good ol' florida sand

azzeater

June 02, 2002 13:51

This weekend i had a begining shooter over, he was doing very well so i left him alone to go to the leaker. When i got back i noticed some sand in the barrel of my pistol, he said that the mag fell and he put it in after wiping it off and then fired the whole 11 rounds. My question is how bad is this going to affect my barrel? I didn't notice any damage and i cleaned it IMMEDIATLEY. I do know that this can't be good for it. In florida sand is everywhere! Will my baby be O.K.?

hey all!

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  GHS

  June 02, 2002 21:33

  I hope you didn't slam him too much! Beginning shooters are the future of our shooting sports, got to nurture them. Sand in or on your barrel? Any sand in would have been shot out by the first round. Sand on your barrel that would be visable would have been moved away quickly. Sounds like if you can't see any damage and you have cleaned the weapon thoroughly that's all there is to it.
  
  Think of all of the weapons fired in the deserts over the years...Many of which are still shooting. Some by me!
  
  Jim

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  Der Gebirgsjager

  June 02, 2002 21:39

  Are you familiar with the process of firelapping? This is a method of improving the accuracy of barrels by rolling bullets in an abrasive and firing them to remove burrs and irregularities in the bore left from machining. But, in that process, the grit is tiny and partially imbedded in the bullet, and is trapped between the surface of the bullet and the walls of the bore. In your case I'll wager that the grains of sand are much larger than the grit particles used to firelap, and were merely pushed ahead of the bullets or fell in behind after the magazine was empty. So--not to worry. Probably no damage at all. Not that I'd recommend it as a regular exercise. My concern would be that some granules have found their way into the firing mechanism. Your pistol probably should be detail stripped and cleaned. At the very least it should be blown out with compressed air.

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  azzeater

  June 03, 2002 13:47

  Thanks guys, you made me feel better. GHS, you're totally correct about the nurturing thing, he was scared the first time and now that his 2nd time is finished he has been fake shooting at me at work. I just bitched enough so that he new not to make a habit of it and to be more cautious of the sand.
  
  hey all!

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