General silencer discussion. If you want to talk about a specific silenced rifle or pistol, it is best to do that in the rifle or pistol section for that brand.
The Sparrow breaks down easily for cleaning but it's a bitch to clean. The manual says to use a nylon or aluminum brush to get the deposits out with no nasty chemicals..........riiiiiight!! Once 1000 plus rounds go down range there's no way to get this thing clean.
Materials used: Baking soda, compressor, sand blasting gun (found for $10- at a yard sale), goggles and a light breeze to your back outdoors. The PSI needs to be kept steady at 70 or 80 and this little compressor wasn't up to the task, turning a ten minute job into an hour. With a "real" compressor it would be much easier.
A couple of "before" shots......nasty.
Progress being made!
Finished product, almost factory new again.
No damage to the suppressors finish, no harmful chemicals, and everything cleans up with water. Hope a few of you find this information helpful.
Very cool! That really did come out like new. I wasn't aware that soda blasting could be done on such a small scale until recently. Definately can see alot of applications for it. A Bead blasting cabinet is just one more thing to store.
Its great your showing what needs done to clean these things. Why I'm a Kodiak superfan. Doesn't blow back everything into the gun and just five minutes scraping with a three dollar pocketknife and your good to go..
I still may have to get one though for when my my Multimount is made take apart. I have it in the Ultrasonic right now in WD-40 so may not have to. To early to tell if its working yet. Carbon in a centerfire can is worse than lead..Well if you could scrape it like steel maybe it wouldn't be..
Sorry if this comes up twice..Lost my first reply somehow..
Last edited by Chondro on Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
If you see a telephone book and your first thought is a Silencer..Your addicted
Member of the Liberty Suppressor's Underground "LSU"
This method (and the link to the website describing it) were previously discussed on another thread here - but your pics are DARN good (thanks so much for taking the time to take 'em and post 'em! ).
ONE IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE!! I don't see a respirator mask in JOHN E's equipment pic - if any of y'all are planning to do this YOU MUST WEAR A RESPIRATOR MASK!!!!!!! Soda blasting will put lead (and other toxic crap) in the air and you don't want to breath any of it in. John mentions working outside in a breeze to blow that stuff away from you, but you don't want to take any chances at all - always wear a mask. I also wear rubber surgical gloves, but that may be a little over the top.
Bryon
SILENCER WHOLESALER - selling to Class III dealers only
Air borne lead is bad stuff. That's why many states require annual blood lead tests for gun range employees - sort of like radiation monitors for nuclear plant personnel.
MAJ MALFUNCTION wrote: YOU MUST WEAR A RESPIRATOR MASK!!!!!!!
I wear a 3M (n95) mask when I do this, just forgot to list that in the materials needed. Should I be looking at something more serious like a mask with disposable cartridges? I only shoot outdoors so my lead exposure should be pretty low right now.
MAJ MALFUNCTION wrote:
ONE IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE!! I don't see a respirator mask in JOHN E's equipment pic - if any of y'all are planning to do this YOU MUST WEAR A RESPIRATOR MASK!!!!!!! Soda blasting will put lead (and other toxic crap) in the air and you don't want to breath any of it in. John mentions working outside in a breeze to blow that stuff away from you, but you don't want to take any chances at all - always wear a mask. I also wear rubber surgical gloves, but that may be a little over the top.
Bryon
No, that's not over the top. Lead particles are some nasty stuff especially when it's airborne or on the skin.
LavaRed wrote:I've never used a mask when cleaning my .22LR suppressor.
How much exposure before it becomes a problem?
Well, you're taking particles of lead and making 'em airborne - if you ingest them it DEFINITELY isn't good for you.
Have you noticed anything odd lately, like maybe blood in your urine?
No, but I have been having a bout of bad stomach problems including acid reflux, severe constipation, bloody stools, difficulty digesting, and headaches, which I attributed to stress and overwork mostly.
I used to clean my .22LR can after every shooting session, dry, with a shotgun copper bristle brush. I think I did ingest it, because every time I cleaned it, there was lots of gray dust which made the air taste sweet with a metallic tinge? I always assumed it was gunpowder residue?
I was careful to handle the big lead bits with care tho. I don't think I've yet cleaned my suppressor more than 100 times.
"There are no stupid questions, only stupid people". -MAJ MALFUNCTION
From old machinists showing me in prehistoric times the use
of a stainless steel rod to polish and burnish metal, especially
effective in field on highly used high carbon steel blades, I extrapolated and
have used small steel ball bearings that are in the range $5.00 per hundred to safely roll and remove
carbon detritus on metal fittings that were gunked in a home made tumbling coffee can.
They work better than walnut shells or brass rods and raise no lead toxin dust.
Then rolling the bearings in wet sodium bicarb mixture in turn cleaned them up easily.
[ Side note: a bag of 1/4th inch ball bearings in a jar at the head of one's stairs
can be tossed down in moments of stress by family members as a delaying
mechanism during a home invasion. (Easily regathered with a magnate.)
This suggestion was used twice that I know of by spouses
of friends who said the disruption caused major Wiley Coyote disorientation to the uninvited 'guests' equilibrium.
One related that LEO's laughed uproariously when the bruised and disabled perp shouted threats of
a law suit for personal injury. Guess he would have opted for the next solution of .45 diameter dispenser that
the bearing delay gave the owner time to retrieve. ]
).
