Colt Detective Special Rust problem help

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cajundefender

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I recently inherited a neglected Colt Detective special. I cleaned it pretty well tonight, but the hammer is covered in what looks to be some pitting from rust. How you you think that I should fix this, and does it even need fixing? Also, the part of the revolver where the hinge is that connects the cylinder and the frame has a rust colored substance on it that wipes right off when I leave the cylinder closed and then open it after a few days, but I am not sure how to correct this. I am under the impression that there is rust inside the hinge, but I don't know what to do about it but oil it well. This is my pride of all of the revolvers I recently inherited, and it is of course the only one with any problems... My luck... Any help would be appreciated. See the blurry picture for an idea of what I am looking at on the hammer. Nothing wipes off with the solvent so I don't think it is rusting on the hammer, but I still don't like it.
 

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Bronze brush, oil. Steel wool would be fine, but, that grit is likely to run down into the action as you clean it. You could build a little dam with cleaning patches to catch the runoff.

You may be seeing old grease or oil weeping out of the crane. More oil, work it around a little, wipe out. Repeat until its clear.

Best option? Total disassembly and thorough cleaning. If you're not comfortable with that, a reputable gunsmith.

If that's all the problems it has, your problems are trivial!
 
If we were closer than 2000 miles from each other, I would clean it for free.

Sounds neglected from your description of the rusty oil residue around the yoke.

If one has an good understanding of Colt revolvers, he can have it completely (except the cylinder assembly) apart for a thorough frame cleaning in about 5 minutes.

The proper method to re-polish the hammer sides is to have it removed from the pistol. A small circular motion is applied to the hammer
(laying flat on a hard surface) on varying grits of wet/dry sandpaper is used to restore the factory polish.
Do not go too fine on the grit. Colt did not polish the DS hammer sides to a mirror finish.

Sounds like you might not have a lot of experience in Colt DA dis-assembly.

If you are not able to find someone who is,

Remove the cylinder assembly and grips. Using a cleaner/oil spray, (Rem-Oil is one such brand) liberally hose the frame interior
around the hammer sides as well as into the cylinder yoke. Same for the cylinder. Work the extractor in and out while spraying.
Buy several cans if need be.

Do this in such a manner (keep the muzzle pointed nearly vertical the whole time) that you allow the oil and rusty residue to run out the bottom of the frame from around the mainspring.

Leave the barrel pointed up, support the gun so that it is able to drain.
Repeat for a day or two until the oil that drips out is free of contaminants.

I would let it drip dry for several days at that point before re-assembly.

That should stabilize the pistol until you find a smith you feel comfortable with to have him yard it apart for a proper cleaning.

JT
 
Don't use steel wool, as fragments of it can become embed in the metal and cause more rust; use bronze or copper wool instead. Remember that pitting can't be removed without removing the surface area around it.

As for the seeping liquid, as others have suggested it sounds as if you have old oil seeping out, and your Colt needs a good DEEP cleaning.
 
Don't use steel wool, as fragments of it can become embed in the metal and cause more rust; use bronze or copper wool instead. Remember that pitting can't be removed without removing the surface area around it.
Click to expand...

I've heard that from time to time but I've yet to see any definitive proof that it causes rust.
 
I have no experience in Colt revolvers at all. I kept wiping the rust colored substance away every time I saw it as I applied more oil, and I haven't seen it reappear in a few weeks, but I still am concerned about it. As for the hammer, it does not appear to be rusting as when I scrub a wet and dry patch over it I get nothing. I don't think that whatever it is will compromise the integrity of the firearm, but it doesn't look good, and with a nice revolver like the Detective, you all know how much I want it to look good for presentation at the range. :D The other revolvers are fine. They were very dirty but they all cleaned up nice. I probably spent a good three hours on the detective before I was able to get a clean patch out of the barrel. I attempted scrubbing the hammer with a bronze brush as stated, but to no avail. Looking at it now it doesn't even look like it is something eaten into the metal. It looks like flat discoloration for the most part. I'll try some sandpaper to polish it up a little and see what happens. I really need to bring it to a gunsmith for a thorough cleaning but when I search all gunsmiths in 50 miles, there are four of them and all have very poor ratings.
 
A DS is a fine gun and worth taking care of.

Sandpaper on the hammer will remove metal. I would suggest something more like Flitz or some other polisher to remove discoloration.

