Oxidation

Nobody knows?

You're going to have to open and clean everything. Best thing is to charge him for an all new gun.

Open it up, set aside anything that needs to be cleaned. Remove all the o-rings. take a 5 gallon bucket, assuming you need to do the receiver halves, and fill it partway with water. Use an old tooth brush and try and scrub off as much as possible.

Next, refill the bucket with water, and take powdered clog remover, available at Lowe's or Home Depot, and mix a couple Tablespoons with the water. Use a paint stirrer to mix it up.

Do not touch this solution with your hands. You just mixed Lye and water. If you have ever seen Fight Club, you know what lye can do. Use gloves, and lower the parts into the solution, it should be pretty mild, so give the parts a good 15 minutes to soak. This should remove any oxidation.

It will probly take several baths, and some scrubbing to remove the oxidation. Whatever you do, don't leave them in for too long. Pour the solution down the drain where it can be processed, not in the grass or down a sewer.

Do not attempt this if you do not know what you are doing. I anodize aluminum as a profession. This is the method I use to remove old anodizing and clean the parts. You WILL have to repaint your gun after this, read the sticky for that info.

Do not attempt this without parent permission if you are under 18. And above all, don't be stupid.

If you don't want to mess with lye, you can use WD-40 and steel wool to clean the corrosion off as well.  It will take more work and you have to remove all of the o-rings before doing so.

Edited Addition:  Once it is deoxidized, you will want to wash everything with hot water and a good grease cutting dish soap to remove the WD-40 then lube it with an appropriate oil before reassembly.


Edited by Mack - 13 January 2008 at 2:08pm