Gents:

Today in Maine it rained that coastal rain that just soaks you. I went out to poke around behind the house and when I got back it was clear to me that I do not want a blued gun! They look good but man! the rain creates a lot of work. I noticed Brown Precision has a coating that goes on the inside and the outside.

Damn rain.

I know all about coastal rain. I try not to hunt in it anymore, but if the situation calls for it, stainless and synthetic is the best answer yet.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
I know all about coastal rain. I try not to hunt in it anymore, but if the situation calls for it, stainless and synthetic is the best answer yet.

You know...I just can't believe this ! A rust blued rifle will stand up to the harshest environment...IF...IF it is well oiled from day one. The oil will permeate the pores something like a well used cast iron fry pan.

My own 270 has been through the worst nature has flung a me. In Montana, my bolt/safety even froze solid. Since 1986 this wood stocked rifle looks damn good, if I say so myself..

I'm on my second barrel... for five years I have shot a group at the same target and you can cover the entire group(s)...I dunno 20 or so shots with a quarter.

The stainless/plastic just doesn't fly with this ol' boy!

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
I know all about coastal rain. I try not to hunt in it anymore, but if the situation calls for it, stainless and synthetic is the best answer yet.

We get a little coastal rain here in old "Orgasm" too....as well as a team to the Rose Bowl about every 10 years or so (this will be one of those years)....and I suspect you are right Cragister.

I just can't bring myself to go that route though. I have always carried blue and wood, both here and in Canada...still have never had one rust up on me though.

I don't have any magic tricks to prevent it, or insightful reasons as to why not, but I just haven't had it happen (yet....!) Used to love to hunt the coast in the rain too....the damp quietens the leaves a whole bunch.

It really doesn't fly with this FOG either, Duane. Anymore, the only hunting I do in the rain is if it happens to rain while I'm hunting.

For some guys, I think the SS route is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I have always been a steel and wood guy myself.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
I know all about coastal rain. I try not to hunt in it anymore, but if the situation calls for it, stainless and synthetic is the best answer yet.

You know...I just can't believe this ! A rust blued rifle will stand up to the harshest environment...IF...IF it is well oiled from day one. The oil will permeate the pores something like a well used cast iron fry pan.

My own 270 has been through the worst nature has flung a me. In Montana, my bolt/safety even froze solid. Since 1986 this wood stocked rifle looks damn good, if I say so myself..

I'm on my second barrel... for five years I have shot a group at the same target and you can cover the entire group(s)...I dunno 20 or so shots with a quarter.

The stainless/plastic just doesn't fly with this ol' boy!

Thank you. I sold every stainless or plastic stock I had...never more

what is the reason that old rust blued guns will wear through the bluing, but still not rust? Just curious.

Red

quote:

What is the reason that old rust blued guns will wear through the bluing, but still not rust? Just curious.

Because the metal was very highly polished to start with.

It is odd but if you take a normal piece of steel and polish it on a buffing wheel - until it is like a bar of silver - it won't rust!

Something to do with it being so smooth that the oxidisation process can't take hold.

In Britain sometimes the actions of old shot guns have this terrible polishing done to them! But it does stop rusting.

quote:

Originally posted by enfieldspares:

quote:

What is the reason that old rust blued guns will wear through the bluing, but still not rust? Just curious.

Because the metal was very highly polished to start with.

It is odd but if you take a normal piece of steel and polish it on a buffing wheel - until it is like a bar of silver - it won't rust!

Something to do with it being so smooth that the oxidisation process can't take hold.

In Britain sometimes the actions of old shot guns have this terrible polishing done to them! But it does stop rusting.

I know what you mean about highly polished metal not rusting, but I don't believe that is in play with rust blued guns. Most rust blued guns are only polished to 320 grit.

I heard they make guns out of stainless steel these day's.

Hmmm.... Nah, I'd rather take up golf.



Terry

My Bride has 2 stainless S&W snubbies and My Daughter has a stainless S&W M63 Kit Gun; those are the only 3 stainless guns in our family and that's the way it's gonna stay. Here in MS it rains almost as much as in coastal WA & OR but I'll still stick with blue steel & walnut. Stainless is OK for tools but IMO is not for things of beauty.

Good oil, RIG, paste wax, WD-40, Pam, etc and regular inspections should take care of any problems. If not, then IMO you aren't inspecting well enough.
Regards, Joe

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:

You know...I just can't believe this ! A rust blued rifle will stand up to the harshest environment...IF...IF it is well oiled from day one. The oil will permeate the pores something like a well used cast iron fry pan.

Duane, thanks for that nugget. I honestly did not know that. I tend to abhore oily guns, and try to keep mine rust free AND 'non-slimy' but do oil my blued rigs ocassionally, and promptly wipe them down....is there a particular oil you prefer?...I have been using mainly Ballistisol for some time now..ocassionally Eesox.

