View Full Version : Glocks need cleaning too
Nathan_Bell
05-21-08, 17:52
Ran into a G23 today that literally nearly made me puke.
Looking it over the pistol looked like it had been in a dryer's lint trap for a few weeks and then cleaned off. Still had all kinds of fuzzys sticking out of it. It is as dry as a popcorn fart.
Pull the slide off and look down it and realize that I am going to have to take the thing all the way apart to get it right. No worries.
Had gotten to removing the trigger assembly and I start to notice 'The Odor' get the trigger assembly out and find what looks like a petrified gum wrapper stuck to it. Take apart the trigger and cleaning the gunk off its guts and I notice 'The Odor' even more. I turn around and check my trash to make certain that I had not left anything nasty in it. Nope, trash can is good. Finished up in the frame and button it back up.
Open up the slide and intrigued that the extractor spring assembly doesn't try for freedom. I pull the firing pin assy out and then the full ODOR hits me. I light up a cigarette trying to overwhelm the ODOR. The gun's innards smell like bacon grease, rancid bacon grease. The springs in the slide are gummy with some type of slimed on, dried on, white gunk. Pull them both out and grab the brake cleaner and go outside. Blast them off and then wipe them off, back inside I go.
Crap, forgot the plunger spring and extractor! Push in the plunger and pull the extractor out, I could feel the stiction of its slime against the plunger. Light another cigarette, I had snuffed the first as fire and brake cleaner are not very good buddies, to try and cover the ODOR. Turn over the slide, foolishly expecting the plunger to find its way into my hand. No dice, it took some fiddling to get free. Now, back outside to use the brake cleaner on this little part, but mainly to get the ODOR off of my hands.
Decide screw it, grab the rest of the G23 and blast it off with brake cleaner, just for good measure.
Ok now I have a completely clean little G23 to put back together. I pause and go make a pot of coffee to give the rapidly evaporating brake cleaner a chance to finish off the ODOR.
10 minutes later I get back to a funky, but not disgustingly, scented shop and finish up re-assembling the little blaster.
I have no idea what the stanky goop was, but I know that the pistol had to have been cleaned numerous times since its introduction to the nastiness. So just a request, every so often when you clean your Glock. Tear the stupid thing apart and see if it has some kinda funk growing in it or an old gum wrapper stuck in the bottom of the trigger assembly.
I would have loved to have seen pictures of that thing :D
The Dumb Gun Collector
05-21-08, 18:29
It is as dry as a popcorn fart.
:D I'm stealing that one!
Yo Bell, do you have any folks from West Virginia? My ancestors on the Bell side are from up there!
Nathan_Bell
05-21-08, 18:35
:D I'm stealing that one!
Yo Bell, do you have any folks from West Virginia? My ancestors on the Bell side are from up there!
I think its an Ohio thing I had heard it for years and then LAV used it at the recent M4C/Vickers T pistol class, so it was fresh in my mind.
Ohio valley area both sides of the border has a lot of 3rd and 4th cousins. I am considered the stuck up branch of the family.:eek:
The Dumb Gun Collector
05-21-08, 18:42
Ohio valley area both sides of the border has a lot of 3rd and 4th cousins. I am considered the stuck up branch of the family.
I think my grandad was from the "horse thief" branch of the family. We are probably 8th cousins or something.
Nathan_Bell
05-21-08, 18:53
I think my grandad was from the "horse thief" branch of the family. We are probably 8th cousins or something.
Yeah, mine was the moonshiner branch. :cool:
The springs in the slide are gummy with some type of slimed on, dried on, white gunk.
I think I would have stopped at that point and run for the nearest medaphene wipes.
Stretz Tactical Inc
05-22-08, 07:49
Sounds like it was probably a cop's gun. Everytime I look at/take apart a gun at work, I wonder why more cops don't die from malfunctioning guns.
I even had a boss who had 8 rounds in his 13 round G23 mag. He took my advice and put more rounds in the mag, because when I went back to see him a weeek later with a parts upgrade, he had 10 rounds in his magazine. :D
Its scary what you see. Lint, dust, dirt, marinara sauce on the guns. Sludge in the firing pin chanel from improper cleaning ( I know 2 people who tried to fire their guns and heard a "click", fortunately one was trying to shoot an injured deer & the other a paper target), residue from last qualification cycle -150 rounds w/o cleaning and I even had to clean a gun a guy turned in when he transferred to another PD, that was caked w/mud from a foot pursuit he got in 4 months prior (both inside and outside the gun).
I wish you had taken pictures.
Maybe some douche read that bacon grease was a great lube.
Maybe some douche read that bacon grease was a great lube.
damn made me spit my drink out my nose on that one:eek:
Wayne Dobbs
05-22-08, 09:22
I'm never surprised by what I see in cop's guns. They are almost always bone dry and usually dirty.
