Proper maintenance of 1900 luger
 

I have a 1900 luger and I have been curious what is the best way to store your luger away. Meaning oiled up, dry or whatever. Mine already has some pitting and Im worried about any further corrosion of the gun will make the american eagle no longer readable.

I have been covering the entire gun with Hoppe's No. 9 lubricating oil when I store it away in its case.

Am I doing the right thing to help prevent further corrosion to the gun or is there a better way to do it. I added some pictures of what I got going on now.

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What case are you putting it in

Lots of good oils out there, you can have a silicone cloth and wipe it off each time you bring it out and mess with it.

All guns are essentially the Sam,e. being aware that your hands leave oils tht cn hurt them, moisture, heat, colt then heat, all are tough on guns.

This is how I store it away in my bedroom closet.

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I use these:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shoot...3Bcat104576580

I have about 40 of the borestores and haven't had any issues. Have been using them for 4-5 years now.

DON'T use socks, Crown Royal bags, or bank change bags. I had a cz52 that started to rust in a change bag. Don't know why, but it did.

So do still keep it well oiled up while I put it away. I knida wiped it down before I snapped this previous picture. I cant help but to pull it out the closet and just look at it in amazment.

I don't think I would store it in that case, no air circulation. You need something that breathes.

Them cabela cases dont look to be that durable. Say if I accidentally hit up against something while carrying it may damge something n the gun, I worry about the grips getting damaged. These grips are the SN for this gun. Thats why I had a hard case. So what are my options other than this. Cause I do take it places. It is a great show and tell gun. I love showing people some of my old guns. Im 38 years old and I enjoy seeing how some of the old timers react when I show it too them. Some old Vets, Like my grandfather which was in WII. All in all I just wanna take the best care I can with this gun. Maybe I can pass it on someday to someone else that will respect the gun and value whats its worth as a piece of history and not just a dollar figure. Which the dollar figure is nice to know too.

For traveling, the case you are using is fine, I just wouldn't store it in a hard case. The Bore Stores are just that; storing your pistol.

I guess that I just don't understand why you need air circulation--something that breathes. To me the successful storage of weapons depends on keeping moisture away. If the weapon is put away dry in a tight fitting case, then moisture should not get to it. This situation is further improved if the case is stored in a climate controlled house and even more if the case is then stored in a safe. A coating of gun oil provides further insurance against corrosion. If you think about it, storage in a perfect vacuum would be the ultimate protection--no moisture, no oxygen and certainly no air circulation. I don't want to be argumentative, I'm just posing my theory.

You know me being me with my guns, they dont stay in the closet put up for long anyway. Ill clean some guns two or three times in between shootings. Mostly just looking for rust, which I do not like. But this luger if you look at it with a good flashlight can see rust coming thru the bluing. Does most guns with the bluing this old show some signs of discoloration or rusting coming thru. Once I oil the gun down and wipe it with a rag, you can barely see the rust.

I have found and was told at unit armorers school, that more guns are damaged by over cleaning or other issues like that....

If you see rust, then it needs to be cleaned off. if you mean pitting, well, that is there and you keep it from spreading.

Like most antiques, doing 'more' is NOT better.

I keep all my collectables in bore-stores and I sell them at gunshows.

Check out my pics up top. The side plate and around the american eagle is showing a redish coloration, but no physical scaling of the metal. Is there a way to remove that without having to reblue the gun. Thats kinda why I started this talk. What can I do to help me out with this gun and the already showing discoloration. Trust me I will truly value any opinion yall give me that really makes the best since.

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Here is a much better picture of the pitting over the eagle. I dont think I can anything about that but stop the corrosion.

For what it is worth I would never store a firearm in any type of case. Over the past 60 years of collecting I have seen to many ruined in cases. I realize there are cases that will do a good job. I just don't trust any of them . I for one do not recommend Hoppes for storage. It is fine for cleaning. You just can't beat plain old light weight oil. Keep it well oiled and the pitting should not get appreciatively worse. The rust you see under light is patina. Good indicator of not being reblued. Perfectly normal for old firearms. In fact expected and correct. Enjoy your firearm. Bill

As Bill said, Hoppes is a good cleaner but not a preservative. A light oil, even 3-in-1, will inhibit rust much better. It appears that you may have some active red rust on the side plate. This can be removed by lightly cleaning with 0000 grade steel wool and light oil. It won't restore the original surface but you will be surprised how much better it will look. It might also improve the chamber crest appearance.

I will give that a try. The crest on top I worried about doing ANYTHING to it and just totally ruinning the top of the gun. Will doing a light wool, willit leaveany kind of scratching or obvious that one repaired that area or make the blue lok not as shiny

That last picture I took of the crest if you can export it out of the forum and zoom in on it you can really see the pitting good. It looks to be deeper than the insignia.

I used cases like that my entire life, as a matter of fact here is a picture of the 1900 I had and the Mauser parabellum I do currently still have and it is that exact case. After you clean it, I run hoppes through the bore run patches until clean, than coat it with hoppes for about two days than dry it out and oil it. Than I just oil the entire gun,(After a good cleaning) the internals the exteranls, wipe off excess oil leaving a little on and that is it. Leave the striker pin depressed of course with no pressure and that is it.

Thats pretty close to what I do as well. I was reading what Ron wrote about using the steel wool on the gun in the areas that I do see rust. Does this at all leave scratching or any noticable marks from this to the bluing?

0000 steel wool AND OIL! NEVER use it without OIL. Used alone it will harm the finish. Used with OIL it will not unless you go crazy and rub it for long periods.

SOME of the reddish tinge you may see in bright light on a pistol of this period IS the blue! Rust blue is just that.

Thats interesting about the rust bluing. I Learned something new tonight. Cause most of the redish areas on the gun under a light does not have an exfoliation or scaling of the basemetal. Now around the crest the pitting does look like its got some rust in the bottom of the pits as seen with the digitalpics I took today and looked at on my computer.

Ron,

I do appreciate the 0000 idea of the steel wool. I used it today on the gun. It took some of it off around the handrest on the other handle area. The side plate stiill has a good redish look in them areas. I guess, which I just learned thru this thread, is the rust bluing of the gun. The crest still saw the pitting area,which REALLY sucks. But it is what it is. Thanks for your input on this. And yeah I cahnged from hoppes to 3-in-1 oil to store it away.