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Suppressors Silencerco sparrow 2500 rounds

1shot2kill

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 9, 2008
1,323
9
40
north dakota
2500 rounds since the last time it was cleaned
Mostly federal bulk and some Winchester HV
On a M&P 15-22

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After cleaning lost 10 grams of lead/carbon
 
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Did it give you any trouble coming apart? That thing looks nasty, but in a good kind of way. :p Hopefully the tax stamp for my Sparrow will be in by July along with the stamp for my SBR. :cool:
 
Your clamshells don't seem to have leaded up nearly as much as mine. Perhaps there is something to be said for plated ammo? Mine has seen mostly CCI Standard Velocity through a 4.5" Tac Sol barrel. 2k rounds in one camp weekend and it was almost sealed shut. Heavy leading on the clamshells, which is about impossible to clean off.

My resolution: shoot the shit out of it. It's been in the que at Silencerco since September for the SS upgrade, I figure I'll have a clean slate at that point and start over with more proactive cleaning methods.
 
Made this to scrape the inside of the SS Sparrow clam shell.
Gets everything off. Lead and all.
Don't know how aggressive you could get on the aluminum version.

Something to do with all the pesky .50 BMG cases that are always accumulating.

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Myself and a buddy are experimenting with different greases and lubes to find a way to keep the carbon and lead from sticking to the clamshells WD-40 is currently on the table next will be mystic #5 high temp grease then DC111
 
Your clamshells don't seem to have leaded up nearly as much as mine. Perhaps there is something to be said for plated ammo? Mine has seen mostly CCI Standard Velocity through a 4.5" Tac Sol barrel. 2k rounds in one camp weekend and it was almost sealed shut. Heavy leading on the clamshells, which is about impossible to clean off.

My resolution: shoot the shit out of it. It's been in the que at Silencerco since September for the SS upgrade, I figure I'll have a clean slate at that point and start over with more proactive cleaning methods.

It's probably because his host is a rifle and yours is a pistol. My sparrow gets dirty much faster on my pistol compared to my rifle.
 
Mine has looked the same at one point. Came apart very easily but would not reassemble without cleaning. Cleaning took a while but the sonic cleaner helped with the SS parts. The more I use this can the more impressed I am with it. It takes the abuse in stride. I am 100% satisfied with sparrow.
 
the federal bulk i was shooting is copper plated i think that is the reason it hadn't seized up
the internal parts are sitting in a dip solution right now when they get done i will reassemble and re-weigh
the can i don't expect a huge weight difference but i'm sure it will be a few grams
 
Don't wait any longer than 2500 rds to take it apart or it might not come apart. Some moron shot over 4000 rounds through his SS Sparrow and it would not come apart so he had to send it back to SilencerCo for disassembly.
 
I ran about 1500 rds through my spectre II took over 3 hrs in the ultra sonic and LOTS of scraping in between 30 minute cycles to get clean!!!! will not be waiting near as long next time and am going to be ordering a bottle of fireclean in the near future have heard that it is awome!!!!
 
Half hydrogen peroxide and half white vinegar will eat the fouling and lead completely off your baffles. Do not use this mixture on anything but bare stainless steel. I don't know if it take anodizing or cerakote type coatings off or not. I've been using it on my element baffles for years.

I'm waiting on my Form 4 for my Sparrow to clear. I probably have at least 4 months.
 
I talked to one of the Silencerco reps a couple of weeks ago - he recommended an ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green to clean the stainless models. Now, I can't speak to it myself, but I've seen water and ultrasonic, and I've cleaned with simple green, so it makes sense that US with simple green would eat everything out of the baffles.
 
My sparrow was caked in lead. Tired that vinegar and hydrogen peroxide solution and it worked like magic! Left the core and sleeves overnight and they came out very clean.

A little mess, but absolutely no work. I don't think there's anything better out there for stainless. Just a quick rinse with water and dry them off when you're done.

I'm not saying to heat it, but it works better at warmer tempseratures. In other words, it'll work better at 80 degrees than 40.
 
