Firearm Rust/Corrosion Prevention??

dandyrandy

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I figured this would be a good place to post this topic since most of you probably own several firearms and have several in storage. I wouldnt say I have enough firearms for a small army but I do have quite a few. Yesterday I did a firearms/weapons cleaning day and noticed that some of my wall hangers had some tiny spots of corrosion forming. The corrosion was on a stainless steel sword of mine. The sword is a new production weapon made by Cold Steel. I noticed some other weapons with some corrosion on them and was surprised to see it on stainless steel. To make a long story short it was a long day of cleaning and scrubbing. I have tried several methods of cleaning and noticed that the thin film of gun oil method is not good enough! Ive had good luck with Renaissance Wax especially on my old antique wall hangers for a long term rust prevention solution.

The old oil and rag method does not seem to be good enough. Ive noticed that in the past oil likes to gather underneath grips of firearms being stored and form corrosion there especially under wood grips. Ive seen this happen on brand new guns too!
I live in an area that is NOT by the sea and my firearm storage seems to be dry and humid free for the most part. I would think that the heavy gun oil method would be good enough but it does not seem so. Im thinking of using Ren Wax on the rest of my firearms and bagging them with desiccant packets in side. Either that or I would have to clean all of them every two months the old fashion oil and rag method. Ive also used my own gun cleaner, similar to Eds Red but without the transmission fluid, with lanolin in it to clean and prevent rust with good results but that was mostly for cleaning after shooting a gun at the range and not a long term storage solution. What about long term storage? What have you used? I do have a small tube of cosmoline but I havent used that too much. Im thinking wax, cosmoline, or wool wax is the best options for long term corrosion prevention. LONG TERM storage rust prevention is what Im concerned about here. In other words Im mostly concerned about guns/edged weapons/antiques/wall hangers ect.. that are not used or shot on a regular basis.

Interesting note: I have a gallon of Fluid Film that is used on automotive rust/corrosion prevention that is an interesting idea on possible rust prevention on some of my firearms. The stuff is slippery and sticky but for long term storage I could care less about that. It cant be any different that a gallon of cosmoline! I noticed Fluid Film has lanolin in it which I believe is the main ingredient for the long term rust prevention. Thoughts and feelings on rust prevention???
 
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I wanted to mention that Im also mostly concerned about stainless steel weapons and or firearms. Stainless steel is NOT completely rust proof in fact it rusts a lot faster than I thought it would. For example last year I went to a gun show with a stainless steel pistol for sale/trade and after ONE DAY of handling from one sweaty hand to another rust formed all over the back strap of the gun. I noticed some other brand new stainless guns that people had for sale that had some big rust spots on them too. So what am I supposed to do here?? Wax? Keep them in a vat of Mobile 1 automotive oil?? Snake oil??? Send the guns into space with my Saturn 5 rocket ship???? Put them in a glass jar with the Bubble Boy???? Im at a loss here...
 
Well, one approach with the stainless is to wipe it down with a silicone impregnated cloth after handling, especially multiple sweaty hands.

If they are not going to be handlled, and are on display, I like the Renaissance wax method.

There are a lot of threads on rust prevention if you use the search function to look them up. It is a perennial topic here.
 
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Some of my edged weapons that are over 200 years old have held up very well with Ren Wax. Its rather expensive though... Carnauba wax might be an interesting economical alternative. Though I dont have any experience with other types of wax on weapons or firearms.
 
The real name for "stainless steel" is CRESS. Corrosion Resistant Stainless Steel. The important part is RESISTANT, not impossible. Various alloys have various properties.
 
A lot of forum members think Ren Wax is overpriced, and that regular floor wax, Johnson & Johnson, etc., is good enough.

(I also think you may be using too much wax. Many people do. Truly, a little dab’ll do ya. You only need a very, very thin film of it. A jar of the stuff should last a very long time.)
 
I remember pulling out a Winchester Model 70 .22-250 Stainless Heavy Barreled and finding a rust spot on it. It had been stored for three or four years. I blame myself for not checking it more often and aplying a simple coat of whatever light gun oil I had around.

Last year I started using a new to me product on knives and guns that I feel are exceptionally prone to rust and/or which I will not be visiting once or twice a year. It is WD-40 Brand Specialist Spray & Stay Gel Lubricant No-Drip Formula (not the original WD-40 product).

I have some high carbon non-stainless highly rust prone knives that I first applied this stuff to about a year ago. If I pull one out of storage today it will still have a tacky, oily, protective coating in place. I know one year of use is not much, but the product impresses me and I have used numerous lubricants and corrosion preventives over several decades.
 

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Here is a link to a good write up of a big selection of ant corrosion products, and how they perform under testing.

