iwb and rust.

[edw794]

i carry iwb daily, and when it gets hot and humid here like it has been starting from mid summer on, i don't use an undershirt and my gun is right up against skin. this type of carrying causes rust underneath the grips and also wood grip damage from body sweat. to minimized this, i lightly oil the inside grip panels and grip frame of the gun when i take off the grips on a nightly basis. when i do this, i notice there are little droplets of moisture on the grip frame. though this maintenance pretty much prevents surface rust on the gun, it doesn't prevent sweat from eating away the finish of the grips, and the start of wood damage. so for this reason, i've gotten to the point where i stopped carrying just about all of my guns in the summer except for glocks, and you can guess why. stainless steel guns will not rust as quickly as the blued guns, but it will still start to pit if the grips are not removed in a timely manner for cleaning. rubber grips don't seem to be affected much by sweat on the skin side, but they sure do promote rust quicker on the grip frame than wood grips if these aren't taken off nightly for cleaning.

does anyone else notice this to be a problem and what do you guys do?

ed

 

[Bailey Boat]

I carry OWB and used to have a similar issue. I switched to a Ross slide holster with a body shield. They are hard to get (6 to 9 weeks) but do solve the problem. They don't cover ALL of the grip but it's better than what you're doing now......

 

[LoboGunLeather]

You are doing everything that is possible to deal with this. There is no way to eliminate it.

All too frequently people won't take the few minutes for preventive maintenance, as you are doing. Some compound the problem by storing the handgun in a sweat-soaked holster overnight between uses.

 

[billdeserthills]

Gee, I found a way to eliminate my acidy sweat from eating the finish off my guns and I only ever carry IWB. First I called Ted Blocker and specified that my new holster have a large sweat shield, one large enough to more than cover the entire grip area, now the rest is up to you. Your holster must be treated regularly with sno-seal or another leather protectant to keep sweat from getting through the leather. BTW I also retro-fitted all my old IWB holsters with a large sweat shield, got a big piece of leather and a speedy-stitcher, just took a few minutes.
Never let people demoralize you by believing that there is nothing more that can be done to fix a problem.

 

[44forever]

Non wood grips...

are another option. Buffalo horn seems pretty much immune to sweat damage on the grip. I use a light application of grease on the part of the grip frame covered by the grips. I carry a stainless revolver IWB daily and haven't had that much of a problem. The area where I see more of a problem is the hammer.

While sweat is much worse, depending on the climate, you can also get significant condensation in those grip frame areas just from temperature variations.

 

[K1500]

You might try a few coats of furniture paste wax on the frame and grips.

 

[flop-shank]

I use Altamont laminated wood grips. They seem to be heavily impregnated with glue, or plastic. They don't bat an eye at sweat. I also use an automotive grease called Red & tacky #2 on the grip frame. It's highly water resistant. As was mentioned, a sweat shield built into the holster helps.