A little mess, but absolutely no work. I don't think there's anything better out there for stainless. Just a quick rinse with water and dry them off when you're done.

I'm not saying to heat it, but it works better at warmer tempseratures. In other words, it'll work better at 80 degrees than 40.

The only problem with the dip is getting rid of it.
 
Do they mix lead into it? Just so we are talking Apples to Apples as we are talking about what is left over not what is mixed up to begin with. "The Greenies" starting product is not the same as the toxic suppressor leftover product.

Maybe I wasn't clear, I thought I was. The cleaner/dip itself is considered a green product. The lead is a separate issue. If you're worried about it, don't use it. I highly doubt it is anymore unsafe than any of the other products. You're going to end up with lead in any solution you use to clean a suppressor.

I'd say that is pretty well apples to apples when you're talking about suppressor cleaning.
 
Maybe I wasn't clear, I thought I was. The cleaner/dip itself is considered a green product. The lead is a separate issue. If you're worried about it, don't use it. I highly doubt it is anymore unsafe than any of the other products. You're going to end up with lead in any solution you use to clean a suppressor.

I'd say that is pretty well apples to apples when you're talking about suppressor cleaning.

Ok buddy... I get it..... the greenies use it. :) Must resist.........
 
Ok buddy... I get it..... the greenies use it. :) Must resist.........

Bless your heart. Let me spell it out for you:

1. The dip is a cleaner made from common household items that you don't have order online or travel any further than your grocery store to get. Read that as more convenient and cheaper. My wife picked up my stuff, so I didn't even have to go get it.
2. It requires no work and no equipment to use other than a container. The container doesn't even have to be glass. I use an old Rusty Duck plastic jar.
2. In its base form, without the lead from cleaning your can, it is considered less hazardous than most household cleaners even by the enviro-whackos.
3. You're going to have lead in any suppressor cleaning solution once you use it.
4. You're going to throw out that specialized or hard to get solution or reuse it (making it more harmful to yourself) and have to order/buy more.
5. The dip that you haven't used for cleaning can be used to clean around your house if you choose.
6. It doesn't store well since it goes "flat" rather quickly. I only mix enough to cover my baffles with about a 1/2" of cushion.

Please don't resist. I'd really like to hear your issues with my posts.
 
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Bless your heart. Let me spell it out for you:

1. The dip is a cleaner made from common household items that you don't have order online or travel any further than your grocery store to get. Read that as more convenient and cheaper. My wife picked up my stuff, so I didn't even have to go get it.
2. It requires no work and no equipment to use other than a container. The container doesn't even have to be glass. I use an old Rusty Duck plastic jar.
2. In its base form, without the lead from cleaning your can, it is considered less hazardous than most household cleaners even by the enviro-whackos.
3. You're going to have lead in any suppressor cleaning solution once you use it.
4. You're going to throw out that specialized or hard to get solution or reuse it (making it more harmful to yourself) and have to order/buy more.
5. The dip that you haven't used for cleaning can be used to clean around your house if you choose.
6. It doesn't store well since it goes "flat" rather quickly. I only mix enough to cover my baffles with about a 1/2" of cushion.

Please don't resist. I'd really like to hear your issues with my posts.

On the sparrow the baffle core has the end cap attached that appears to be aluminum. Do you dip that entire core end cap and all or remove the end cap somehow? Thanks.
 
On the sparrow the baffle core has the end cap attached that appears to be aluminum. Do you dip that entire core end cap and all or remove the end cap somehow? Thanks.

I don't have my Sparrow yet, my Form 4 is still pending. If you suspect that it may have aluminum or carbon steel parts, I would not dip it.

Gary at Silencerco says that the core and half pipes/tubes on the SS Sparrow can be dipped, but to not dip the rest of the can.

There some pretty good info out there when doing a search for "Silencerco Sparrow the dip." Take it all with a grain of salt, since it your investment your playing with.
 
Question

1Shot, just curious is that 185g photo after your 2500 rounds? Here's my Brand new Sparrow, picked up yesterday and it weighs-in unfired at 180g (6.35OZ) just under Silencerco's spec weight of 6.5OZ.
 

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