Comprehensive Corrosion Test: 46 Products Compared | Day At The Range

Larry

Very nice article! This is exactly what I was looking for thanks! I read the article and was surprised to see WD-40 Specialist, Hornady One Shot, and Frog Lube did the best for rust prevention. Ive never used WD 40 on firearms except for the field when I had nothing else. Ive never used Hornady One Shot before so Im curious on that. I have lots of Frog Lube but I stopped using it a few years back because it was hard to apply and use correctly. Frog Lube is also a product you have to be committed to using on a firearm. Maybe I should go back to Frog Lube again? I like the final thoughts of the article...

Final thoughts

1. There are two enemies to our guns. Neglect and liberal Democrats who dislike the 2nd amendment. Do everything in your power to make sure neither are allowed to make any advances on your weapons.
 
Im doing a controlled outdoors salt water experiment on several stainless steel bolts to see how various corrosion prevention products work.

Here are the products in question:IMG_0680.jpg
 
So far the Hoppes 9 gun grease and Ren Wax were the most difficult to apply to the bolts. The Ren Wax took the most time to apply. Though not pictured I will do a bolt in Frog Lube. I forgot to do that one. The Frog Lube will be much like the Ren Wax on application though..

The Ny Oil and FP 10 were the easiest to apply and had excellent fluidity. Fluid Film was probably the easiest to apply since its a spray on application but its rather messy and smells RANK!!:eek:

The salt water clung to the control bolt in big clumps of water. The salt water beaded up real nice on the Ren Wax and Fluid Film. The others did OKAY.

The bolts are outdoors on a labeled board and Ill give them a couple days to see how they do.
 
I also added TW 25 gun grease to the party... It applied to the bolt rather difficult just like the Hoppes grease. Interesting note though while spraying the TW 25 bolt with the salt water the water was beading right off the finish almost like the bolt is dry. I couldnt get any of the water to stick to the TW 25 bolt. The Frog Lube applied just like the Ren Wax and the water beaded off the bolt the same.

On the smell test the TW 25 is NASTY! The Frog Lube smells delicious though :)
 
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Interesting that the test was done by the founder of Frog Lube. Some of those were penetrating oils, not really formulated to prevent rust. What kind of humidity levels and whether you have salt air matter too. I do like to handle and shoot my guns, museum grade wax would be overkill for me. I am partial to Barricade, and carry it in the gun bag. I am guilty at times of flushing the guns out with Barricade. When I shoot trap in the rain, I will spray liberally and wipe off between rounds and before storing away in the case. When I get home I open the case to let air in. I have never had a problem.
 
Interesting that the test was done by the founder of Frog Lube. Some of those were penetrating oils, not really formulated to prevent rust. What kind of humidity levels and whether you have salt air matter too. I do like to handle and shoot my guns, museum grade wax would be overkill for me. I am partial to Barricade, and carry it in the gun bag. I am guilty at times of flushing the guns out with Barricade. When I shoot trap in the rain, I will spray liberally and wipe off between rounds and before storing away in the case. When I get home I open the case to let air in. I have never had a problem.

It was??? From what I read the guy that did the test is named Ron and the Frog Lube people are named Lasky. They are not related to each other from what I see. You may have read something different though???

Im doing my own experiment on stainless steel bolts and I might even throw in some vinegar salt water to the party to see what does what.
 
What's best is what works for each person. I'll admit to shooting a lot, and not wanting to spend a lot of time obsessing. It has to be easy our I will put it off. I separate oiling/lubing from corrosion protection because I do both. I would not rely on a corrosion product to lubricate parts, but that's just me. Do you monitor humidity levels where you store? I'm in Nebraska, humidity is way up there in the summer.
 
What's best is what works for each person. I'll admit to shooting a lot, and not wanting to spend a lot of time obsessing. It has to be easy our I will put it off. I separate oiling/lubing from corrosion protection because I do both. I would not rely on a corrosion product to lubricate parts, but that's just me. Do you monitor humidity levels where you store? I'm in Nebraska, humidity is way up there in the summer.

Humidity is an issue here as well. I keep my firearms in a dry air conditioned temperature controlled environment but that might not be good enough. Most of my stored guns have FP10 on them and are bagged up with dessicant packets. Only certain finishes and certain parts seem to rust the most.

As far as stainless steel goes the finishes that seem to rust the most are the dull cast looking stainless finishes and or the brushed finishes. On the other hand any polished stainless finishes dont seem to rust at all.

Nickel finishes and aluminum finishes dont seem to rust at all. Ive only seen nickel finished guns with corrosion only on the most neglected of firearms... Im talking about many years of neglect. Even my cheap junky chrome Jennings 22 pistol has an immaculate chrome finish on it and I shoot the gun a lot and its the gun Ive neglected the most. Imagine that!
 
I don't bag, and dessicant can saturate. I do have a few quart containers that can be baked in the oven to rejuvenate. And a goldenrod rod in the safe, but I allow things to breath inside the safe. I too use FP10 as an oil, but drift Barricade over that. Other guns get grease, usually Rig and a coating of Barricade. They have remote sensors for humidity that will display to your cell phone, and you can have one inside the safe and one in the room.
 
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