The Iraqi cops took dirty gun and poor maintenance to new levels of bad. I saw all kinds of dirty and dry Glock 19s, but the one that took the cake had axle grease PACKED into every opening, crack, cavity, etc. It looked like it does when you fill a measuring cup with flour and pack it down and strike it level with a knife. There was that much grease in the gun. I had to know for sure, so made sure the bore was clear (and amazingly, it was) and fired 30 rounds through it and it ran like a top. It took a detail strip and a long soak in our "parts bath" (ammo can with equal parts of diesel, paint thinner and ATF fluid) to get it clean. Wished I had taken pictures of that one.
I met a Old guy years ago out in the shooting pit that used wesson cooking oil on his .22's and a bersa 380.they shot fine but the smell made me want fries:D
Nathan_Bell
05-22-08, 09:47
I wish you had taken pictures.
Had I realized it was going to be as interesting as it had turned out, pictures would have documented the entire adventure.
When I worked at Beretta we had a very interesting cop gun maintenance issue come up. A sheriff's department in one of the Carolinas sent a 90-series pistol back to us with a nasty letter from the Sheriff. The gun was issued to a deputy and when he showed up for annual qualification, the gun didn't work. The trigger wouldn't move, the safety lever wouldn't move, the slide couldn't be retracted, the magazine couldn't be removed ... it was like the pistol was a block of stone.
The Sheriff blamed Beretta, saying that there must be something wrong with the finish that reacted to some cleaning solvent.
First, I brought the gun to our gunsmiths. They looked at it and couldn't get it apart or get any moving parts working. So next, I brought it to the training director, who worked for me. He and I called the Sheriff to figure out if they'd used some WD40 drained from a patrol car as lube or something.
While we're on the phone, one of the gunsmiths ran into the office with the frame of the gun. They finally had to pound it apart with a mallet. There's this dry white film covering every single inch of the interior.
"It almost looks like someone superglued the gun," I said joking.
After a pause, the Sheriff says, "Well, ole Joe is going through a pretty nasty divorce ..."
Yup. Ole Joe's (now ex-) wife had injected superglue into every hole, crevice ... every opening she could find. And she'd done it eight months ago. This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
His wife was charged with attempted murder.
Stretz Tactical Inc
05-22-08, 10:34
"It almost looks like someone superglued the gun," I said joking.
After a pause, the Sheriff says, "Well, ole Joe is going through a pretty nasty divorce ..."
Yup. Ole Joe's (now ex-) wife had injected superglue into every hole, crevice ... every opening she could find. And she'd done it eight months ago. This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
His wife was charged with attempted murder.
I don't think I ever heard a better reason to status check your weapon. :D It is funny the looks you get in a locker room or exiting a booking area, when you status check your gun too. Some people just don't understand.
FlyAndFight
05-22-08, 11:22
"It almost looks like someone superglued the gun," I said joking.
After a pause, the Sheriff says, "Well, ole Joe is going through a pretty nasty divorce ..."
Yup. Ole Joe's (now ex-) wife had injected superglue into every hole, crevice ... every opening she could find. And she'd done it eight months ago. This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
His wife was charged with attempted murder.
Now that is an amazing story!!
variablebinary
05-22-08, 11:25
When I worked at Beretta we had a very interesting cop gun maintenance issue come up. A sheriff's department in one of the Carolinas sent a 90-series pistol back to us with a nasty letter from the Sheriff. The gun was issued to a deputy and when he showed up for annual qualification, the gun didn't work. The trigger wouldn't move, the safety lever wouldn't move, the slide couldn't be retracted, the magazine couldn't be removed ... it was like the pistol was a block of stone.
The Sheriff blamed Beretta, saying that there must be something wrong with the finish that reacted to some cleaning solvent.
First, I brought the gun to our gunsmiths. They looked at it and couldn't get it apart or get any moving parts working. So next, I brought it to the training director, who worked for me. He and I called the Sheriff to figure out if they'd used some WD40 drained from a patrol car as lube or something.
While we're on the phone, one of the gunsmiths ran into the office with the frame of the gun. They finally had to pound it apart with a mallet. There's this dry white film covering every single inch of the interior.
"It almost looks like someone superglued the gun," I said joking.
After a pause, the Sheriff says, "Well, ole Joe is going through a pretty nasty divorce ..."
Yup. Ole Joe's (now ex-) wife had injected superglue into every hole, crevice ... every opening she could find. And she'd done it eight months ago. This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
His wife was charged with attempted murder.
Wow...8 months without doing a function check, and an ex who wanted her husband dead for sure.
Lots of fail to go around
This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
I could excuse ONE day... maybe Two. But for this ass to go eight months???
