Thread: Rust - What am I doing wrong?

Could you have two materials interacting? You mentioned only your action is rusting but not the barrel? When this happens you get sacrificial protection. Pretty much what @Friwi said. Can't remember the exact mechanism for reaction. Also make sure it's not in contact with safe wall as that's a metal as well. Just my two cents


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Originally Posted by Damnitchy

Could you have two materials interacting? You mentioned only your action is rusting but not the barrel? When this happens you get sacrificial protection. Pretty much what @Friwi said. Can't remember the exact mechanism for reaction. Also make sure it's not in contact with safe wall as that's a metal as well. Just my two cents


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I cant see what is reacting to be honest. The rifle doesn't touch the steel safe anywhere. But..... just to be safe, tomorrow I will cut up some old carpet and put it in the bottom of the safe as the material currently there is rather thin.

Just opened the safe for a nosey, the heat rod seems to be doing its job, nice and warm in there.

Where in the country do you live? Living in the Waikato my guns just love to rust.
My dad owned a Norico 22 for 10 years living in the Manawatu and it never had a spot of rust, after moving to the Waikato it developed some serious pitting.
I have 3 blued guns which despite trying my best to keep perfectly oiled, have developed varying amounts of rust or pitting over their life times. My Remington 870 and 597 are both extremely prone to rust and even my CZ 452 get it despite much nicer/better bluing.

Funnily enough I had a Lee Enfield from 1941 and I really neglected it, never oiled the damn thing, but it never had a single spot of rust on it! The bluing looked about a 100 times better done than that on my few year old Remingtons.

Originally Posted by nicks_tricks

I cant see what is reacting to be honest. The rifle doesn't touch the steel safe anywhere. But..... just to be safe, tomorrow I will cut up some old carpet and put it in the bottom of the safe as the material currently there is rather thin.

Just opened the safe for a nosey, the heat rod seems to be doing its job, nice and warm in there.

Just your scope , scope rings or base would be made of aluminium. That would be enough to start the reaction with the steel of your gun. If moisture floats around it will accelerate the reaction. At least it is the theory in the plumbing and roofing books...

Originally Posted by hamsav

Last time I heard of stainless rusting it was because it had been bead blasted with contaminated media ( ordinary steel particles mixed in with the media ) I used Break free for years ( took that long to empty the bottle ) and had no rust issues , then Tetra , which was also very good but expensive so now I have some synthetic Birchwood casey stuff , and a small can of remmington aerosol ( for the hard to get to places ). Interesting that someone mentions a white mould on the wood .... we have not long moved from Nelson To Invercargill and I was watchfull for any change in stored rifles and the only thing is my No5 has white mould growing on the wood .......but I bought that rifle after we moved here , and everything else ( including my 99 which is still in the white ) is totally rust free. Gun cabinets are stored in the laundry , which is the only uninsulated room in the house.
Heating the cabinet to prevent rust is a bit of a conundrum , the warmer the air the more moisture it can absorb , so even tho its warmer it may also be wetter . Condensation forms when an object that is colder than the ambient air is put into that air. Picture a heated cabinet , high moisture saturation point , if you clean and oil the rifle and then put it into the heated (wet air) cabinet then some of the moisture in that air will condense on the cold thing. This is why some scopes fog up when cold ... not because they are not air tight but if the air in the scope contains moisture when it gets cold the air in the scope cools till it hits saturation point and then it literally rains inside the scope , this is why good scopes are filled and sealed with nitrogen . Also remember that oil will float on water , if the moisture can get under the oil then your back to the water on steel rust thing. When moisture condenses on a surface you can see it , when it doesn't condense you cant see it ..... but its still there in the air. I think that rust prevention comes down to using a good preservative ( and some products are just crap or simply the wrong thing to use . Marine CRC ( 66) kept every scrap of corrosion off my outboard motor for years .........but I don't put it on my rifles. Some peeps have rust issues in the gun cabinet , and others , with stunningly similar storage don't . I don't believe that we need damp rid or heaters to prevent rust , I think they mask the real issue , which is a CHANGE in ambient air temp/moisture content, Extreme Example , gun cabinet in laundry , wife turns on the dryer and suddenly you have cold guns in a cold room where someone has just started adding warm wet air , even in a closed cabinet the moisture will flow in and condense . Guns in the bedroom all day , nice and stable until you go in there and breathe warm wet air over them all night . Steel has a much higher SHC ( specific heat capacity ) than air so the air ( exposed to the same heat source as the steel )will warm up quicker and condensation will form on the now comparatively cold steel , rust happens , gun eventually warms up , condensation evaporates leaving rust on a dry gun , and a perplexed owner

