What is causing my guns to rust?

the noobie

New member
Today I got full and bored so i went and pulled all the guns out of my cabinet. Inspected them and noticed the outside of the barrel on my little Remmy 700 had a slight reddish tint in areas, it has that "matte black" finish so i couldnt tell if it was just the red dust from the last time i went shooting (the dirt is rust colored where i was at and i was shooting prone) or if it was rust. It whipped off on my shirt just fine.

Moved on .243 looks fine, 10/22 looks fine, AR looks fine

.30-06 outside looks fine. Holy mother of pearl bore full of RUST It shouldnt be, last time i shot it was 2 years ago before winter that same day i cleaned it up and oiled it for storage. Then re-cleaned and oiled it last year before winter. I cant believe that there was that much rust.

.410 #1 looks fine, .410 #2 looks fine, Mosin nagant #1 Very slight rust in the bore, Mosin Nagant #2 very slight rust in the bore, and 12 guage looks fine.

I have 3 thoughts so far.

#1 The -06 and Mosin #1 were cleaned with gunslick foaming bore cleaner and I dont remember if i oiled the bore after words... it was all whipped out then cleaned out with some hoppes 9 but i can remember if i oiled them. Could this cause rust? Although I also cleaned the Remington with the gunslick and i KNOW i didnt re oil it and its bore is fine.

#2 Could I have gotten into some oil corrosive ammo for the -06? We have some older (im not sure age) FMJ Ball ammo for the -06 and im curious if it wasnt corrosive.

#3: My guns are stored in one of those Stack on sheet metal gun cabinets. Its about 20 feet from my bathroom. When i shower i leave the door open so could moisture from me showering (steam etc) drift across my room and get into the cabinet?
 
Air is hydrogen and water molecules.

Air (oxygen) is making your guns rust.

It's called oxidation. Also known as rust.

The longer they sit, the worse it gets.
With a light coat of gun oil after each cleaning, you'll never see this problem again. And oil them more than once a year, it doesn't last forever.

You can thank science.
tongue.gif
 
I keep a small oily rag in a plastic bowl with a snap on lid on a shelf in the cabinet. I give the outside metal a quick rubdown EVERY time I put them away.

The Hoppes#9 has a rust preventer in it. For long term storage I leave the bore well oiled.

The FMJ could be corrosive, esp. if it's old, or made overseas.

Showers probably not the problem, but you might see what you could do to reduce the moisture in the room.
 
Short of vacuum sealing your guns you need to love them a little more often. Pulling them out and givin em a rub down every 6 months or so would be ok. Shooting all of them at least once every 6 months and then cleaning them makes it much more fun. The dehumidifier buckets as mentioned help a lot too. Just remember they don't last forever. There are also some small electronic dehumidifiers you can use but you gotta empty them frequently. We used to have to empty our 5 gallon ones in our arms room at drum at least once every 3 days because all 3 would fill up and turn off.
 
save the incondecedents out of your shoe when you buy them or other things put them in your cabnit and bake them 1 time a year in oven on low for 1hr after a littly while of saving them you will have a good system. OR move to utah
like all the Vitamin Companies
 
It is apparent to me that im not babying my guns enough.. just got done checking the guns over again and even my bolt action .223 has rust... that one is still puzzling me becuase it gets shot at least twice a month and cleaned atleast twice a month, it only gets nice ammo (no dirty reloads like the AR is getting and no mil surp garbage) Its not bad and it might possibly not even be rust just some discoloring from copper build up?

I was saving my $ for more ammo but I think its time to spend the money and get a nice new cleaning rod and some nice new cleaning supplies.

I have a few more questions.

#1: Im almost out of Solvent. Hoppes 9 is all i have ever used but is there anything else i should try? Hoppes 9 Bench rest?

#2: As far as the silica gel things, what is the biggest bang for the buck? Walmart RV ones? or electric ones?

#3: Are my Remoil wipes the correct things to wipe guns down with?
 
Just cause you shoot it twice a month doesn't mean anything. Oxygen is always around it, and will always be working to oxidize and cause surface rust. If you lived in a damp enough environment, it could have orange powder on the barrel literally over night. I've had it happen in Ohio (and coastal North Carolina, when I was in the service) plenty of times. I spray my weapons down after every time I shoot them, even if I don't clean them after every trip to the range.


