Rust Prevention in the PNW

[Caveman Jim]

CLP is what I use in all weather to prevent rust and friction issues. As stated, i reinterate not storing wet firearms in a case or bag...
Good luck out there.

 

[Rocklock]

I have a mix of stainless, blued and browned firearms (and a couple in the white). If they get a real good soaking I'll strip 'em down but otherwise I just make sure they dry real well before putting on a light coat of Rem Oil (cartridge) or Ballistol (muzzleloaders). Worked in coastal Alaska just fine and been working down here for the last 25 years.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

A good wipe down and CLP or RIG gun grease if I 'm going to be storing them for a while works for me.
Andy

 

[Member 5605]

Oh gawd I hate stainless, nickel, chrome, etc. While it may be good, I have my reasons. Your mileage may vary.

Might want to get checked for that, it almost sounds like a mental issue.

 

[Certaindeaf]

You need to pray to the Jesus, heathen. wtf
lool

 

[orygun]

If you hunt here, or shoot in all types of weather, get used to taking your guns apart and wiping them down often.
I've owned blued guns since I started with firearms and the only time I got a gun somewhat rusty was when I neglected it and put it away before I gave it a good wiping down. I don't think it really matters what type of oil you use, just use some. When I was a teenager I used 3 in one oil cuz that's what I had. Since then I've used CLP (not my fav) Rem Oil and Outers stuff. All of them have done a fine job.
But, after many seasons of hunting where I drain water out of my rifle stock I switched to stainless guns. Yes, you need to maintain them, but I can go for a couple of weeks to a month of use with out any problem. After the season I'll pull the rifle out of the stock and do the oil down. When I shot blued guns sometimes I felt that I needed to pull the action out of the stock every night. (Thank God my gun always kept it's zero).
Gun cases are the friggin Devil when it's raining or damp out. I've put my rifles in cases when wet, but only for the trip home. Then it was time to break them down and lube them up. Even with my stainless/synthetic rifles I've gotten out of the habit of using a case unless it's dry or I absolutely have to. Not allowing a damp firearm to breathe, no matter it's composition is just asking for trouble.
I love the looks of finely finished bluing and wood with figure, but I would cringe when it started raining...

 

[41mag]

...it's always amazed me to find how that last little bit of 'saved time' I thought was MINE could get easily used up by discovering (eventually) those few moments I 'saved' were more than consumed by dealing with the now threatening 'touch of rust' underneath those pistol grips....

As if I were a slow learner or something, my decade-long interlude with Cowboy Action & the Holy Black taught with certainty, cleaning up them things NOW is always a better choice than 'maybe tomorrow after I get done with....'............

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

So, i'm going to ignore the basic request for general care, here, everyone will have covered it above.

However, from what you wrote, and the way you wrote it, it sounds like you're storing firearms in those foam lined carry cases?

That being the case, i will strongly advise you to get them out of there ASAP, they're not designed for storage and they will promote rust. Ask me how i know.

They're just carry/transport cases, nothing more i'm afraid

 

[salmonriverjohn]

If your going to store them semi long term, petroleum jelly.
A light coating inside and out and your firearms will not rust.
A light degreaser easily removes it.
A collector of very fine arms showed this to me here on the coast when I asked how he kept them in such great shape in this salt cursed environment and I've used it since.
For normal cleaning purposes I too use ballistol, it simply works.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

This is slightly on topic, but concerning the same problem of rusting/coastal basically, salt.

 

[TheShanMan]

Being new to firearms over the last few years, I appreciate the knowledge shared in this thread. I will be putting some of it into practice!

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I've used Break Free CLP a fair bit, also a product meeting the same specs but milsurp by Royal Chemicals.

For my close carry deeply concealed pistol, I favor Hornady One-Shot because it leaves a dry slick surface that doesn't grab dust and lint.

Had an odd experience: an AR-15 spent months on a high wall rack in our upstairs room, then got shunted to an unheated attic crawlspace for more months. Opportunity to go shoot with a friend resulted in grabbing it alomg with a pile of ammo. In the field, we discovered that my gun appeared to have been lubed with glue. I had a BoreSnake and some lube spray, as did my friend, and we eventually got it working. But I got some ribbing. Going over this in my own memory and consulting with my wife, I think I doused this gun pretty thoroughly with Frog Lube before hanging it on that rack. Has anyone had a similar experience?