I think this is getting closer to the answer. Schoolboy physics and chemistry will help understanding. Metal gunsafes with sealed doors must keep all the moisture inside. Whether it's condensed on the walls of the safe, surface of the gun, woodwork or in the air, it will keep catalysing rust.

Without disclosing all security precautions, I store my guns in wooden carry cases inside a wooden cupboard in a particularly dry room. Any moisture on them, in a wet sling, damp gear etc gradually diffuses out and away from the guns into the dry room. Perhaps you should drill ventilation holes in the top and bottom of your safe to let air circulate through of it rather than around inside it.

Good ways to keep rooms dry include: covering the earth under the house with plastic sheet, heat pump, air con, condenser clothes dryer, dehumidifier and possibly heat recovery ventilation. Raw heat without ventilation won't do anything - the water is still there as vapour and chemical reactions just proceed (a little) faster.

Also, air off your gun for an hour or so after coming home, dry it a bit with a towel if dripping wet and let it warm up to indoor room temperature and all condensation evaporate before storing it away.

Finally, if you have got blood on the metalwork I find powder solvent and CLP oils won't budge it - use a damp cloth then dry and oil it !

Originally Posted by Glu

I started putting all my firearms in my safe in VCI bags about 5 years ago and also use VCI Emmitters in my safe . No rust and VCI protection last about 1-2 years . Real easy just clean my firearms as normal Lightly oil with KG4 then into the bags with a reusable tie to seal it . If I am going hunting for a few days I leave my rifle in the VCI bag in my gun bag or case .

They are a new AIL product we will be getting into shops in a few weeks just sorting out the packaging 12"x58" VCI rifle bags , 12"x10" VCI pistol and accessories bags , VCI Emitters that you stick to the inside of your safe .

Originally Posted by nicks_tricks

Rust - What am I doing wrong?

Caring.

A lot of good reading in this post, I have stopped oiling the outside of my barrels now, I use this stuff on them instead and the wooden stocks.


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Originally Posted by Survy

A lot of good reading in this post, I have stopped oiling the outside of my barrels now, I use this stuff on them instead and the wooden stocks.


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Regal Castings Product Page - Polishing - Investment bars,Investment gold,Investment silver,Investment platinum,Investment palladium,Bullion,Bullion Bar/s,Gold Bar/s,Gold Ingot/s,Gold Bullion,Silver Bullion,Silver Bar/s,Silver Ingot/s,Gold,Silver,Pla

Interesting. How do you apply it?

Originally Posted by nicks_tricks

Interesting. How do you apply it?

The Larry way.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KlToim_s0c0

When I was in the bush a lot for work for reasonable periods I used car polishing wax on the underside of the barrel and action parts that I couldnt get at easily. It lasted and seemed to work. I recall that a few times I put it on the outside metal as well, and it lasted quite a while before it got rubbed or washed off. It drys on and goes quite hardish. That was in the olden days.

Originally Posted by nicks_tricks

Interesting. How do you apply it?

My guess is if you can afford bars of palladium etc you don't.
You get the help to do it for you.

UPDATE - Opened the safe for the first time in weeks, checked rifle, no rust!! The heat rod and damprid inside the safe are working well. The damprid had collected a fair amount of liquid, surprised really because I have another damprid container outside the safe and it has bugger all liquid in it.