Help! I'm rusting!

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Darthmaum

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I was just diddling with my SIG P228, and upon unloading it and taking out the magazine, I noticed there's rust all over the magazine, and in the magazine well. What's going on here?

I meticulously keep my guns cleaned and oiled, so why should it be rusting? I haven't water on it or anything. Next question: Now that it's happened, what do I do about it? How do I get rid of it, and keep it from happening again?

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"Liberty or death, What we so proudly hail... Once you provoke Her, rattling of Her tail- Never begins it, NEVER- But once engaged never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage. DON'T TREAD ON ME!!
 
I kinda know the feeling. Some years ago I found rust on the magazine of my S&W Model 469. In my case, I'd scrupulously kept the outside of the pistol oiled and clean of acidic, salty fingerprints. But the magazine was out of sight and out of mind, therefore I had neglected it. :(

Since then, I've kept my magazines from rusting by wiping a light coat of preservative oil on the magazine body and floorplate (if metal), and by re-wiping as soon as practicable after the magazine is handled. IOW, the magazine needs the same basic care as the pistol itself.

OTOH, the rust in the mag well of your pistol is, to me, a bit of a puzzle. Since the P228 has an alloy frame, I don't see the well itself rusting, unless there are steel parts in there that have been affected. Could the rust be forming on the magazine and then rubbing off onto the walls of the mag well?

How to get rid of the rust on the magazine depends on the depth of the rust. For very light, surface rust, sometimes rubbing the area with an oil-soaked patch is enough. Sometimes fine bronze wool or extra-fine steel wool rubbed with oil is required for deeper rust--but steel wool is apt to remove the bluing as well. There are also rust-removing preparations. The factory or a gunsmith may be able to refinish the magazine. But someone else will probably be able to answer this question more satisfactorily.

I hope this helps some.


[This message has been edited by jimmy (edited October 07, 1999).]
 
I see your from Dallas where you get some humid days from time to time. The mags ( the gun )will rust. I'm from La. were Sigs will rustwhile looking at them (ok, not that bad )
Two ways to go; 1.the cheaper is to buy the
Marine Tuff Cloth from sentry solutions and wipe the mags down from time to time. 2. For a really serious fix try the Molyfusion and Sweet Shooter combonation. Use it also in the
barrel and it will produce a tighter group.
This is the most expensive route but when used on a number of guns it can be cost effective.
 
This puzzled me for a while until I realised something.

The USP has polymer magazines.

-Jon

PS: The interior is covered in steel, though, which makes me start to worry about having to disassemble it and clean it from the _inside_...
 
like bobo says - my Sig's also rust just by looking at them! :) Seriously, I'm in a coastal environment with salt air, so rust is a problem. Another option for you might be Birchwood-Casey's Sheath. I use it in saturated cloth form, and it works very well. What I like about it is that it pretty much dries rather than remain oily.

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Regards - AZFred
 
Thanks, guys for the input! I did notice that it seems to be coming from the magazine only, and not the mag well.

hologon, my gun isn't a USP, and it does have metal mags, except the floorplate which is plastic. Not sure what kind of metal though. Steel maybe?

Where can I get the Marine Tuff Cloth, or the Birchwood-Casey's Sheath? Also the Molly-Fusion and Sweet-Shooter? I currently use a Kleen-Bore Silicon Cloth to rub down the gun, but I do sometimes forget to do the magazines.

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"Liberty or death, What we so proudly hail... Once you provoke Her, rattling of Her tail- Never begins it, NEVER- But once engaged never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage. DON'T TREAD ON ME!!
 
Darthmaum -- sorry! I should have marked my comment with a :)

I was well aware that you didn't have a USP, but since I do (and I'm very new to guns in general), I was trying to figure out how a magazine well and magazine could rust when my own example was made of plastic.

:D

Sorry about the confusion!

-Jon

[This message has been edited by hologon (edited October 07, 1999).]
 
I have known people that have applied a good coat of automotive wax to their magazine bodys. I am not sure how well it has worked. I have never tried it.

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
 
Greetings Darthmaun; I just checked the mag's
on all four of my Sig's and I don't seem to
have a problem with them rusting. However, I
do keep a thin coat of "Break Free CLP" on
all of them and I check them carefully and
very often.

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Ala Dan
 
hologon,

DOH! I didn't catch that. I was sittin' there scratchin my head trying to figure out what you were talking about! :) I wish I also had a USP Expert... no $$ though.

I took my Kleen-bore cloth to the magazine, and the rusted spots came off. Guess I'll have to be more conscientious of them from now on.

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"Liberty or death, What we so proudly hail... Once you provoke Her, rattling of Her tail- Never begins it, NEVER- But once engaged never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage. DON'T TREAD ON ME!!
 
It is possible that when the magazine tube was blued, that the bluing salts were never properly neutralized. The end result is even though oil is applied, the salts would still be active in "rusting" the magazine. If such is the case, you can do what the old time gunsmiths did. Neutralize it.

Get a pot of boiling water and dissolve a lot of baking soda into it. Another reason we want very hot water is to remove any oil. Now, strip the magazine and take the affected part (just the tube I presume) and toss it in. Let it simmer (Do I sound like Julia Child?) for a few minutes to allow the baking soda to neutralize any remaining acid. Remove the magazine and dry it (the metal should be hot enough that it'll promote evaporation soon enough). Brush off any baking soda residue and apply the lubircant of your choice. Inspect daily to see if there is any more rust.

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Anybody shooting corrosive primed ammo? It is still around, and the priming salt can still get into the frame and slide even if the barrel is cleaned perfectly.

Jim
 
The Spring in the USP mags can rust too - So dont get cocky - take the mag down and use marine tuff cloff to wipe down the springs every tiem you do the same to the gun.
A rusty spring can become a weak spring.
A weak spring can cause a jam.
A jam at the wrong place and time can kill you.
So - A rusty spring is a dangerous spring.

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I mean, if I went around saying I was an Emperor because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, people would put me away!
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
 
In re: neutralizing bluing salts. Per se you don't have to dip the metal into a boiling baking soda bath, but have the water hot so as to promote evaporation.

I concur about magazine springs. They should be cleaned and inspected regularly too. Preferably after each trip to the range and if this is infrequent, most manufacturers recommend annually.

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
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