Newbee cleaning SS Sparrow by hand - need proven methods

[bobschuckert]

I just got my SS Sparrow (9 month wait on my paperwork approval but it was worth it). My question is, how do I clean my stainless steel can by hand? I plan on soaking in a solution of 50/50 white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, scrubbing with bronze and/or nylon brushes and use 22 cal bore brush for tight places. Once cleaned, I will coat insides with TC Bore Butter. For the following cleanings I will soak in non-chlorinated break cleaner to remove bore butter then I will soak in white vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution and scrub to clean lead (wearing gloves). Once cleaned and dry, I will reapply the bore butter and go back to shooting.

I know enough to be dangerous and really do not intend on buying fancy (expensive) cleaning equipment. So, I would really appreciate some "Proven" methods of cleaning my can by hand (keep it clean ha ha). Any advise on tools, solutions, time of soaking, methods, ect.......

I am placing my SS Sparrow on a Ruger 22/45 MKIII Lite and on my Ruger SR-22 rifle. I picked up my Sparrow and found a legal and safe place to put 10 rounds thru it on my 22/45. FRP was noticable but it got quieter on the following 9 rounds. What do you do to get the best results from your SS Sparrow?

Tks, bob

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[bobschuckert]

I just got my SS Sparrow (9 month wait on my paperwork approval but it was worth it). My question is, how do I clean my stainless steel can by hand? I plan on soaking in a solution of 50/50 white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, scrubbing with bronze and/or nylon brushes and use 22 cal bore brush for tight places. Once cleaned, I will coat insides with TC Bore Butter. For the following cleanings I will soak in non-chlorinated break cleaner to remove bore butter then I will soak in white vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution and scrub to clean lead (wearing gloves). Once cleaned and dry, I will reapply the bore butter and go back to shooting.

I know enough to be dangerous and really do not intend on buying fancy (expensive) cleaning equipment. So, I would really appreciate some "Proven" methods of cleaning my can by hand (keep it clean ha ha). Any advise on tools, solutions, time of soaking, methods, ect.......

I am placing my SS Sparrow on a Ruger 22/45 MKIII Lite and on my Ruger SR-22 rifle. I picked up my Sparrow and found a legal and safe place to put 10 rounds thru it on my 22/45. FRP was noticable but it got quieter on the following 9 rounds. What do you do to get the best results from your SS Sparrow?

Tks, bob

Take a look at my "Toy Chest" on photobucket



Due to being 61 with RA in both hands I now shoot 22 lr. My brace of 45's went to the sand pit with my oldest son. Three "Tallywackers" are no longer causing any trouble over there due to my son and a Colt IPSC pre 70 1911 when his SOPMOD had probs accepting a new mag during a fire fight. Three T's were ambushing a team of SEALS and my CTN2 son was placed in the rear of the SEAL position. He said he saw movement behind the team and said, "Dad, everything you taught me about shooting just took over. I threw down my malfunctioning M4 and just drew and fired." He was awarded an honorary Trident. They still don't train CT's to shoot while serving. I shot .22s in a gym at Great Lakes in the 70's. I was a "spook" in the cold war. My rating was CTT2. I never received any combat training. I just knew how to shoot. I started out with a BB gun, as a boy in the Smoky Mountains, with no rear sight. This taught me to become a "point" or "instinct" shooter. After boot camp I shot with Marines and would hit bulls eye at 200 meters point shooting a M1A M14 bush rifle. I guess my shooting skills were reported to Virginia cause the next thing I knew a Lt. Commander with a Trident on his chest flew to my command and tried to recruit me for the SEAL sniper program. I decided to stick with NAVSECGRU, my wife and our brand new son. He, my oldest boy, later was standing at the rear of a SEAL team position (to keep him out of their way and they could protect him) as he was there to run comm gear. (When they left the plane for their assignment, my son was strapped into a dune buggy and gassed. He said the team listened to his singing all the way to the landing.) Guess us rednecks teaching our kids to shoot really are bad people to the "enlightened." Wonder how they'll feel when it's their 6's being covered by a redneck's son or daughter. Anyway, it's good to be here and I hope to hear from ya'll.

 

[PDXSparky]

If you soak your stainless steel sparrow parts in the Dip, you won't have to scrub with a brush. It will be all clean, but then you will have a very toxic waste to dispose of. All the lead that was built up on the sparrow will be dissolved into the Dip. Better wear gloves when using this method of cleaning.

 

[bobschuckert]

I removed the tension screws and replaced with 1 1/2 hex head and a nylon spacer in the barrel chamber tension screw to widen the channel of the holster to accept the SS Sparrow. The tension screw is tightened to fit the trigger guard and the gun, with Sparrow attached, slips in and out without any probs and locks into place when holstered. I really like this holster and may purchase a red dot down the road.

I understand the Crimson Trace LG401 laser grip will fit the 22/45 MKIII frame with a minimum of filing of the grips at the mag release button location.

The treads on the Ruger rifles are too long for the Sparrow. I have the Gentech spacer on my SR-22 rifle and the length of threads meets the Silencerco SS Sparrow requirements (approx 370+/1000 in overall length with 400/1000 being the limit or the muzzle is too close to the baffles in the Sparrow.

