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Rust!?!?!

rolexbenz190e

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2008
Messages
131
Location
Northern Arizona, Arizona, USA
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Ok, I'm from AZ and I maintain my gun very well.... after 1 day of carry (IWB @ 4 O'Clock) here in VA, there has already been a HUGE developement of rust on my Kimber Ultra Carry II!!!! What in the world? How do I get rid of the rust and how do I prevent it from happening again?
 

W.E.G.

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Oct 7, 2007
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all over VA, ,
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The best way to get rid of rust on a blued handgun in Virginia is to get rid of the blued handgun.

Something like a GLOCK perhaps?
I never clean mine unless I fire it, and it has ZERO rust on it.

I have used BRONZE WOOL to knock surface rust off blued firearms.
If you do it every day, there won't be much blue left by the end of summer though.

I lied about cleaning the Glock.
I do sometimes clean the lint off it with a can of compressed air, even if I don't shoot it.
 

nova

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W.E.G. wrote:
The best way to get rid of rust on a blued handgun in Virginia is to get rid of the blued handgun.

Something like a GLOCK perhaps?
I never clean mine unless I fire it, and it has ZERO rust on it.

I have used BRONZE WOOL to knock surface rust off blued firearms.
If you do it every day, there won't be much blue left by the end of summer though.

I lied about cleaning the Glock.
I do sometimes clean the lint off it with a can of compressed air, even if I don't shoot it.
Just keep it out of the sun, it might melt :p

In all seriousness, if the rust is bad enough that wiping it with a rag with gun cleaning solvent won't clean it up, do the wool deal and keep it oiled better (or use something better than oil, something like wax or another gun preservative.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=10700/guntechdetail/Gun_Cleaning_Clinic__Knowing_the_Limits_of_Rust_Preventatives
 

ed

Founder's Club Member - Moderator
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
4,841
Location
Loudoun County - Dulles Airport, Virginia, USA
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rolexbenz190e wrote:
Ok, I'm from AZ and I maintain my gun very well.... after 1 day of carry (IWB @ 4 O'Clock) here in VA, there has already been a HUGE developement of rust on my Kimber Ultra Carry II!!!! What in the world? How do I get rid of the rust and how do I prevent it from happening again?

My Kimber Ultra Carry II is a great gun.. It wont melt like nova was talking aout some of those plastic guns.. andlight rust should come off pretty easily with CLPand some light rubbing. Then a light wipedown with gun oil should do the trick.



Ed
 

gis

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
264
Location
Prince William County, Virginia, USA
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A few observations from my end. Virginia is not the the most humid place in the country, and even if it was, one day is not long enough to develop rust. Perhaps your gun was exposed to something more potent during transport that it reacted with? Perhaps the humidity activated a chemical in your holster (dye, glue) that reacted with the gun?

When I carry IWB, I like to have a shirt between the holster/gun and skin. Also, for the last several years I have changed to using good kydex holsters for IWB (I love BladeTech), despite being sold on leather for as long as I can remember in the past. Both help keep your gun in good condition.
 

rolexbenz190e

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Jul 30, 2008
Messages
131
Location
Northern Arizona, Arizona, USA
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gis wrote:
A few observations from my end. Virginia is not the the most humid place in the country, and even if it was, one day is not long enough to develop rust. Perhaps your gun was exposed to something more potent during transport that it reacted with? Perhaps the humidity activated a chemical in your holster (dye, glue) that reacted with the gun?

When I carry IWB, I like to have a shirt between the holster/gun and skin. Also, for the last several years I have changed to using good kydex holsters for IWB (I love BladeTech), despite being sold on leather for as long as I can remember in the past. Both help keep your gun in good condition.
I always wear an undershirt and the gun is always separated from my skin. I dont know what could have activated the rust... I wrapped it up in silicon coated fabric and transported it that way to VA. I do have a new highnoon IWB holster thats dyed black..... but aren't holsters supposed to be designed to prevent stuff like this? The gun is never exposed to sun so far that I have been here. Just in my waistband concealed the whole time. I took it out and there was a ton of rust for some reason, I can't just wipe it off with a cloth either... I can't clean it right away right now cause I didn't bring my gun cleaning stuff and I'm going back to AZ this wed. anyways. I dont care to much for the blued slide... I would rather have it a different color anyways... thanks for the suggestions, I will have to get some CLP and Bronze wool.
 

