My Gun and Static Electricity Phenomenon

[Lucky45]

Hey Folks,
Sorry I haven't posted lately to all my fans, but I have been on vacation and travelling, holidays etc, but anyway. I'm back.

The problem is that during my travels across the country, I had my carry gun, my backup, and my backup backup. When I got back home, I noticed that my backup, an H&K USP which was in my travel bag, had some fuzz all over the gun. I took it out of the holster and checked it and this fuzz was everywhere. The barrel, trigger, slide, hammer and it had me stumped. It never came out of the holster for the whole trip, so I then inspected the holster. It is a Galco Skyops and I guess it came from inside the holster. Funny thing is that I have carried this gun off and on for months and NEVER saw this problem. But my trip took me up to Colorado and I was up at altitude , so I don't know what kind of atomic electrical charges go off up there, but it doesn't happen down here at sea level. Or maybe it could have been that I was travelling at 80-90mph on the several highways which help charge the plastic. Anyway, just wondering if anyone ever had this issue come up. It has me stumped.

[Tactical_Texan_CHL]

Aliens did it.

[WildBill]

Static electricity build up is more common at lower temperatures and humidity. This time of year in Colorado is probably pretty cold and dry so charged particles of dust and lint would stick to the gun.

It's not aliens. Aliens are scared of H&Ks.

[Tactical_Texan_CHL]

AH, good point WildBill!! And of hats made of aluminum foil

[Lucky45]

Hey WildBill,
I was out there for a few days and the temps were near zero and teens for several days. But the funny thing is this stuff came off the holster, which never shed for the months I have had it. I haven't cleaned it yet, but was wondering what kinda effect it would have if the gun was fired.
Luckily, my blue steel carry gun did not have this problem with static.

[KC5AV]

AH, good point WildBill!! And of hats made of aluminum foil

You laugh, but I'm safe.


-John

[WildBill]

It may be that the leather dried out during the exposure to the low temperature/humidity and started to shed a little - just like your skin does in cold weather. Perhaps the vibration during the long drive rubbed the gun against the holster and made the particles slough off. Static-charged particles tend to stick to nonconductive surfaces like plastic/polymer more than metal because the charge can drain away as easily. I would think it would be okay to shoot as long as nothing got into the barrel, but I would clean it anyway.

[frankie_the_yankee]

Going 80 or 90 MPH is a good way to attract "fuzz". It's always worked for me.

[TDDude]

Hey WildBill,
I was out there for a few days and the temps were near zero and teens for several days. But the funny thing is this stuff came off the holster, which never shed for the months I have had it. I haven't cleaned it yet, but was wondering what kinda effect it would have if the gun was fired.
Luckily, my blue steel carry gun did not have this problem with static.

I've been having issues with lint. If I don't go through and blow the lint out of my pistol and spare mags, it will build up to a surprising amount.

The past couple times I've shot, the first 50 rounds work flawlessly. Starting with #51, fail to feed is the rule. If I take the slide off and clean the rails/grooves, then it starts working again.

The only thing I can figure is that I was using a tiny dot of Miltec grease on the rails and the lint mixed with the grease mixed with the heat all combined slowed the slide enough to mess up timing.

Anyway, I now stay away from the Miltec grease and only put a couple small drops of the Miltec oil on the slide and all is much better.

The moral is, take the time to blow out the lint.

[WildBill]

What do you store your guns in?

Another thread was started a few days ago about "What Do You Keep in Your Cleaning Kit". A couple of people including me use paper towels for certain tasks. Of course they are very bad sources of lint. I don't throw away old T-shirts. They are very good gun rags.

I would be very concerned about having failures after only 50 rounds. That sounds like it's more than a lint problem.

[TDDude]

What do you store your guns in?

Another thread was started a few days ago about "What Do You Keep in Your Cleaning Kit". A couple of people including me use paper towels for certain tasks. Of course they are very bad sources of lint. I don't throw away old T-shirts. They are very good gun rags.

I would be very concerned about having failures after only 50 rounds. That sounds like it's more than a lint problem.

I store my gun on my hip or an upside down duty holster bolted to the wall in my closet. I have a level III duty holster that my kids cannot figure out how to operate. The lint comes off my shirts as I'm wearing it.

Once it starts to mess up, I can take the slide and run my finger inside and I can feel a "gunk" that wasn't there when I started.

One other thing I do that's out of the "ordinary" is that I strip everything down and spray with brake cleaner. I then use compressed air to blow it out and then apply a couple drops of oil here and there. I used Gun Scrubber once at $8 a can and couldn't help but notice that it felt and smelled like a $3 can of brake cleaner from the local auto parts store.

I probably need to get it to a gunsmith and probably will if the problem comes back again but so far it hasn't.

[stevie_d_64]

This is just plain shocking to me!

[WildBill]

This is just plain shocking to me!

I'm starting to wonder if I was wrong. Maybe it is aliens.