Perspiration & Stainless Steel

F

FUD

Moderator
I live & work in the hot & humid Florida swamps. In the course of my employment, I am frequently required to wear a shirt & tie. It is company policy not to allow any type of weapons on company property. My understanding of the CCW law is that Florida has enacted legislation against this practice so I am of the opinion that I am not breaking any laws when I bring a gun to the office. However, since it is against company policy, it would be grounds for firing if it became known that I was armed. Therefore, I carry the smallest, serious caliber handgun that I'm aware of ... the Kahr MK9 (some may disagree that a 9mm is a "serious caliber" but loaded with the proper bullets, it has 90%+ one shot stopping power according to Evan Marshall) in an inside the waist belly band.

Nobody knows that I am armed but originally being from the cold north, I find that at the end of the day when I take off the gun, it has perspiration on it and it is beginning to show slight signs of rust in a few places (around the sights, trigger, etc.). I try to protect the gun with silicon spray but that doesn't real help much. I've considered different modes of carrying but the other methods reveal a bulge here or there.
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I just sweat a lot no matter where I am. My P9 started showing signs of rust too. Like on the sides of the hammer, and the exposed part of the barrel. Now my choice may be a bit extreme, but I decided to blue it. You know the bottle of home blueing you can buy. I just blued the exposed bits that started to rust. I tried leaving it oiled and even went to vasoline but all that did was stain my shirts and holster. Like I said it may be extreme and it could even devalue the gun, but it is still safe to shoot, and now it doesn't rust.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Andrewh: ... but I decided to blue it. You know the bottle of home blueing you can buy ...[/quote]Maybe I've led a sheltered life, but what "home blueing"? Can you give me details? Brand name? Can I get some at home depo? Will it smear off leaving the gun looking even worse? Thanks for the info.
 
Remember, stainless steel is a misnomer. It actually should be called stain resistant as even "stainless steel", as you have found out, can rust. Birchwood Casey's Sheath Oil is pretty good and automotive wax is also a pretty good protectant. The other thing you could try would be to wipe down the gun from time to time during the day.

The home bluing kit that Andrewh mentioned is available at gunshops and through the Brownell's catalog www.brownells.com I think Birchwood Casey makes one and it's generally a paste or solution you apply to the gun. I've never used it, but I've heard it does a decent job. In addition, Brownells sells a bunch of other products that you can use at home to finish guns.

Bluing, like parkerization, is simply "rusting" your gun so that additional rust has a harder time of accumulating. YOu have to make sure that when you apply it, or any other finish for that matter, that the surface you are going to use it on is prepared correctly, i.e. super clean.

You may want to also consider some finished like Blak-Ti, NP3, or Roguard. You can use the search function to look for these in the archives of this board or the Smithy forum to see what info you can find. HTH and hope you don't get caught with your piece.
 
This may seem like an off-the-wall idea, but what about cleaning (de-greasing) the outside of the gun thoroughly, then spraying it with one of the clear acrylic sprays (i.e. from the spray-paint dept. at a hardware store). Possibly if you got a satin or matte type it would be nearly invisible...
 
You have several options here. You can either oil it everyday, which may or may not really help. Or you can have it refinished. This will most likely take care of corrosion for good.
I recommend either hard chroming or Robar's NP3 if you want a silver gun. If you want a matte black finish, then Birdsong's Black-T is the way to go.
 
FUD- It is the bottle from brownells like KOG said. It is a liquid you wipe on with a cotton ball type thing. The weird part was having to wash off my gun in water to neutralize the bluing agent.
 
I worked undercover narcotics in Key West and know what you mean about exposing a gun persperation and the ultimate rust.
I finaly simply deicided that for a "working" gun let it rust and don't worry too much about the looks as long as it functions reliably. Once it reaches the point you no longer trust it simply relace it with another. Radical perhaps but it worked for me.

------------------
Gunslinger

We live in a time in which attitudes and deeds once respected as courageous and honorable are now scorned as being antiquated and subversive.
 
Fud amigo!

I carried a Rostfrei (stainless) ppk for a while in the Virgina swamp weather..Lots o' sweat..no rust...but the steel was so soft that after 120 rounds the slide width expanded, and the gun loosened up a lot. the fact that yours is rusting shows that is a stronger/ higher carbon version...

I came to the conclusion that it does not pay to get stainless wepons if you will be carrying with any sort of body contact...

My answer was to sell the stainless after a few years, get a blued ppk and have it nickled ...I really could of had it hard Chromed...this is an expensive option I understand...but now I can live my life without RUST!(Nickel discolors with sweat but does not corrode, nuthn' that a litle polish can't take care of...chrome is so wonderfully non-reactive but not what I wanted!)

peace
:cool:

P.S. Welcome to the relativly free South!
 
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