MSC 45ACP

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Apr 23, 2009
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Newport News, Virginia, USA
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Human skin is a wonderful de-oiler of firearms. I once got a very nice rust-fingerprint on one of my match guns where I had touched it with a bare finger. For blued guns, you should always keep a thin coat of oil on them. if you don't, you'll have pretty rust-colored fingerprints all over them.

CLP is a decent oil/preservative if you shake it before using it and re-applyit every month or so because its a binary compound and separates when sitting on the shelf for more than afew hours. It does the same thing when you put it on your gun. If you put it on a weapon andleave it in the gun safe for a year, it will turn to sticky gunk, then to dust.

Use alight machineoil like Hoppes on the exterior of your gun. If you are shooting competitively and need something as slippery as owlchit, I used to use some stuff called FP-10 on the rails, hood and other moving parts. I'm sure they have others out now that are just as good or better.

Just my $.02 worth...

Semper Paratus
 

mdinnie

Regular Member
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
25
Location
Arlington, Virginia, USA
imported post

I have a blued revolver I carry daily - sometimes with a t-shirt and sometimes next to the skin. I have to maintain it with CLP frequently. Fortunately, when rust appears, it reminds me to wipe the gun down. Its only surface rust. It comes right off with a toothbrush and CLP.
I kinda like the frequent maintenance required - reminds me of the good `ol days in the Corps.
 

rolexbenz190e

Regular Member
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Jul 30, 2008
Messages
131
Location
Northern Arizona, Arizona, USA
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So if I leave the rust there for a few more days, will I still be able to just brush the rust off with CLP and a brush? Cause I dont have my gun cleaning stuff with me... I hope it doesn't ruin it.
 

markand

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2006
Messages
512
Location
VA
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I carry a blued SIG P-229 every day. I always have a tee shirt, at minimum, between the gun and my skin. Still, there are two things that do seem to rust easily. One is the grip screws closest to my body. The second is a metal plate on the opposite side of the gun as the magazine release. Carrying left-handed, this part is close to the body.

After trying several things, I finally used clear fingernail polish to "paint" the grip screw heads and the magazine release plate. No more rust. The fingernail polish is easily removed and causes no harm or functionality issue.
 

67GT390FB

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Messages
860
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
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Just run by a walmart or even a cvs or grocery store and at a minimum you could pick up a tiny can of wd40, that a free toothbrush from the hotel and you can clean and protect the pistol while you are here.
 

nova

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Aug 19, 2007
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a good way as I might have mentioned in my previous post, is after you clean the rust off, de-grease the surface with some rubbing alcohol, then put a coat of paste wax (I prefer SC Johnson wax that comes in the tin). It doesn't dry up like some oils do and works as a good barrier to keep moisture away from the metal surface.

another method for keeping guns rust free, WD40 I've found works well for wiping down the exterior of guns. Yes, its not a good lube as it will gum up after time so I don't use it for that purpose. But it takes less effort and time than the wax method.
 

cREbralFIX

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I left a SIG under a swamp cooler. FOUR to SIX hours later, there was ONE fleck of rust on top of the slide. I just wiped it off. Use any oil or hoppes or whatever and a toothbrush.
 

MSC 45ACP

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Apr 23, 2009
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Newport News, Virginia, USA
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cREbralFIX wrote:
I left a SIG under a swamp cooler. FOUR to SIX hours later, there was ONE fleck of rust on top of the slide. I just wiped it off. Use any oil or hoppes or whatever and a toothbrush.
Try an HOUR in salt water or even better, salt air like near the beach.


Swamp cooler: fresh water

Human sweat: salt water

We Coasties have ALWAYS known how hard it is to keep rust off things. When at sea, with .50 cal MG's mounted 24/7, I cleaned and re-applied CLP to them EVERY DAY, even though they had heavy canvas covers over them. The salt air was sufficient to rust them overnight, even when they're completely covered with CLP.