+1 on the Golden Rod. Due to location near a wall, I saw guns in an upstairs safe with condensation on them. I also often wrap guns in VCI bags. But mine are getting old and I probably should replace them. They work, but not forever. Does anyone know if there's an equivalent of that treated waxy paper that came in the box with a Smith & Wesson in the 1950's?

Any oil is better than none. Boeshield T-9 is expensive, and the last can I ordered pooped out while still new. Guess it's past time I tried Ballistol.

Has anyone tried "Ed's Red" as a preservative? I have the Dexron, kerosene, mineral spirits and acetone, but have never mixed it up. I was wondering if the recipe including the optional lanolin would be a preservative as well as cleaner.

 

[MooThulhu]

So, i'm going to ignore the basic request for general care, here, everyone will have covered it above.

However, from what you wrote, and the way you wrote it, it sounds like you're storing firearms in those foam lined carry cases?

That being the case, i will strongly advise you to get them out of there ASAP, they're not designed for storage and they will promote rust. Ask me how i know.

They're just carry/transport cases, nothing more i'm afraid

Sorry for the late reply but to answer your question I had been using a cardboard box that does have a bit of foam in it (like what palmetto ships their parts kits in if you have seen those) when we are away from the house for any period of time, when we are home one of the rifles sits next to my office area and the other sits next to the bed.
I had used a soft sided case on occasion for storage up until the wet day at the range when I got home and realized I had just carried one of my guns wrapped in a damp sponge all the way home. The thought of drying the case out and using it later for storage had crossed my mind but after the advice I've gotten here I'll definitely keep those for transportation only.


With the way things are so much wetter out here than what I'm used to I've discontinued using the cases/boxes they came in and have given our two AR's a good coating of CLP and will be trying out a lot of the suggestions everyone has given to keep things in good condition.

 

[recreshooter]

I live on the river and have to run a dehumidifier in constant on mode where I keep my guns. If you are away from a water source a coating of CLP each time you handle the gun and periodically down the bore works just fine but when I moved into the home on the river I was getting corrosion within a day of application. A pail of desiccant was completely filled with water in a week here. A can of rust preventative from the O'Reilly auto parts based on lanolin combined with the constantly running dehumidifier turned out to be the trick. I haven't done any scientific testing yet but accuracy actually seemed to improve after I started keeping that rust inhibitor in the bore which blows my mind. The more likely answer is that I've been getting out and shooting more than ever though. My corrosion issues are completely gone now and I consider it a good learning opportunity because I don't worry about shooting in the rain anymore. This is in contrast to how I would always rush home and put CLP on my rifles if they got wet under the previous regimen due to CLP being less resistant to burning/rubbing off and sometimes getting some light rust speckling if I wasn't on top of it. With that said, I still make sure to put something like duct tape over the bore if I'm going to carry the rifle upright in the rain and I try to keep the action closed so rain doesn't get into the chamber. Particularly after shooting a few rounds and burning out any lube that was in there. Don't want the water getting anywhere where an issue isn't merely cosmetic.

I had to plumb the outlet for the dehumidifier because the 2 gallon reservoir was filled daily. That should tell you something about the environment in which I live.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I live on the river and have to run a dehumidifier in constant on mode where I keep my guns. If you are away from a water source a coating of CLP each time you handle the gun and periodically down the bore works just fine but when I moved into the home on the river I was getting corrosion within a day of application. A pail of desiccant was completely filled with water in a week here. A can of rust preventative from the O'Reilly auto parts based on lanolin combined with the constantly running dehumidifier turned out to be the trick. I haven't done any scientific testing yet but accuracy actually seemed to improve after I started keeping that rust inhibitor in the bore which blows my mind. The more likely answer is that I've been getting out and shooting more than ever though. My corrosion issues are completely gone now and I consider it a good learning opportunity because I don't worry about shooting in the rain anymore. This is in contrast to how I would always rush home and put CLP on my rifles if they got wet under the previous regimen due to CLP being less resistant to burning/rubbing off and sometimes getting some light rust speckling if I wasn't on top of it. With that said, I still make sure to put something like duct tape over the bore if I'm going to carry the rifle upright in the rain and I try to keep the action closed so rain doesn't get into the chamber. Particularly after shooting a few rounds and burning out any lube that was in there. Don't want the water getting anywhere where an issue isn't merely cosmetic.

