I have a large ultrasonic cleaner, and clean our pistols and revolvers in it every now and then.

I put WD40 in, and run each one for about an hour.

Cleans them very well, except powder burn on revolver cylinders which I have to rub off afterwards.

Last weekend, I cleaned a few 22 pistols, and some revolvers.

The pistols I just take the grips off, remove any parts that are not fixed, and put them in.

A friend was here, and he offered to help.

I asked him to empty the tank of WD40 back into the containers.

He did, and noticed some bits and pieces at the bottom.

He touched it, and announced that he found sand in my guns!

I had to explain to him that it was residue from the primers.

Sand is the byproduct of primer residue? I learn something new every day! LOL

Zeke

quote:

Originally posted by ZekeShikar:
Sand is the byproduct of primer residue? I learn something new every day! LOL

Zeke

It is not sand really, but powdered glass I think.

Here is a SDS for Remington rimfire ammo:

https://www.remington.com/site...s/Final2_RF_Load.pdf

No silica listed but carbon and barium dust are.

CCI primers: http://www.cci-ammunition.com/...A_02102015_FINAL.pdf