Marines have been known to take a shower with their rifles. That's a FRESH water shower. a rifle without any bluing (or parkerizing) missing can be cleaned in fresh water and left without oil and not even rust.

Semper Paratus
 

DrMark

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Jan 13, 2007
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Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA
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MSC 45ACP wrote:
We Coasties have ALWAYS known how hard it is to keep rust off things. When at sea, with .50 cal MG's mounted 24/7, I cleaned and re-applied CLP to them EVERY DAY, even though they had heavy canvas covers over them. The salt air was sufficient to rust them overnight, even when they're completely covered with CLP.
The Navy just adds another coat of gray paint to them, don't they?


:D
 

MSC 45ACP

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Apr 23, 2009
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Newport News, Virginia, USA
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DrMark wrote:
MSC 45ACP wrote:
We Coasties have ALWAYS known how hard it is to keep rust off things. When at sea, with .50 cal MG's mounted 24/7, I cleaned and re-applied CLP to them EVERY DAY, even though they had heavy canvas covers over them. The salt air was sufficient to rust them overnight, even when they're completely covered with CLP.
The navy just adds another coat of gray paint to them, don't they?

Don't EVEN get me started on that subject, Doc... It ain't EVEN funny. When the CG took custody of a Navy patrol boat (170' Tornado class) to study the feasibility of using them for chasing dopers, the guns came with them... They DID indeed PAINT their machine guns. I've spoken to Navy Gunners Mates (GM's) and this is apparently common practice.

I can attest to seeing it on a couple Navy ships I've been aboard, but I can't believe its a Navy-wide practice. I've had to scrape the paint off a few weapons transferred from the Navy to the CG. They do a pretty good job painting Beretta 92F's.
 

Crash7795

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
90
Location
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
imported post

MSC 45ACP wrote:
DrMark wrote:
MSC 45ACP wrote:
We Coasties have ALWAYS known how hard it is to keep rust off things. When at sea, with .50 cal MG's mounted 24/7, I cleaned and re-applied CLP to them EVERY DAY, even though they had heavy canvas covers over them. The salt air was sufficient to rust them overnight, even when they're completely covered with CLP.
The navy just adds another coat of gray paint to them, don't they?

Don't EVEN get me started on that subject, Doc... It ain't EVEN funny. When the CG took custody of a Navy patrol boat (170' Tornado class) to study the feasibility of using them for chasing dopers, the guns came with them... They DID indeed PAINT their machine guns. I've spoken to Navy Gunners Mates (GM's) and this is apparently common practice.

I can attest to seeing it on a couple Navy ships I've been aboard, but I can't believe its a Navy-wide practice. I've had to scrape the paint off a few weapons transferred from the Navy to the CG. They do a pretty good job painting Beretta 92F's.

That's pretty interesting....when the CG gave those patrol boats back to the Navy a few years ago, I know of a few senior officers who almost cried at the amount of running rust on the hulls and decks of those ships from lack of painting and preservation during the CG ownership period. So it appears that while we may take a hit for painting our guns (and yes, I've seen it), the general application of paint to Naval vessels is a well-proven remedy to the salt environment.

</off-topic soapbox>

**Disclaimer: I am in no way advocating you run out and get a can of RustOleum for your favorite hogleg.**
 

Marco

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Jul 29, 2007
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Location
Greene County
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rolexbenz190e wrote:
So if I leave the rust there for a few more days, will I still be able to just brush the rust off with CLP and a brush? Cause I dont have my gun cleaning stuff with me... I hope it doesn't ruin it.
Stop by a local hardware/grocery or mega store and get what you need
or
PM someone that might be in your area.

What City/Town are you staying in?
 

MSC 45ACP

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Apr 23, 2009
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Newport News, Virginia, USA
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If you're within an hour of Yorktown, VA, I'll GIVE you the cleaning gear. I have spare rods, brushes, cleaners and oils. I can't stand hearing about a neglected or abused firearm...
 
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