I had to plumb the outlet for the dehumidifier because the 2 gallon reservoir was filled daily. That should tell you something about the environment in which I live.

I lived real close to the Willamette for quite a while.
Your situation reminds me of my old half-basement.. where I kept my guns and stuff. Never tried to take the water away on a full-time basis but more created micro-environments for sensitive goods.. to varying degrees.
yes, it's a rain-forest. lol

 

[Tony617]

I've used Break Free CLP a fair bit, also a product meeting the same specs but milsurp by Royal Chemicals.

For my close carry deeply concealed pistol, I favor Hornady One-Shot because it leaves a dry slick surface that doesn't grab dust and lint.

Had an odd experience: an AR-15 spent months on a high wall rack in our upstairs room, then got shunted to an unheated attic crawlspace for more months. Opportunity to go shoot with a friend resulted in grabbing it alomg with a pile of ammo. In the field, we discovered that my gun appeared to have been lubed with glue. I had a BoreSnake and some lube spray, as did my friend, and we eventually got it working. But I got some ribbing. Going over this in my own memory and consulting with my wife, I think I doused this gun pretty thoroughly with Frog Lube before hanging it on that rack. Has anyone had a similar experience?

+1 on the Golden Rod. Due to location near a wall, I saw guns in an upstairs safe with condensation on them. I also often wrap guns in VCI bags. But mine are getting old and I probably should replace them. They work, but not forever. Does anyone know if there's an equivalent of that treated waxy paper that came in the box with a Smith & Wesson in the 1950's?

Any oil is better than none. Boeshield T-9 is expensive, and the last can I ordered pooped out while still new. Guess it's past time I tried Ballistol.

Has anyone tried "Ed's Red" as a preservative? I have the Dexron, kerosene, mineral spirits and acetone, but have never mixed it up. I was wondering if the recipe including the optional lanolin would be a preservative as well as cleaner.

I used Frog Lube for a while but then saw some issue with Frog Lube gumming up the surfaces and decided that Frog Lube is not for me at least. Had to clean my firearm very throughly to get the Frog Lube off it.

 

[Alexx1401]

I can show you some rust under the grip panels of one of my stainless carry pistols. You still have to maintain it more diligently than you would think.

Many still to this day surprisingly don't know that. I have had a few on forums get real mad at me for saying it, which always leaves me shaking my head why. The term "Stainless Steel" is not generic. It's not all the same stuff your dinnerware is made out of. Ever since the day they started working on stainless alloys that would work for firearms this has been going on. Before the net I could understand why it died so hard. Now days I don't really get it. Many find this out the hard way. Human sweat is probably second to salt water for corrosion. There is of course still a couple big up sides to stainless on guns. One they are much more resistant. The other that even if someone lets it happen it's normally far easier to do something about. Not to mention I just like way it looks of course.

 

[Alexx1401]

I bought a Glock with something like that on the slide and barrel.

And it don't rust.

View attachment 358205

I like the way that looks. I take it it's holding up well to things like holster wear?

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I used Frog Lube for a while but then saw some issue with Frog Lube gumming up the surfaces and decided that Frog Lube is not for me at least. Had to clean my firearm very throughly to get the Frog Lube off it.

That gum is usually after it's been on a while and is the reaction to the remaining oil (even after a thorough degrease before application) once to wipe it off and reapply a top up coat, it should be fine.

However, partly for this reason, I have switched to Seal1 instead, it's pretty much what Froglube was before they added the additive that can cause some gumming in certain situations and also meant you didn't have to shake the bottle for the liquid version.

Short version, Seal1 or I also like Slip2000 EWL for my mil surp stuff.
Everything is fully synth and not a pterole derivitive.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Incompatibility with other lubes (turns to glue if there's a trace of your previous lube) pretty much rules a product out for me. Thank you.

Yep, the "stainless" confusion puzzles me. By now, everyone should know that "stainless" or "rostfrei" mean rust RESISTANT, and that there exist literally hundreds of "stainless" alloys, all with varying degrees of rust resistance.