My wife carries a S&W Bodyguard. This morning she brought it to me because she got it wet and it won’t work anymore. Her words. After a little work I got the slide to move enough to break it down. I have never seen a gun this bad. Her idea of “wet” turned out to be soaked in Dr.Pepper. This thing is gummed up inside worse than I have ever seen one. No rust just completely gummed up. Any ideas on how or what I can spray or soak or whatever to get this thing clean again? Thanks.

If you can’t fully disassemble the gun for a proper cleaning, I would first soak it in water for a couple of hours or longer while agitating and operating it periodically. Then dry it with forced air (hair dryer) and then lubricate it without going overboard on the inaccessible parts that you don’t want to gum up. A heat gun will also work to dry it, but be careful not to melt any plastic parts.

After doing all that, be sure to function test it after a week or so and then in the future to ensure it’s still working properly.

The best thing, though, would be to have it serviced by a competent gunsmith (if you can find such a thing).

Added:
When I detail strip and clean my agency’s guns, I always start with a soak in a concentrated dishwashing detergent solution. I probably would not use detergent in your situation, though, because it would be one more thing to flush out, plus the detergent’s primary purpose is to remove the old oil and grease. Plain water will work fine to remove the soda’s ingredients.

I am skeptical that common gun cleaning solvents would remove something like Dr. Pepper properly. In fact, they might interact with the soda to makes things even worse and harder to remove. The worst that can happen, though, is you find out (keep us posted).

Rinse - Hot H2O (May require a 'Detail Strip' if it's as bad as you describe), followed by

Soak - Hopped #9 or Kroil
Spray - GunScrubber or Brakeclean (Use caution/avoid plastic parts)

Then, ensure the Firing Pin Channel is clean & dry, and re-lubricate generously as appropriate!

I'd soak it in a CLP. Breakfree CLP for several hours and then dry it, then all of the parts you can't get to will be lubricated. I certainly wouldn't use water, and while no expert, Hoppes #9 will remove all of the oil or grease on all of the internals.

Sounds like a great reason to get an Ultrasonic Gun Cleaner Kit.

quote:

soaked in Dr.Pepper

I bet that pistol has a story to tell....

Soak in hot water
Rinse in hot water
Work the action
Spray it with compressed air
Soak it in oil
Let it sit to drain(muzzle down) overnight
Gtg

We did this with our guns after doing boardings and they got soaked in seawater.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:

quote:

soaked in Dr.Pepper

I bet that pistol has a story to tell....

I didn’t even ask her....

Hot water first, absolutely.

If you have any source for compressed air, that would be a huge plus. After warming up with a hair dryer, I would look for a place I could put it where it is about 130 deg and let it sit there for a while, several hours anyway. I don't think there is an oven that can do this. I'm thinking the right engine compartment or the like.

I agree with the hot water thing. I would field strip before the hot water treatment.

Once clean, I'd do a hot air or compressed air dry-off, followed by a wet cleaning with Hoppes or NCBC.

After that, I'd give a good wipe down, spray the internals liberally with RemOil (including chamber and barrel interior), then wipe down again making sure to get all oil out of the chamber and barrel interior, and lubricate properly with grease for the slide and barrel shroud and oil for the pivot points.

You should be fine, but a good through hot cleaning followed by a complete quick dry is very important.

Dr. Pepper is pretty acidic (pH is 2.9) so I second using hot water and dish soap (Dawn is around 9) to both dissolve the syrup and neutralize the acid. I would wash, rinse and repeat until it looks and functions well. Leave some gunk alone in a visible place so you can gauge how well the solution is dissolving what you can't see. Once you're comfortable that it's clean, dry with compressed air or a hairdryer then put it in the oven overnight with the oven off but the light on (this keeps my oven at 125-130, but be careful if you have a gas oven because the pilot might keep it hotter than that). Then re-lube and function check.

Break it down. Wash with dawn, Hot water tooth brush. Swab barrel.
dry, oil and grease correctly.
Done ....

I would add a drying step with a dessicant or some rice, in addition to forced air, before re-lube.

quote:

Originally posted by rtguy:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:

quote:

soaked in Dr.Pepper

I bet that pistol has a story to tell....

I didn’t even ask her....

Please do, and let us know.

Uncooked white rice isn't really a good drying agent:

https://smartphones.gadgethack...maged-phone-0154799/

A little heat will work much better and there's nothing in a gun that will be damaged by a reasonable level.

If you are in northern Virginia, bring it by and I'll help you disassemble it, clean some parts in my ultrasonic tank, and others in the kitchen sink, and reassemble it.

Top rack of the dishwasher?

I'd avoid the rice. Starting with hot water would be my path, with the internals exposed as much as possible. Since you're getting it wet to get rid of once-wet, soaking for a long time would seem ok.

I'd use hot water and dish washing soap.... soak and then rinse a lot. soap can be your friend.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:
I'd use hot water and dish washing soap.... soak and then rinse a lot. soap can be your friend.

b YEP!

I'm piling on, I know, but it's a chemistry thing. Dr. Pepper is a water-based syrup, and also slightly acidic, as DaveL notes. Oil-based cleaners will not work to dissolve the residue currently on the firearm.

I second the hot water and Dawn, possibly in an ultrasonic cleaner, with the firearm broken down as far as you can get it. After that (perhaps a couple of times), rinse well, dry well (hair dryer), grease it up (your choice of stuff), de-grease (brake cleaner or gun scrub), repeat until you are satisfied, then oil lightly and put it back together.

But definitely, water-based cleaning first, possibly multiple times.