Old problem coming back

Stevie · 11-03-2002, 04:03 PM

The sun came out this afternoon, so I took a bucket full of old pistols and went shooting. I just got back and wiped down my peashooters, and noticed rusty oil creeping out from where the top edge of grips slip into the frame recess on my 1920 DWM. I fixed this once with a good cleaning and scraping with hoppes and a popsickle stick. Then coating the groove with RIG. Have not noticed this for a couple of years. I remove the grips every once in a while and wipe the frame with gun oil, and no live rust any where but the top grooves. What can I do to permanently cure this rust problem?

Thanks, Stevie.

wterrell · 11-03-2002, 04:37 PM

Steve,
Ventilate your house to keep the relative humidity the same as the great all-outdoors. Then, at night as the house cools down to the ambient temperature of outside, the moisture will not be condensed as greatly by the cooler objects in the house, such as the window glass, and guns. If your pistols are kept in a cooler room of the house, without ventilation, the cooler room acts as a condensor constantly and dowses solid objects with moisture at all times.
Whenever the kitchen stove comes on, the ventilator fan in the attic should also be activated. The bath and shower should have its own vent fan to the outside and run quite a spell after anyone takes their daily bath or shower.
If you use propane as a heating source, the propane will deposit very large amounts of moisture into the hot air.
As proof for this argument, bring a cool handgun into the warm, moist living room and then examine it closely, within 60 seconds. It will be covered with water beads.
I lived in Oklahoma for many years and am familiar with the humidity problems of the region.

Stevie · 11-03-2002, 06:50 PM

I don't think it's so much a humidity problem in the present time, but maybe a problem in the past. Such as sitting in a holster full of saltwater, or possibly being strapped onto a dead guy laying in a mud puddle, and getting cleaned without ever removing the grips. I also suspect East German bluing salts that didn't get properly rinsed out of the old pitting. I just gotta figure out how to stop it.

Doug G. · 11-03-2002, 06:57 PM

If it were my gun, I would either use a commercially available chemical that turns rust to a hard black primer. Or boil it in water with some dishwasher soap. This might stop the corrosive reaction from coming back.

11-03-2002, 04:03 PM	#1
Stevie User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Ok. Posts: 212 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Old problem coming back The sun came out this afternoon, so I took a bucket full of old pistols and went shooting. I just got back and wiped down my peashooters, and noticed rusty oil creeping out from where the top edge of grips slip into the frame recess on my 1920 DWM. I fixed this once with a good cleaning and scraping with hoppes and a popsickle stick. Then coating the groove with RIG. Have not noticed this for a couple of years. I remove the grips every once in a while and wipe the frame with gun oil, and no live rust any where but the top grooves. What can I do to permanently cure this rust problem? Thanks, Stevie.

11-03-2002, 04:37 PM	#2
wterrell User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,096 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Steve, Ventilate your house to keep the relative humidity the same as the great all-outdoors. Then, at night as the house cools down to the ambient temperature of outside, the moisture will not be condensed as greatly by the cooler objects in the house, such as the window glass, and guns. If your pistols are kept in a cooler room of the house, without ventilation, the cooler room acts as a condensor constantly and dowses solid objects with moisture at all times. Whenever the kitchen stove comes on, the ventilator fan in the attic should also be activated. The bath and shower should have its own vent fan to the outside and run quite a spell after anyone takes their daily bath or shower. If you use propane as a heating source, the propane will deposit very large amounts of moisture into the hot air. As proof for this argument, bring a cool handgun into the warm, moist living room and then examine it closely, within 60 seconds. It will be covered with water beads. I lived in Oklahoma for many years and am familiar with the humidity problems of the region. __________________ Noli me vocare, ego te vocabo, wes --------------------

11-03-2002, 06:57 PM	#4
Doug G. User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 713 Thanks: 1 Thanked 53 Times in 17 Posts	If it were my gun, I would either use a commercially available chemical that turns rust to a hard black primer. Or boil it in water with some dishwasher soap. This might stop the corrosive reaction from coming back. __________________ Suppose you were an idiot.....and suppose you were a member of Congress.....But I repeat myself" ~~ Mark Twain

11-03-2002, 06:50 PM	#3
Stevie User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Ok. Posts: 212 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I don't think it's so much a humidity problem in the present time, but maybe a problem in the past. Such as sitting in a holster full of saltwater, or possibly being strapped onto a dead guy laying in a mud puddle, and getting cleaned without ever removing the grips. I also suspect East German bluing salts that didn't get properly rinsed out of the old pitting. I just gotta figure out how to stop it.