J frame went swimming, what now?

H

happyhunter1911

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I was out sailing Monday, nice day. Good strong wind, capsized 3 times. Fun. My 642 in my pants pocket got wet. It was not supposed to be that windy, but I did enjoy it.:D

Monday night I took the side plate off. Tried to follow the directions on the FAQ to disassemble the revolver to no avail. I sprayed the insides down with WD40 to get the water out and just put it in the safe.

So, what should be done with it? I think take apart, dry it off, re-oil the moving surfaces and reassemble. Any other thoughts? How do I disassemble it?

Thanks!!
HH

PS the Kramer pocket holster seems fine. Just sat it on top of the lamp shade and let the light dry it out.
 
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Honestly, you likely don't need to do anything else. But since some will have conniption fits over the very idea if spraying WD40 in to the innards (never hurt a one of my guns), and since I don't know how muddy the water was (around here in some places a dunk in the lake will leave a gun full of grit) you might followup with a good flush-out with GunScrubber, followed by re-oiling with your favorite snake oil.
 
You need to flush that WD-40 out before it turns to varnish. Shooters Choice makes a very good spray lube/preservative. I would also detail strip the gun and clean each piece. I found a gun where the plunger/spring on the cylinder release bolt had rusted up. Water gets in everywhere, you have to clean it.
 
Maybe I don't need to disassemble for it to dry out? I guess I could just apply oil to all the pivots without taking it apart?

I have heard WD is not a good oil. I used it to Displace the Water which is what it is good at (so I am told).

HH
 
Do not use WD-40 on guns. Your revolver is not a shop tool or a lock. If you don't want to disassemble the gun, I would spray it out very well with a product like Gun Scrubber or Rem Action Cleaner. Let everything drip out of the action, then apply a good quality gun oil. Rem oil, Kano Kroil, whatever.
 
SOGGY GUN

Like others have said, NO WD-40 on guns! Use some "gunscrubber" to make sure the WD-40 is all out, and I would lubricate it lightly with Remoil. I like the Remoil product because the carrier soon evaporates leaving a very thin Teflon coating that will not attract dust or dirt. Heavier oils gunk up, attract dust and leak out on to your clothing. Reassemble and check for proper functioning at the range.

Take sailing lessons......LOL, sorry, had to throw that in.

regards,
chief38
 
The good thing about WD 40 is that it does dislace water.

So take off the grips and give it a couple of good soakings with WD 40, allow 30 minutes or so between soakings, and dry fire it a few times after soaking.


Then use Gun Scrubber to get out ALL of the WD 40.

Both of these products are easy to find.

Then re oil. If you do not want to take the gun apart, use Hornady Dry Spray gun lube as it leaves a dry lube behind.

As long as you soak it good with WD 40, and then get all the WD 40 out and re oil you will be good to go.

Nothing wrong with taking the gun all apart... But sometimes you will just be in a place where you do not want to do that.
 
If you're in the field wd-40 will suffice, but once you have a cleaning kit in front of you take the thing apart and get to work. If you want reliability don't skimp on an hour of cleaning time.
 
I have had to clean wet guns numerous times over the years, from getting into the ocean unplanned, to getting drenched directing traffic or doing military training, to ending up in the river here at work pulling people out.

A few things that I know work well from experience;


If you get the gun really wet and it's with clean/er water (rain, etc.) then a blow dryer to get the gun dried off and heated up works great. With pistols or ARs I field strip them, with revolvers I just open them up and pull off the grips.


For salt water I rinse the gun in tap water to get the salt out and then blow it out with an air hose, then use the blow dryer (air hoses often carry moisture in the air coming from the hose, you still need to deal with that after using the air hose to get the majority of the water out).


If you don't have air but you do have cleaning gear, I have found that using WD40 works just fine as a first step (although if the gun has been in salt water I start with a tap water rinse first).
The WD in WD40 stands for "Water Displacement Formula", and it excels at this job.
I use the WD40 really good, then follow up with Gunscubber to get the WD40 out, then lube as normal.

I have used this method on many different guns over the years to good effect, never had an issue.

Although I also don't recommend WD40 as a gun lube, but a little here and there as needed is harmless.


As an FYI since I know someone is going to call me a bone head, I am a factory trained LE armorer through Glock, multiple S&W schools, Beretta, Remington, and Colt. I have been involved in for 23 years, and in charge of for several years, a forearms program responsible for 350 folks who carry guns.
I don't make the WD40 recommendation without some basis in experience.
 
I wonder if an alcohol bath would work: the internal water would dissolve into the alcohol. Then take a heat gun to it and dry the alcohol off.
 
The main thing is to plan ahead. No matter what kind of gun you have, you can plan to have a couple cans of "some kind of spray stuff", to best get the water out, and to best re lube.

Spray stuff is the best, and easiest to use, as you do not have to take anything apart in the field.
 
Never thought about carrying when small boat sailing.Pirates in Pa? ;-)
The gun needs to be disassembled.You didn't mention if you were out in fresh or salt water,but it needs to be asap if salt.
 
You have already gotten some good advice and the only thing I can add deals with Gunscrubber and other similar aerosol products. When you spray with Gunscrubber it removes ALL oil and lubricant from every nook and cranny of your gun. It isn't enough to just re-oil the friction points because there is a strong tendency for any unprotected part to rust after flushing with Gunscrubber. These products do a great job, but be careful to protect anything that needs a coat of oil to prevent rust.
 
Unless the water was extremely muddy, I would have just blown it out with compressed air and lightly oil it as necessary. An air compressor will get water out better than WD40 without the residue.
 
Thanks for all the info. I did not think of an air compressor. Prabably because I don't have one. I don't think it would be good to take the gun to work and use the one there.:D I need a new can of gunscrubber anyway, guess I'll get one tonight. I do like the idea of taking it all apart and oiling everywhere (like under things), but that will have to wait until I get a manual that shows me how

I do like to be armed at all times even when sailing. Monday I was picnicing and sailing with the family. I don't want anything unplanned to go wrong. Better to have and not need it, than need and not have. I am sure the gun will go in the lake again. It is part of it's job.

Thanks,
HH
 
Ran into this problem during my LE career all the time. Take the grips off use some solvent to take the oil off, put it in the oven on a low heat. just enough to evaporate the moisture. Relub, reassemble, and good to go.
 
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