in my cleaning.

There's the fast way, and the slow way(s).
If we're talking about ONLY fresh water, such as from rain, snow or a swim:
Fast: Hair dryer, use until the gun is hot. Then clean and lube as usual.
Almost as fast: radiator, if you can find one these days, or hot air register. Use until the gun is hot. Clean and lube as usual.
Not so fast: Flush with alcohol. I used to carry a small spritzer, hardly bigger than a lipstick stick, filled with alcohol. Shake the gun to remove as much loose water as possible, then use paper towels, a thin cloth, or even small cotton discs for removing makeup to get as much loose water out as you can. Then spray liberally with the alcohol until it runs. Start drying again. Clean and lube as usual.

If you're talking about sweat or salt water:
Flush the gun with fresh HOT water. Your shower will do just fine, or run it under your sink faucet. Try to do this before the salt water/sweat has dried.
Then, heat it dry if you can. Finish using the alcohol as described above. Dry, clean and lube as usual.
IMPORTANT: If the gun was sweat-soaked or wet with salt water, flush it again with alcohol, clean and re-lube about one day later. Do NOT forget this step. Salt is sneaky stuff.

If corrosion has started, remove as you would any other time. If you are in a hotel room and left your Scotchbrite at home, you may find the carpet is abrasive enough to remove surface rust from the slide and frame exterior. For interior parts you can scrape with a small knife blade. Don't let it go.

Note to my suggestions:
Alcohol. Use rubbing alcohol when available. It is readily found in apothecaries almost anywhere in the world.
If you use booze: use the purest, non-flavored type available, such as vodka or gin. Even Bacardi 151 rum is better than nothing.
Don't save it to drink after use . . ..