Thanks again--Don

You use Ballistisol oil?

No wonder they call you fish!



Terry

I have mostly blued rifles and hunt in the rain forests of Oregon. I have zero rust on any of them.
Don't oil the guns at all! The oil will wash right off in wet weather and does no good.

Use Johnsons paste wax made for wood floors. I take the barreled actions out of the stocks, apply several coats of wax just as you would wax your car. Water just beads up and runs off.
I get my guns soaked and have not one speck of rust anywhere.
You of course can use it on the wooden stocks as well.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.

I hunt with blued guns and the only problems I've had is with the triggers. I hate to put oil on my triggers so I've found rust areas on some of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
I know all about coastal rain. I try not to hunt in it anymore, but if the situation calls for it, stainless and synthetic is the best answer yet.

You know...I just can't believe this ! A rust blued rifle will stand up to the harshest environment...IF...IF it is well oiled from day one. The oil will permeate the pores something like a well used cast iron fry pan.

My own 270 has been through the worst nature has flung a me. In Montana, my bolt/safety even froze solid. Since 1986 this wood stocked rifle looks damn good, if I say so myself..

I'm on my second barrel... for five years I have shot a group at the same target and you can cover the entire group(s)...I dunno 20 or so shots with a quarter.

The stainless/plastic just doesn't fly with this ol' boy!

Which gun oil do you use or does it matter? What about a silicon cloth vs gun oil any diff with rust blued metal?

For what ever reason I can't put my finger on...I only use synthetic oil in my truck.

I work Rig into a piece of sheepskin and use this on a regular basis on the metal to wipe down.

For oil, I find 3 in one works about as well as anything i've tried. I do oil the trigger with a couple drops, the blow hell out of it with compressed air.

Put on all the oil you want then wipe off all you can and you can't go too wrong.

For the wood, I apply a coat of SeaFin every year after the season...again slop it on, wait 15 minutes or so, then wipe off all you can

I can see SS & plastic for guides & packers who work from pre-dawn to after dusk

But for hunters, not stroking and wiping down your weapon after a day in the field is like not kissing your wife good night -- it is lazy, just wrong and will get you in trouble

WD-40 is not a lubricant

+1 on the Johnson's paste wax!! Remove action from stock, apply wax to both stock and action, let dry and polish. Been using it for over 40 years and there is no rust on any of my firearms!

quote:

Originally posted by Abob:
WD-40 is not a lubricant

No, it's a water-displacing wax. WD (for water-displacing) -40 (for the 40th formulation tried) also works well for waterproofing inside distributor caps.
Regards, Joe

quote:

also works well for waterproofing inside distributor caps

also work as a fish attractant

quote:

Originally posted by J.D.Steele:
[No, it's a water-displacing wax. WD (for water-displacing) -40 (for the 40th formulation tried) also works well for waterproofing inside distributor caps.
Regards, Joe

Good Post

It is amazing how some half-truths have eternal life once on the internet, isn't it?

I read somewhere in a gun magazine a supposedly thorough test of canned goods sold as spray-on rust preventatives. The conclusion was that WD-40 is useless as a rust preventer on steel.

As I didn't do the test myself (or observe it), I sorta had to accept it, but I was never comfortable doing so. FACT IS, IT SORTA MADE ME FIDGET.

Why? My dad worked for years building Polaris and Poseidon missles, 'til the asbestos killed him and his whole crew. When they had the tubes semi-complete, but not "filled with the stuffings", they'd move them outside into the "yard" on the SW end of San Francisco Bay and leave them there for months at a time. The tubes (and their fittings) didn't rust. The only anti-rust agent applied to them was....Yup! WD-40.

It is true that WD-40 turns reddish-brown and "gums" up after a longish while. But, as the name implies, it is also a good rust preventer in my exposures to it.

Personally on my guns, I use either "G-96 Complete Gun Treatment" or Johnson's Paste Wax on both wood and metal. Both have seemed to work for me.

Agree, WD-40 is a good at water displacing & preventing rust

earlier posters asked which oil D.W. uses, I just wanted to reinforce that WD-40, although a good product, is not a lubricant as some folks seem to think

Sorry Abob, I should have worded that better. I was in no way implying anything negative about your "signature". I knew exactly what you meant and it is absolutely right. WD-40 is NOT a lubricant, which some folks try to use it for.

AB, no offense taken

it does work on fish, I'm told the secret ingredient is fish oil, we use it on our halibut baits to add a scent trail, it is so effective, I’m told some States outlaw it on boats when you are fishing?

I use both CM Steel and SS Wood an Synthetic stocks .

One Place I hunted a few years back , rained so much it was necessary to put a condom over the bore

just so it wouldn't fill up !. I carry my rifle bore down about 40 degrees down .

