Rust or ??
 

I've had a peculiar condition occur with a couple of guns and I thought I'd ask for opinions--

When I wipe the exterior of the weapon down with a light gun oil, the oiled spot on the cloth comes away stained a light orange --as though I'm wiping off a light surface rust. One weapon is an unfired 70's Parabellum, the other is a Chinese AK. Neither has any outward appearance of rust or any bluing damage prior to the oil application. . . (the Parabellum always looks perfect) it doesn't seem to matter what gun oil I use. The Parabellum is unfired, the AK used often--but I've owned the AK since new, and it would rate 98%. The Parabellum exhibits this no matter what part of the metal surfaces the oil is applied to--the AK is only the blued top cover. Both are the original factory blue.

I live in one of the dryest climates in the country, and of the 50+ weapons in my safe, these are the only two that exhibit this tendency. At first it really bothered me, and I felt like I must be neglecting the weapons. So I really watched them, and it doesn't matter how often I oil them, the results are always the same. The surfaces look just as good as when I got them and I can see no deterioration to the finish at all. So now I've gone from worried to curious.

Anybody else had this happen, and what is it?

thanks,
John

It could be a minor patina... but then, What kind of surface are these guns resting on... that could be a factor... and what color is the oil?

We must live close by, as I live near Death Valley and it is hot today, do you like I have a swamp cooler, evaporative type, your pouring alot of water in your home...it sounds like common rust that will form a patina over the years by the way you are treating it, sounds normal and all in all OK.......please contact me if I can help.....

Thanks for the responses
John--the storage surfaces are varied. The Parabellum is in its original box, the AK stands (bare) in a rack (both in the safe).
Also interesting to me John is the fact that other unfired NIB Mauser Parabellums (as well as my shooter Parabellum) that I have sitting right next to this one in the safe do not exhibit this tendency, although stored in exactly the same manner. . . oil is clear when applied to a white rag prior to wipe-down.

policeluger-I'm in the southern Central Valley, with refrigerated air, no swamp cooler. Condition is present year-round--air or no air.

I wondered if it was something particular to the bluing process or chemicals used on these (widely different) examples . . .

Bluing is by nature nothing but a very fast/hot controlled rust, stands to reason that you get some rust, even in a more humid area....