Hoppes is fine, make sure your patch runs through dry once your satisfied with yor cleaning.

Skip the Remoil wipes, and just buy a spray can of Remoil, and use patches in conjunction will it. Even spray some down the barrel when you store it, as well as use a wet patch and wipe the gun down with it, leaving as light or heavy a film as you want to. And do it more often. It will not hurt anything, and will only stand to prevent surface rust. It even helps wood gun stocks if you have those.
smile.gif
 
Bang for buck short term get the buckets of the beads or gel or whatever. There's also some meant to dry out your basement air that work well too. Long term the electronic units work may more better as they can suck more water out in an hour. I would keep to the cleaning products you already use since you're familiar with them and they're fine products. I would suggest not using a cleaning rod unless you have a bore guide. I'm a big fan of the cables that come in the otis kits. I was gonna be a big fan of boresnakes but mine broke the first attempt at using it. It failed again when I tried to fix it. I snapped it a third time trying to use it once more. I now hate them. At least the viper ones.

IDK about the remoil wipes. In my experience though anything that comes on a wipe is designed to do almost half as good as using the real stuff. (Other than baby wipes
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Originally Posted By: 204farr OR move to utah
like all the Vitamin Companies

haha I was born and mostly raised in Utah.

I know that it can still rust even though its being shot twice a month but its just the fact that it gets cleaned at least twice a month and oiled is whats getting me. Only reason im going to "upgrade" what i have is my brushes are cheap, they were part of a cleaning "kit" and they just flat out suck, some of the bristles will literally come loose and fall out in the barrel on the bigger caliber ones. But they do work, Id just rather start new with something of higher quality.

If its not too expensive ill check out those cables, my cleaning rod though has to go its an older one that had some kind of coating on it that was supposed to make it more bore friendly.. well the coating is flaking off in spots so it might be safer just to throw it out or save it for cleaning the Nagants.
 
Noobie,,I get some packets of Birchwood Casey's "Barricade" to wipe down my firearms before storage...but as said previously, that's once every six months, whether I shoot them or not...Oxidation is always present and any preventive maintenance just forestalls it, unless you are going to heat up some cosmoline and dip the weapons in it for long term storage...
 
Something that I didn't think about earlier... You may not be getting all the rust off before the oil. As far as how to get deeper IDK on rifles. I know on our 7.62 machine guns when the barrels get nasty we shoot the crap outta them and then put either militec or some other lubricating oil designed for guns. My personal 240 only sees militec with an occasional bit of the thick LSA. I don't pay for the stuff though so I don't care how expensive it is, just how well it works.
 
Say i get an otis kit like This

Do I have to use their own special little cleaning patches? or will the usual coton square ones I use work? Also I cant seem to find the answer to this anywhere but are the threads on their kit thing the normal 8x32 or do they use their own thread which makes the kit useless with any other brushes or attachments?
 
they use a couple of different threads but they usually fit the brushes you have. They use sizes appropriate for brush size so you get more bite with the larger brushed but I'm sure everyone just about uses the same standards. I got that same kit as a gift, loved it. Really nice that all the pieces are brass so they are more gentle on the gun. You can def use either kind of patch. I actually prefer the square ones. They're cheaper and I always screw up the size enough to get it stuck. BTW, if you do get something stuck, just twist off the cable, pull it out, and send a cleaning rod down to back out whatever you get stuck. (Or in a pinch a chopped up coathanger piece.

That is an expensive kit though. If you have most of the other pieces I would suggest just getting the cheapest rifle kit. Otis makes good stuff, they knew that people know that, they charge accordingly. Not saying its a ripoff, just that they aren't lowballing much.
 
Originally Posted By: the noobieToday I got full and bored so i went and pulled all the guns out of my cabinet. Inspected them and noticed the outside of the barrel on my little Remmy 700 had a slight reddish tint in areas, it has that "matte black" finish so i couldnt tell if it was just the red dust from the last time i went shooting (the dirt is rust colored where i was at and i was shooting prone) or if it was rust. It whipped off on my shirt just fine.