I've never run into a protection problem that BoeShield T 9 and a quality firearm couldn't solve .

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
..WD-40 is NOT a lubricant..

A Lubricants key functions. ...WD40 has those properties & has an % base of mineral oils, how can it not be a lubricant?

WD-40's main ingredients, according to U.S. Material Safety Data Sheet information, are:
50%: Stoddard solvent (i.e., mineral spirits -- primarily hexane, somewhat similar to kerosene)
25%: Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant; carbon dioxide is now used instead to reduce WD-40's considerable flammability)
15+%: Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
10-%: Inert ingredients

The long term active ingredient is a non-volatile, viscous oil which remains on the surface, providing lubrication and protection from moisture. This is diluted with a volatile hydrocarbon to give a low viscosity fluid which can be sprayed and thus get into crevices. The volatile hydrocarbon then evaporates, leaving the oil behind.

quote:

Originally posted by J.D.Steele:
No, it's a water-displacing wax. WD (for water-displacing) -40 (for the 40th formulation tried)..

WD-40 FAQs
"While the ingredients in WD-40 are secret, we can tell you what WD-40 does NOT contain. WD-40 does not contain silicone, kerosene, water, wax, graphite,..."

Trax: I see your point....well presented! We all keep WD 40 around...but I kind of wonder "why?"

You can buy a quart of mineral oil from Walgreens for....cheap! It is thin enough to spray effectively from $3.00 sprayer from Ace Hardware and is exactly the same as "Starrett tool oil"...at least that what Starrett says on the can ...."100% mineral oil"

Realistically, we're all caught up with aerosol sprays....(me too)

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
We all keep WD 40 around...but I kind of wonder "why?"

I most commonly use aerosol WD40 to burn out hornets nests, works like a flame thrower - they drop to the ground instantly wings all singed,
... I swear by it...

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:
it was necessary to put a condom over the bore
just so it wouldn't fill up

I always put electric tape over my bore, keeps out rain, snow & debris

Trax, the Army was responsible for the invention of WD-40 but now a days we use products like Break Free

WD-40 just doesn't last long enough & can gum up

quote:

Originally posted by Abob:
AB, no offense taken

it does work on fish, I'm told the secret ingredient is fish oil, we use it on our halibut baits to add a scent trail, it is so effective, I’m told some States outlaw it on boats when you are fishing?

I've been told it's illegal on boats in Ca., but what would you expect in Ca.

I've been a G-96 fan for 20+ years now.
It works and I like it.
Timan

I've been using G96 for quite a while as well. Both on guns and a drop or 2 behind the ear.

Saeed did a test a while back on oils.
http://www.accuratereloading.com/rustest.html

Although I highly respect Duane's gun smithing skills, I am going to disagree on good quality steel being porous enough for any oil to soak into the steel. The protection you get from oil is on the surface only. The frying pan comparison does not fly, as that coating is just burnt on the surface also.
James

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
You use Ballistisol oil?

No wonder they call you fish!



Terry

Terry, you are right, it does have a kind of 'quirky' odor to it, but I find it goes away pretty fast, haven't had a deer wind me in a while, and sometimes with a gun that was cleaned/lubed with Ballistisol within a few days.....

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
You use Ballistisol oil?

No wonder they call you fish!



Terry

Terry, you are right, it does have a kind of 'quirky' odor to it, but I find it goes away pretty fast, haven't had a deer wind me in a while, and sometimes with a gun that was cleaned/lubed with Ballistisol within a few days.....

Back when I shot a lot of blackpowder I would coat the bore down with Ballistisol before I shot. It would keep the bore from fouling a lot longer than anything else I tried. It's the real deal but It smells like it's made out of rotten fish and Roto-rueter plumbers

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
Trax: I see your point....well presented! We all keep WD 40 around...but I kind of wonder "why?"

The smell, man! Ah, The first time I came into the workshop at Colorado School of Trades back in 1989, the smell of WD-40 hit me like a hammer, and I think I got addicted. Just love it.

Norway has its share of wet climate, and I must do a +1 for the guy above with the woodwax for blued steel. It is also great for the wood, believe it or not!

Anybody use eezox? works for me but Utah isn't known to be real wet. DW

I am certainly a big fan of rust blued metal and fine walnut and have taken some very fine rifles by top tier guild members on several hunts in Alaska, but I am worried about the rifle the whole time. I am much more comfortable with my synthetic stocked, Birdsong Black T metal rifles that I can throw on the ground anywhere and leave them on the ground in the rain when I am spiked out in my bivy sack. That is hard to do with a rifle that is worth more than my truck.

I do agree that properly treated rust blued metal will hold up really well and I used the Rig soaked sheepskin that Duane described with good success.