The Mist of Acid

[mickey01023]

Sometimes when I take my .22s to the range i'll be shooting and I get this burning mist? type shit in my face. I wear shooting glasses so i'm not worried about going blind. But it fucking burns for a few seconds. It happened to me a 22 i got rid of....I just thought it was the gun because it was cheap. But now my Walther has done it. So I'm just wondering if theirs a problem with the gun, the shells or what. I can't recall if any of my other guns have done it to me before. I haven't moded any of the 22s, so I don't think its anything i've done. I do clean them after every outing. Sometimes it will only happen once, few times or not at all. I do bring people shooting with me that don't know to much about guns, and I don't really have enough gear to cover a bunch of people. I have 2 pairs of glasses, more than 2 people usually come and I'm just worried that one of them is gonna catch this devil mist in there eyes and start shooting people by accident. Oh yeah and I when I say mist, its not wet, and I have to wipe anything off my face. Any ideas people?

[Philbert]

Sometimes when I take my .22s to the range i'll be shooting and I get this burning mist? type shit in my face. I wear shooting glasses so i'm not worried about going blind. But it fucking burns for a few seconds. It happened to me a 22 i got rid of....I just thought it was the gun because it was cheap. But now my Walther has done it. So I'm just wondering if theirs a problem with the gun, the shells or what. I can't recall if any of my other guns have done it to me before. I haven't moded any of the 22s, so I don't think its anything i've done. I do clean them after every outing. Sometimes it will only happen once, few times or not at all. I do bring people shooting with me that don't know to much about guns, and I don't really have enough gear to cover a bunch of people. I have 2 pairs of glasses, more than 2 people usually come and I'm just worried that one of them is gonna catch this devil mist in there eyes and start shooting people by accident. Oh yeah and I when I say mist, its not wet, and I have to wipe anything off my face. Any ideas people?

Some shooting glasses have a rubber seal to stop shell casings falling in. Trouble is, they make the sealed area sweaty which can sting your eyes. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause this, but you say it isn't wet, so I don't know.

.22 out of a pistol does not always burn cleanly, at least in my experience. A 4 inch barrel is not very long in .22 LR terms (the R stands for rifle) and my pistols get dirty quickly. But I've never experienced any kind of chemical irritation from that.

What kind of ammo are you using?

[mickey01023]

its not the glasses its all the face, cheeks forehead....it feels like these burning specs of sand. I was thinking maybe the gun powder was it? Umm Federal 36 grain CCI 40 gn mini mags.

[Philbert]

its not the glasses its all the face, cheeks forehead....it feels like these burning specs of sand. I was thinking maybe the gun powder was it? Umm Federal 36 grain CCI 40 gn mini mags.

I see, so when you're worried about people getting it in the eyes, you mean you let people shoot your guns without eye protection. This is major league fail. If you don't have spare glasses, go to a range that has them, or make your friends buy them, or take fewer people at a time (probably a good idea anyhow) or be generous and shell out the $11 a pop for a few more pairs. But you should NEVER shoot without proper ear and eye protection and you should NEVER let anyone you know do so either. NO EXCEPTIONS. I suggest you do not make excuses or argue this point unless you want to end up in neg-rep purgatory again.

It is simply not cool to let people risk blindness (and possibly lives when someone sustains a painful eye injury while holding a loaded firearm) on your watch for want of a $10 piece of equipment.

Regarding your mystery burning problem, it sounds like hot powder residue could be an issue.

[mickey01023]

No ranges near me don't offer anything but free parking lol I got a couple pair of the cheapo ones that you'd see in like a highschool chem lab but you get what you pay for, the straps don't stay, there not stylish but I wore them before I got my yellow "sunglasses". Hot powder residue? What is that & how do I fix it or have a gunsmith fix it?

[ithinkimamedic]

it's blowback of some kind, more than likely unburnt powder. This frequently happens when I use my suppressors though I've never experienced a "burning" sensation associated with this.

[Philbert]

No ranges near me don't offer anything but free parking lol I got a couple pair of the cheapo ones that you'd see in like a highschool chem lab but you get what you pay for, the straps don't stay, there not stylish but I wore them before I got my yellow "sunglasses". Hot powder residue? What is that & how do I fix it or have a gunsmith fix it?

See the link in my above post. UVEX glasses meet ANSI Z87.1 and CSA Z94.3 for eye impact protection. I wear them and they do the job well, and they aren't too expensive.

Unburned powder might be caused by bad ammo, which I think would be most likely since your problem is not consistent. I guess light primer strikes could also be an issue but then you'd probably have the problem more often than you seem to.

[justashooter]

22 rf ammo is designed to work in a wide variety of guns. blowback 22 autoloaders are designed to work with a wide variety of ammo. you are experiencing the result of design. the breech of your guns are backing out a little too early and as the case mouth clears they are venting soem pressure backwards, bringing with it some particulate. try standard speed ammo or 32 gr high velocity stinger. one of these might reduce the symptom.

[Computer Steve]

Sometimes when I take my .22s to the range i'll be shooting and I get this burning mist? type shit in my face.

I find that unburnt powder usually collects on my wrists and arms but not back at my face.

Since it happens with more than one gun I would look at user error (fancy computer term) and suggest that there could be too much oil on your bolt and its coming back at you. Maybe not on the first shot, not on the second, but after your second magazine when its warm - zingo - hot oil back at you right off the bolt.

What do you think? Are you leaving it wet and oily? Your .22 shouldn't be oily at all, or it will collect dirt and then make things worse.

[tl_3237]

Had experienced the same thing a couple times. As others said - combination of excess oil and/or blowback gas/debris.

Do the casings show significant discoloration after firing?