Moved on .243 looks fine, 10/22 looks fine, AR looks fine

.30-06 outside looks fine. Holy mother of pearl bore full of RUST It shouldnt be, last time i shot it was 2 years ago before winter that same day i cleaned it up and oiled it for storage. Then re-cleaned and oiled it last year before winter. I cant believe that there was that much rust.

.410 #1 looks fine, .410 #2 looks fine, Mosin nagant #1 Very slight rust in the bore, Mosin Nagant #2 very slight rust in the bore, and 12 guage looks fine.

I have 3 thoughts so far.

#1 The -06 and Mosin #1 were cleaned with gunslick foaming bore cleaner and I dont remember if i oiled the bore after words... it was all whipped out then cleaned out with some hoppes 9 but i can remember if i oiled them. Could this cause rust? Although I also cleaned the Remington with the gunslick and i KNOW i didnt re oil it and its bore is fine.

#2 Could I have gotten into some oil corrosive ammo for the -06? We have some older (im not sure age) FMJ Ball ammo for the -06 and im curious if it wasnt corrosive.

#3: My guns are stored in one of those Stack on sheet metal gun cabinets. Its about 20 feet from my bathroom. When i shower i leave the door open so could moisture from me showering (steam etc) drift across my room and get into the cabinet?

I hate to say it but you learned the hard way. All the things you mention are what i call abuse. sorry, Guns need periodic care being shot or not, just like a car it's metal it'll rust, all metal needs a coat of (oil) to protect it the more they're neglected the more they'll tell on you. shoot it then clean, dry, oil. handle it then clean outside and oil. seasons change take 'em out lightly clean, dry, then oil, it's never ending. stack on thin metal gun cabinet ok for guns used every week, not so much for storage. A change in room temp will cause sweating that's a no/no. a constant 65 deg. 50% humidity level is best,( not gonna happen) so you gonna have to work. I have about 30 firearms, i feel so tired after a full day of cleaning and oiling every 4 or 5 mos sometimes i just want to sell 2/3s of them, then again i enjoy taking care of my firearms. When I hold a firearm i realize many men have died so i can own a firearm, and have the freedom i enjoy that alone makes it worth it .
Good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: wraithenthey use a couple of different threads but they usually fit the brushes you have. They use sizes appropriate for brush size so you get more bite with the larger brushed but I'm sure everyone just about uses the same standards. I got that same kit as a gift, loved it. Really nice that all the pieces are brass so they are more gentle on the gun. You can def use either kind of patch. I actually prefer the square ones. They're cheaper and I always screw up the size enough to get it stuck. BTW, if you do get something stuck, just twist off the cable, pull it out, and send a cleaning rod down to back out whatever you get stuck. (Or in a pinch a chopped up coathanger piece.

That is an expensive kit though. If you have most of the other pieces I would suggest just getting the cheapest rifle kit. Otis makes good stuff, they knew that people know that, they charge accordingly. Not saying its a ripoff, just that they aren't lowballing much.

All I have right now is a handful of brushes and plastic patch holders. I do have the rod but like i mentioned earlier the protective coating is flaking off of it. I was Looking and to upgrade to the brass patch holders and a new cleaning rod was going to hit the $30 mark. If I wanted a bore guide to go along with that it was going to be in the $80+ range.

Just went back and noticed this Notice it has most everything, but what is the 8" chamber rod? would that allow me to attach a chamber brush and scrub say the chamber/locking lugs of my AR-15? This kit Costs the exact same as the Tipton Carbon Fiber cleaning rod i was pondering. Only thing its missing is my .30 cal and .243/6mm brushes but they're cheap at only $1-$2
 
noobie, you don't use a swamp cooler in the summer time do you. I knew a guy that did and he had somewhat the same problem as you are having. good luck.
 
The chamber rod is two rods that screw together and will hold anything the cable will hold. You can use it to do anything you want, it's ur stuff. I don't have a need for it on my bolt guns, I usually end up using a gun toothbrush.
 
No swamp cooler, just open the window at night and close it in the morning and the room stays pretty constant even through august.
 
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