HELP: RUST?

[viet4lifeOC]

Valuing the experience and opinions of calgunners, I'd like to get some advice on the subject of identifying rust, preventing rust, and removing rust. When I started shooting 3 years ago, I was very religious about cleaning my guns, but that early enthusiasm has tapered off.

I went to the range yesterday and notice that my favorite handgun, the M&P 9 FS, had spots of a reddish-orange tinge on the slide. I ran my finger nail over them and it felt raised and rough. I went home and was able to remove a lot of it off with my finger nail and wooden toothpick. However, you can still see a slight after image of it. I disassemble the M&P 9 FS and notice it was only on the slide...nothing in the barrel or frame or internals. I cleaned it and put a light thin film of Remington oil. At this point...I'm thinking it's a reddish dirt.

The last time I shot it was in early 2012 when I took Stan's class on pistol 101 and 102 at Prado. It was windy day, dirt kicking in the air, etc.

Is this rust? How does rust form on a firearm? I thought rust on a gun only formed when the coating on the gun gets nicked, scratched, etc.

How do I get rid of the after image of these spots?

I normally store my guns in individual slim gun cases in the gun safe. I don't use dessicants (spelling?). Would placing them in a safe help? I live maybe 4-5 miles away from the beach if that matters.

any information would be appreciated.

thank you

[curtru]

I used to live near the beach and even thou I would only shoot about 4 months it would get light suffice rust and that was after a good cleaning and oiling what I got in the habit of was recleaning and oiling monthly but I hear frog Lube is a good way to prevent that issue

[mdib870]

cosmoline lots and lots of cosmoline you can store your guns in the ocean with enough of it hahahahahaha

[scoobydo]

Its normal for a high moisture area like close to beaches. Just always have thin film of oil and use a dessicant.

[GunDog]

Get some Brownells No. 2 Rust Preventive and use it on your firearms before storage.

http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleaning-chemicals/oils-lubricants/rust-prevention/rust-preventive-no-2--prod1124.aspx

[goldengate]

Remington oil is too thin. It won't last a few months. Try Hoppe's grease. You can find them at Big5 for like $4 for a tube. Just wipe them off with a cloth before heading out to the range.

[JNunez23]

Wipe down your pistols with a silica cloth (cloth for cleaning glasses) after shooting, will help a ton. I think its moisture that is left on the pistols after shooting. Plus the upcoming weather will not help.

So just wipe down fingerprints and keep them in a cool, dry place.

[viet4lifeOC]

Thanks guys.

In my state of panic..I immediately bought a silicone gun cloth from the range. Will be using it from now on. So wipe it down with it prior to storing?

Will buy some dessicant sacks and just place it around the gun safe.

I happened to stumble on frog lube "heat treatment" on youtube and did that for my G17. Plan on doing it to all my guns once I see the results on the G17.

So is it rust or dirt in your opinion?

So being 4-5 miles from the beach WILL effect the gun?

[viet4lifeOC]

Question for those who regular use frog lube.

Once you heat treat (two applications) your gun to frog lube...my understanding is that you no longer want to use any petroleum products on the gun..ie break free, remington oil, etc. Is this true?

[redcliff]

Wipe down your pistols with a silica cloth (cloth for cleaning glasses) after shooting, will help a ton. I think its moisture that is left on the pistols after shooting. Plus the upcoming weather will not help.

So just wipe down fingerprints and keep them in a cool, dry place.

Please dont use a silica cloth; use a SILICONE cloth, this will remove any fingerprints AND add a protective coating over the firearms surface. I first learned about them when I worked in a gun shop many, many years ago. I have many blued firearms and religously whipe them down after any handling and in 38 years I've not had any rust issues.

And to the OP, I'm not sure what kind of sleeves you're storing your pistols in but many materials attract the moisture from the air, with certain foams being notorious for this.

[AVID HUNTER]

Question for those who regular use frog lube.

Once you heat treat (two applications) your gun to frog lube...my understanding is that you no longer want to use any petroleum products on the gun..ie break free, remington oil, etc. Is this true?

Yup, unless you remove all of it. That's my biggest issue with Froglube. It's kinda all or nothing. I am in the middle of trying it on a WASR AK and so far I like it, but in the SHTF scenario, I would probably be using a petroleum based lube as I could always get it from a car, etc. It does seem to work pretty good though as I live about 3 miles from the beach and it really limits the rust problem. However, I think I am going to keep the petroleum products on the rest of my firearms as I wouldn't want to deal with it later if I was unable to get Froglube.

[savannah]

Storing your guns in a gun case after shooting could also cause rust to form. If the gun is still hot and you put it in the case, condensation will form and when the gun sweats, it forms rust. Take your guns out of the case when you get home, clean ans store in a safe with a dehumidifier.

[westcoast362]

I've used RIG for years, and never had a rust problem.

[viet4lifeOC]

thanks guys.

I am going to get back to religiously cleaning my guns again. It was an eye opening experience.

last question: was it rust or dirt?

how do you determine if it's rust?

thanks

[JohnFLand]

If it's orange-red on a wipe cloth, it's rust.

I live within 5 miles of the Pacific. My anti-rust process:
1) Clean guns promptly after use;
2) Oil them down (I happen to use Weapon Shield);
3) Wipe with a silicone treated cloth;
4) Insert into a silicone treated gun sock;
5) Put in safe;
6) Use 2x re-chargeable desiccant units in the safe (http://www.amazon.com/Eva-dry-E-500-...sicant+eva-dry)
7) Use multiple VCI units in the safe (the 2 year kind; note the caution about yellowing paper) (http://www.amazon.com/Zerust-VC2-2-N...d_sim_sbs_hi_1)
8) Inspect all guns at least every 6 months.

I've been thinking about applying wax to the least frequently used guns (that's only a few!); either a Carnuba based car wax (cheap) or Renaissance Wax (expensive but may work better) (http://www.amazon.com/Picreator-Rena...enaissance+wax).