Current Guns and Ammo magazine has 2 good articles on Colts. One is on the very first Colt guns, as in Texas versus the world in 1836 (or at least the Mexicans and the Comanches) up through US Civil War (which, I am told, was not too civil) and the other is on the DS.

The DS article totally did not mention that the final generation was not the same gun as all the others. The lock work was cheaper to build and the trigger pull was not as nice.

Anybody want a 3-inch DS? It's being sold by this shop: Pinto's Gun Shop

Bart Noir
 
Breakthrough!

Okay, thank you for mentioning dried oil. These firearms were not cleaned or shot for almost thirty years. None of my other guns are close to being that old and they are all cleaned at least once a month even if they are not shot, so not only did I not consider that the oil was the problem, I did not even know the oil did anything like that after sitting up for a while. I took a chance and remove a screw and terrified myself when the cylinder fell out. This is when I noticed that reddish-brown substance over the inner workings of the cylinder. Sure enough, I wiped it off and used a swab to clean inside the center of the cylinder and got it all out. No signs of rust and it is all clean and shiny now. I put it back together so I wouldn't come on here claiming a victory and then beg you all for help because I couldn't figure out how to put it back together :p Now it;s time to oil and do the same to my other revolvers now that I know how to take the cylinder out. Now just the hammer, which I will try some metal polish on tomorrow, and a range day. Thanks for the assistance everyone. It is very much appreciated.
 
Conclusion

I finally sat down and scrubbed the hammer with a brass brush until the brush was falling apart. The hammer now has no more dark marks and you can't see anything wrong with it unless you look at it at an angle, at which point you can see dark spots, but that's about it. I took all of the cylinders out, cleaned everything, and oiled well. I even took off the thumb switch that opens the cylinder off and cleaned and oiled under that. They are all looking great and it makes me feel better that they are all clean on both the inside and the outside. My ammo also arrived today, so hopefully I can have a range day soon. Thanks for the responses. :D
 
"Now just the hammer, which I will try some metal polish on tomorrow..."
You can give yourself and the gun a break by not trying so hard to make a gun that is not new look like it is.
 
Don't use steel wool, as fragments of it can become embed in the metal and cause more rust
Click to expand...

This is an old wives' tale. It might have some merit with wood, but there's no way bits of steel wool are going to "embed" themselves on polished metal. It simply doesn't happen.
 
Cajun .... congrats on the DS. I have a mid '70's Series 3 w/ ejector shroud, and love it. Now something related to your OP question .... having removed the rust and the freckling, you might want to consider "rust prevention", in addition to cleaning and oiling your guns on a regular basis. Continue oiling the internals, but buy a jar of Renaissance Wax for the external surfaces, and apply each time you clean. This product is used by Museums and Collectors for protection on priceless antique firearms & knives, antique furniture, rare paintings, etc. and will work amazingly well to prevent rust on anyone's large or small firearm collection. I apply with my fingers and use a soft tooth brush to get into tight areas, let dry and buff. The results are amazing, reviving old dull finishes to like new again. In areas that are unexposed, like under grips, etc. I apply a heavy coat and leave it on, un-buffed. You can apply it safely on any grip material and gun finishes. It is non-abrasive.

It's an excellent product I believe should be included in everyone's gun cleaning and gun preservation arsenal. Can be obtained at Brownells or Midway. Have fun !

the Shadow
 
Rennaissance Wax is designed for items that won't be handled much, if at all.
Neutral paste shoe polish, however, is designed to hold up on shoes.
RW is expensive. Shoe polish is cheap, and works better.
 
I've used Renaissance Wax on all my firearms for years with outstanding results .... and at a cost of $16.00 for a 65ml container, don't consider it any more expensive than a similar sized container of quality shoe polish. I purchase RW on-line at: restorationproduct.com.

If Ren Wax is good enough to be used and endorsed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the NRA Museum, Texarcana College of Bladesmithing & Metallurgy and Gunsmiths at Colonial Williamsburg, to name a few .... it's good enough for me.

Important to note that I use Meltonian Shoe Polish for the purpose it was intended, to protect my shoes .... not my firearms !

Jake
 
Ren Wax is designed to be easy to apply and buff off of items that are not handled. Don't fall for the hype. It's an ok wax, but not nearly as good as car wax or neutral shoe polish. I have tried R/W in my cutlery restoration business, but I use neutral shoe polish.
 
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