I have ordered two cans of Gibbs lube oil. I will only use the dip method if I can not clean the sparrow after a few hundred rounds or if the lead is really heavy and being difficult.

 

[chemist]

Personally, I'd skip the H2O2. The hot water/vinegar solution will soften the organics, and the lead-containing material will slough off. It's not an oxide or carbonate; it's a mess of all kinds of partially oxidized lead compounds mixed up with organic char and tar from all that .22 smoke.

The most important thing is to weigh the can new, and then record its weight after every cleaning. My Silencerco Warlock is within a couple grams of its as-received weight, after years of use.

 

[jbett98]

I bought some Loctite nickel anti seize compound that is rated for up to 2,400 degrees before it breaks down.
I just lightly rub it all over the inside of my Sparrow and it made cleanup a breeze.

 

[bobschuckert]

I bought some Loctite nickel anti seize compound that is rated for up to 2,400 degrees before it breaks down.
I just lightly rub it all over the inside of my Sparrow and it made cleanup a breeze.

This Loctite compound will loosen or removes lead as well as all the other residue? That would be great !!! What, exactly. is your method of cleaning i.e. type of brushes, length of wait between applying the compound and scrubbing, any type of bore lube after cleaning - that sort of info. THANKS AGAIN !!!

 

[jbett98]

It comes in a spray can. It's made for stainless steel.
I use it as a preventive coating before I shoot ammo through the Sparrow.
I just give the baffle a little squirt, then use a finger to smear a very light coating all over the baffle, then I spray the interior of the two clam shells with a thicker coating.
I usually shoot around two hundred rds at a time on my friends farm, then take it apart afterwards.
Most of the crud just wipes off. Sometimes I need to spray some WD40 on a stubborn lead spot, let it soak for a couple of minutes and then scrub it off with a small stainless steel brush.
I bought it off eBay for around $17.95.

 

[usagi]

nothing beats hot vinegar and ultrasonic cleaner for removing lead from baffles. also does real well on carbon.

you'll have to deal with lead acetate as a result though, so do remember to wear gloves. mark it toxic waste and find a facility that will accept it for disposal.

 

[chemist]

Makers of aluminum-baffled cans include instructions that specifically prohibit ultrasonic cleaning. Not all cleaners are powerful enough to wear away the aluminum, but some are. Don't risk it.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

It's called an SS Sparrow because it's made from Stainless Steel.

 

[Trailboss]

A spray can of weld anti-spatter from a welding supply store works great as a pre-use spray. Keeps most residue from sticking.

 

[chemist]

I thought the Sparrow baffles were Al - my mistake.
Stainless should hold up to the pounding of ultrasonic cleaners - but I still think the H2O2 is unnecessary.

The real message is, you don't need to spend twice as much for a can that's twice as heavy just to get one you can disassemble. The guys on the silenced forums would surely disagree, but half of all .22 cans sold are sealed, and we aren't all wrong.

 

[PDXSparky]

The guys on the silenced forums would surely disagree, but half of all .22 cans sold are sealed, and we aren't all wrong.

I think that your estimate of 50% of all .22LR cans are sealed is inaccurate. Perhaps at one time in the past this might have been true, nearly all major suppressor manufacturers now make cans that can be disassembled for cleaning because .22LR is such a dirty round and bullets are lead.

Centerfire cans are much less likely to need cleaning because the bullets are copper plated.

 

[chemist]

I think that your estimate of 50% of all .22LR cans are sealed is inaccurate. Perhaps at one time in the past this might have been true, nearly all major suppressor manufacturers now make cans that can be disassembled for cleaning because .22LR is such a dirty round and bullets are lead.

Centerfire cans are much less likely to need cleaning because the bullets are copper plated.

Of course they all make openable cans. But according to my FFL, half the .22 cans sold are sealed - still - and he's never had a problem with one that was cleaned regularly due to fouling.
An openable can is roughly twice the weight and twice the cost of a sealed .22 can.

 

[jbett98]

Sealed or not, just be glad you've got one to play with.
Think about all those unfortunate folks that can't have one.

 

[Trailboss]

If the can is SS and can't be damaged by shooting or cleaning, is there any reason to clean it regularly? Why not wait until one fires 1-2 thousand rounds and then clean, even if that takes a month or more. What is the harm? Just wondering if anyone has experience.

 

[jbett98]

Before I started applying high temp Never Seize to the baffle and clam shells, the lead particles would bond to the stainless steel interior like debt to a sharecropper.
Almost had to resort to scraping the lead build up off with a steel blade.
I would soak it in a variety of different chemicals and then scrub like heck with a stainless steel brush, rinse, repeat, brush again. And that's just after a couple of hundred rounds.
Just ask Burt Gump about what happens if you wait to long between cleanings.

 

[Trailboss]

Just ask Burt Gump about what happens if you wait to long between cleanings.

Can you elaborate? I did a search and the response was that no Burt Gump exists on the forum. Could be a search problem.

 

[jbett98]

Sorry, I meant Burt Gummer. He's one of the original members here when NWF started up.
Started out as "Noisy Cow" then switched names a couple of years ago.