Hello all,
I have purchased a used M360J. I paid around $400 for it, and while I know this is a cheap gun by any standard, it is a big deal for me. I wanted to carry this gun every day. I've put ten rounds through it.
The other day, I went to my parents house. My mother hates guns, so I left it in its holster in the car overnight. The next morning, I took out the gun and found that, to my surprise, the cylinder was covered in small rust patches over a few locations. Another small rust patch was present on the yoke bar. I was not happy. I applied some CLP and was able to remove the redness, revealing that the rust seemingly went down to the bare steel of the cylinder.
This I did not like. I am sure it was my fault, leaving a gun in the car overnight and subjecting it to these temperature fluctuations. I'm used to my Glock and its practical invincibility, so I made a mistake. To those responding: I recognize my mistreatment of the gun, and I am here looking for help. Please go easy on me.
In any case, I have elected to re-finish the cylinder and possibly the yoke, as I cannot find any replacements online. I will be using an off the shelf cold bluing kit. I honestly don't want any grief about this; it's not why I'm posting here. As far as I'm concerned, a consistent finish is acceptable. It does not have to match the exact look of the original gun to stop a bad guy, and I am confident I will be able to achieve a suitable finish. If it comes out poorly, I'll strip it and send it out.
In order to proceed, I needed to remove the side plate screws, at least the front one. I attempted this with the best screwdriver I could find, and ended up with a small amount of slipping. Didn't like that.
I then went over to my grandparents tool shed and raided the drawer for the closest fitting driver I could find. Managed to get two screws out, but the front screw is still in place and has become fairly badly stripped. I have applied a *lot* of torque to this screw. One of my Craftsman screwdriver tips snapped into pieces. I will be happy to replace the screw; I simply want to get it out now without damaging my beautiful scandium.
So, all in all, while I've made a few mistakes, and learned how brutally unforgiving these J-frames are, I still want to save this gun. Can anybody recommend a way to remove this screw? There is still some unstripped slot profile, just not a ton.
Finally, is it really reasonable for a gun to rust so significantly in a single night in a car? I had oiled the surfaces of this thing. Aren't these supposed to last many years, before they start to really deteriorate? Could my suede holster be the cause of the problem?
I have purchased a used M360J. I paid around $400 for it, and while I know this is a cheap gun by any standard, it is a big deal for me. I wanted to carry this gun every day. I've put ten rounds through it.
The other day, I went to my parents house. My mother hates guns, so I left it in its holster in the car overnight. The next morning, I took out the gun and found that, to my surprise, the cylinder was covered in small rust patches over a few locations. Another small rust patch was present on the yoke bar. I was not happy. I applied some CLP and was able to remove the redness, revealing that the rust seemingly went down to the bare steel of the cylinder.
This I did not like. I am sure it was my fault, leaving a gun in the car overnight and subjecting it to these temperature fluctuations. I'm used to my Glock and its practical invincibility, so I made a mistake. To those responding: I recognize my mistreatment of the gun, and I am here looking for help. Please go easy on me.
In any case, I have elected to re-finish the cylinder and possibly the yoke, as I cannot find any replacements online. I will be using an off the shelf cold bluing kit. I honestly don't want any grief about this; it's not why I'm posting here. As far as I'm concerned, a consistent finish is acceptable. It does not have to match the exact look of the original gun to stop a bad guy, and I am confident I will be able to achieve a suitable finish. If it comes out poorly, I'll strip it and send it out.
In order to proceed, I needed to remove the side plate screws, at least the front one. I attempted this with the best screwdriver I could find, and ended up with a small amount of slipping. Didn't like that.
I then went over to my grandparents tool shed and raided the drawer for the closest fitting driver I could find. Managed to get two screws out, but the front screw is still in place and has become fairly badly stripped. I have applied a *lot* of torque to this screw. One of my Craftsman screwdriver tips snapped into pieces. I will be happy to replace the screw; I simply want to get it out now without damaging my beautiful scandium.
So, all in all, while I've made a few mistakes, and learned how brutally unforgiving these J-frames are, I still want to save this gun. Can anybody recommend a way to remove this screw? There is still some unstripped slot profile, just not a ton.
Finally, is it really reasonable for a gun to rust so significantly in a single night in a car? I had oiled the surfaces of this thing. Aren't these supposed to last many years, before they start to really deteriorate? Could my suede holster be the cause of the problem?
