Staying ahead of Rust

[Capt. Red Beard]

I have a question about rust, how to prevent it, and how to deal with it. I own a sea service pistol (steel) and a blunderbuss (brass) as well as a cutlass and boarding axe. I live and work on boats as a Captain. This winter I was the Captain of a SCUBA diving boat in Pompano Beach, FL and had my weapons with me as I intended to go to the Florida Renaissance festival and other festivals in the area. I ended up only taking my weapons out of the gun case (that I had purchased for flying with them and keep them stored in it for ease) once all winter while on the boat. Months latter when I opened the case again in Baltimore the locks of both guns were completely covered in rust as was the barrel of the pistol and my boarding axe. This was with them stored in a dry place in a sealed case! I chalked it up to just being in the salty ear working in a marine environment. Needless to say I am pissed about it. So what do I do now to fix it. I thought gun oil and still wool, but I really don't want to scratch things up in the process. More importantly, how do I prevent this from happening in the future? I am very busy with work and life so after using my weapons, I just want to clean them, put them away and not have to worry about them until I need them again and expect them to be in the same condition that I left them. I am also not rich so can't afford something so expensive to become unusable just from sitting around in storage. I don't get on Pyracy Pub often so feel free to contact me directly with your advice and solutions. Thank you.

Capt. Rusty

200 ton near coastal master

rustyrice@me.com

[Cascabel]

I have a question about rust, how to prevent it, and how to deal with it. I own a sea service pistol (steel) and a blunderbuss (brass) as well as a cutlass and boarding axe. I live and work on boats as a Captain. This winter I was the Captain of a SCUBA diving boat in Pompano Beach, FL and had my weapons with me as I intended to go to the Florida Renaissance festival and other festivals in the area. I ended up only taking my weapons out of the gun case (that I had purchased for flying with them and keep them stored in it for ease) once all winter while on the boat. Months latter when I opened the case again in Baltimore the locks of both guns were completely covered in rust as was the barrel of the pistol and my boarding axe. This was with them stored in a dry place in a sealed case! I chalked it up to just being in the salty ear working in a marine environment. Needless to say I am pissed about it. So what do I do now to fix it. I thought gun oil and still wool, but I really don't want to scratch things up in the process. More importantly, how do I prevent this from happening in the future? I am very busy with work and life so after using my weapons, I just want to clean them, put them away and not have to worry about them until I need them again and expect them to be in the same condition that I left them. I am also not rich so can't afford something so expensive to become unusable just from sitting around in storage. I don't get on Pyracy Pub often so feel free to contact me directly with your advice and solutions. Thank you.

Capt. Rusty

200 ton near coastal master

rustyrice@me.com

First off...... You should NEVER store your guns in a gun case !!! They tend to hold moisture and humidity. Cases are designed for transporting guns, not storage. This is especially true of plastic cases and heavily padded ones. They cannot "breathe", and allow humidity to escape. If you absolutely MUST keep you guns in a case, make it one of the thin, un-padded breatheable cloth cases. An old blanket is a far better storage wrapper than any kind of ready made gun case, and cheap too !!

The best rust protection for both swords and guns is a good coat of Kiwi "neutral" shoe polish. It is readily available, and stays on better than any kind of oil, being that it is a wax. Just rub on a heavy coat, let it dry, and buff lightly. It leaves the metal coated and protected for quite a while. In a salt air environment, you would be wise to check your weapons for rust periodically, and re-treat with the wax. You will also notice that when going out of an air conditioned building into a hot summer day, that moisture will quickly condense on your metal surfaces. This needs to be wiped off quickly, and also be aware that this is occurring to guns inside your nice plastic gun cases, and being trapped inside !!!!

>>>>> Cascabel

[Capt. Red Beard]

Thanks. Because I live in a communal environment, am around kids and people who are not always friendly towards gun ownership and weapons I need to keep them in a locked case. Thanks for the prevention information. Now that I have rusty weapons those, how do I correct that without scratching them all up in the process?

Capt. Rusty

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Capt. Red Beard, the only way to keep up with it is to do regular maintenence period. You cannot simply put them away and forget them until you need them, especially in your environment. Those weapons should be cleaned and maintained once a week on a boat no matter whether they are being used or not. I am a U.S. Navy veteran and even modern weapons stored aboard ship got PMS'd once a week and they were rarely ever issued. There is no easy fix to your problem, it just takes time and effort to do it. As to cleaning up the current ess, you are pretty much stuck with using a 0000 fine steel wool and disassembling the parts, using oil afterwards and keeping the weapons on a regular maintenence schedule thereafter. There is no way around it unless you have a climate controlled weapons safe to use.

As to storage and protection short-term, Cascabel has that covered well.

Bo

[wes1761]

Look into the silica gel moisture absorption packets too, they help a bit, but nothing, like Bo said, can replace regular maintenance.....

[Bright]

Long term storage cover and pack clean weapons in Cosmoline. When use my gun on the coastal ares I use rain-X to help fight in humaded areas like lock works ;-}

[Darrel Morris]

Renaissance Wax is another option for protection. It's used in museums for preservation and protection of artifacts. Kiwi shoe wax would be a lot less expensive though. There is also a product called a Rust Eraser it is sold in cutlery shops and it works well to clean heavy rust.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Sorry if I came off a bit abrasive, it's been a long couple of weeks trying to play catch-up at school. We are behind due to snow-days off and I have been scrambling to get the kids all the information they need for the EOC (end of course) exam coming up. We had to squeeze in the mandatory U.S. Constitution exam and we are also required to give them the Missouri Constitution exam before school is out. I am a bit frazzled and did not intend to be so snippy.

Bo

[Grymm]

There is also a compound for browning metal...essentially giving it a controlled rusting then stopping the oxidization so you end up with an even brown.

[Jib]

What about stage combat weapons? Something that is going to get banged about? I have been using Hoppes oil but noticed that a brown funk has started to appear on my rapier. Suggestions?

[Grymm]

There is also a compound for browning metal...essentially giving it a controlled rusting then stopping the oxidization so you end up with an even brown.

This is the stuff Birchwood Casey Plum Brown Barrel finish

http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/Finishing/FinishingDetails.aspx?ProductID=c13fa667-ed45-4e20-ba31-b39c418ed211

Heat barrel, paint on, job done, the odd light oiling, no more rusting.

[Grymm]

More 'browning' instructions.

http://www.laurelmou..._brown_inst.htm

and the product http://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown.htm

Edited April 12, 2011 by Grymm

[peglegstrick]

Used the Birchwood Casey Plum Brown on a Dixie Gunworks Tenessee mountian rifle years back and turned out good. Would use it again.