Inexcusable.:rolleyes:
As others have said, this was a real wake-up call for me in terms of functioning and chamber checking my gun regularly. I've got into the habit of checking it when I put the gun on every morning, and of course I check it whenever it's been out of my control.
I also do a check before leaving the range every time, just to be certain I've loaded my carry ammo and turned my laser back on (since I do about 80% of my practice with the laser off).
Wayne Dobbs
05-22-08, 12:04
Years ago (late 70s and early 80s) as a young cop, I got into the habit of on my last day off to clean, function test and relube my duty gun (1911), shine my duty shoes and gun leather (and it was leather back then!) and to make sure I had my uniforms and gear squared away. It served the multiple purposes of taking care of appearances, making sure equipment was servicable and getting my mind ready to go back and take care of business the next day.
Even though today's pistols may not need that level of care, it's always a good thing to know the status of your lifesaving gear. Based on that, our hero should've known about this mess no longer than one WEEK after it happened.
And, if he was going through a "nasty divorce" (which I can empathize with), why in hell did the soon to be ex-spouse have access to ANY of his guns?
I wonder if the old lube was petrified OLD Tetra-a generation or so back, that stuff had a really rancid odor right out of the applicator...
Best, Jon
When I worked at Beretta we had a very interesting cop gun maintenance issue come up. A sheriff's department in one of the Carolinas sent a 90-series pistol back to us with a nasty letter from the Sheriff. The gun was issued to a deputy and when he showed up for annual qualification, the gun didn't work. The trigger wouldn't move, the safety lever wouldn't move, the slide couldn't be retracted, the magazine couldn't be removed ... it was like the pistol was a block of stone.
The Sheriff blamed Beretta, saying that there must be something wrong with the finish that reacted to some cleaning solvent.
First, I brought the gun to our gunsmiths. They looked at it and couldn't get it apart or get any moving parts working. So next, I brought it to the training director, who worked for me. He and I called the Sheriff to figure out if they'd used some WD40 drained from a patrol car as lube or something.
While we're on the phone, one of the gunsmiths ran into the office with the frame of the gun. They finally had to pound it apart with a mallet. There's this dry white film covering every single inch of the interior.
"It almost looks like someone superglued the gun," I said joking.
After a pause, the Sheriff says, "Well, ole Joe is going through a pretty nasty divorce ..."
Yup. Ole Joe's (now ex-) wife had injected superglue into every hole, crevice ... every opening she could find. And she'd done it eight months ago. This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
His wife was charged with attempted murder.
Whoa.
The Dumb Gun Collector
05-22-08, 20:41
Attempted murder!!! I can't imagine they made that stick. Still, what a cow!
It's really sad to see some guns and hear of stories like this, but it's so true. I hear some people say " I only clean my Glocks when they stop working" One of the dumb things your hear.
They best one I have is I guy shows up at the range with his SW 6946(what we had at the time) I asked what he needs and he goes " well last month I had to jump into the ocean to help with a swimmer" (he's on ATV Patrol) Of course, I already know what I'm in for. He never even took the thing out of his holster. It took me a few days to get it all apart, replaced all of the internals and keep it as a range gun since it had some pitting here and there.
He said he didn't think it would be harmed since it was stainless. stain-less
I had to look at him and actually say you're a f'g retard.
When I worked at Beretta we had a very interesting cop gun maintenance issue come up. A sheriff's department in one of the Carolinas sent a 90-series pistol back to us with a nasty letter from the Sheriff. The gun was issued to a deputy and when he showed up for annual qualification, the gun didn't work. The trigger wouldn't move, the safety lever wouldn't move, the slide couldn't be retracted, the magazine couldn't be removed ... it was like the pistol was a block of stone.
The Sheriff blamed Beretta, saying that there must be something wrong with the finish that reacted to some cleaning solvent.
First, I brought the gun to our gunsmiths. They looked at it and couldn't get it apart or get any moving parts working. So next, I brought it to the training director, who worked for me. He and I called the Sheriff to figure out if they'd used some WD40 drained from a patrol car as lube or something.
While we're on the phone, one of the gunsmiths ran into the office with the frame of the gun. They finally had to pound it apart with a mallet. There's this dry white film covering every single inch of the interior.
"It almost looks like someone superglued the gun," I said joking.
After a pause, the Sheriff says, "Well, ole Joe is going through a pretty nasty divorce ..."
Yup. Ole Joe's (now ex-) wife had injected superglue into every hole, crevice ... every opening she could find. And she'd done it eight months ago. This guy had been on patrol, on calls, on the street with a bookend for eight months.
His wife was charged with attempted murder.
:eek:
That is absolutely amazing.
FYI: Ex-wives or soon-to-be ex-wives are the devil.
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