Quote:
Originally Posted by jaykellogg
Stainless steel parts can rust due to carbon steel being embedded during the manufacturing process. Carbon steel cutters will leave bits of steel behind. Blasting won't help. Dipping the parts in acid to "passivate" the surface is the solution.
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^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^
We use some of the finest stainless steel alloys at work, but if the parts are not passivated almost immediately after production, they will begin to rust, even in a relatively dry shop environment. It's possible that S&W may have had a problem with incomplete passivation on a batch or two of the slides or an outside processor may have had a QC issue.