Preventing rust while carrying

Im not seeing the wax holding up very long, especially when the gun is being used in a leather holster...

Why wouldn't wax hold up? What special effect would a leather holster have that's specific to wax? Ideally, a wax should be more likely to stay put (and more resistant to being wicked away by contact with materials).

Remember too that some waxes are mixed with a solvent so that they are easier to apply. In such cases, the solvent is designed to evaporate away after proper application. The right questions are how good of a coating they actually leave and how well that coating protects against the environments our guns are likely to see.

Speaking of proper application, the linked tests didn't say much about that, or how the metal surfaces were prepared, or what kind of salt solution was applied, or how they might have been intermittently wiped over the course of testing. (At least one person mentioned zinc on the test metal, which brings up other issues.) For any of these products, I'd like to see better experimental control and reporting.
 
Did anybody take a look at this link
http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

The guy ran the first test spraying all the pieces of metal with salt water . The results appeared quite clear . Hornady's one shot , Frog lube & WD-40 "specialist" had no rust after 22 days of exposure . Everything else ( 40 other products ) rusted badly in that same time frame . Some did better then others but only three had no rust on them after sitting outside for 22 days and nights exposed to all weather conditions in that time .

If those three can handle 22 days . I'd think they'd handle a day or two then a quick wipe down again . I believe there's a finger print test in there as well .
 
Why wouldn't wax hold up?

IDK but it doesn't. It didn't hold up in my test or any of the other number of tests that people have done. Its just bad at preventing rust on metal.

Hornady's one shot , Frog lube & WD-40 "specialist" had no rust after 22 days of exposure .

I have seen mixed results on frog lube. It didnt do well on my test. I wish it did though because its a healthy option. Eezox is like the most toxic stuff known to man.
 
Why wouldn't wax hold up? What special effect would a leather holster have that's specific to wax?
I would think it would wear it off pretty quick when inserting and removing the gun, and even while the gun was in the holster, from your constant movements during the day.

Leather tends to collect and hold dirt, dust, etc, and its really not something you can remove. That leather actually becomes a sort of emery if you think about it. Constant use of blued guns in my leather holsters always left the finish dull and worn looking (the parts that didnt rust). My kydex holsters have never dont that. They do leave wear marks on the contact points though.

The "contact points" in a leather holster tend to be the whole part of the slide and frame that contact the leather, which is considerably more surface area, especially with a fitted holster.


The results appeared quite clear . Hornady's one shot , Frog lube & WD-40 "specialist" had no rust after 22 days of exposure . Everything else ( 40 other products ) rusted badly in that same time frame .
One of the reasons I quit using Frog Lube was rust. Gumming was the other issue. I used it exclusively for a couple of years, and saw a change in its consistency over that time. Also saw them change the directions for its use too. Towards the end of using it, it seemed to get a lot thinner and more watery, and I always wondered if that wasnt part of the problem. One of the last times I used it, I cleaned my S&W M28 with it, and within the week, has a light coat of rust on and around the cylinder. That was a surprise, and not a pleasant one.
 
Ditch the Baretta and get a Glock.

I'm not trying to be snide.

Mission drives equipment. You are dealing with high humidity, which will corrode any metalic surfaces. Find a weapon with the smallest amount of metal, that has the best surface treatments against such corrosion, and use that in lieu of a firearm made of more sensitive materials.

Find something with a tennifer/melonite/nitride finish, preferably with coated internals (phosphated like the Sig M11A1, any HK with their nitride based salt-water treatments, glock's tennifer everything), mounted on a polymer frame, and use that.

Also, invest in a quality kydex holster. Leather will retain water, which will just result in nesting your firearm against a wet medium, which will in turn make it rust even more. Kydex won't soak through, and won't leave as much moisture against the firearm. Anyone that tells you to wear leather in a hot and humid environment is either a fool and doesn't understand science, or just doesn't have to carry in those conditions.

The idea of trying to adapt a poor match of design features (stainless / other vulnerable finishes), a thing you have control and choice over, to your environment, which you don't really have control over, is silly. Listen to mother nature, choose gear that already has the characteristics to survive in that environment, and move on rather than fighting the reality you live with.

For what it's worth, I carry a firearm for a living, and live in one of the highest humidity AOs in the country. I dry my glocks off when I get home (if I remember to / give a crap), and only wipe them down with an oily rag when I'm feeling all hot and bothered about it.
 
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I think AK103K had it all summed up with this line:
One thing I've noticed over the years about this discussion is, there really is no one answer here. To many people doing to many different things, and in a lot of different ways.

For me, what I outlined works, but it may not for you or that other guy. It may no longer work for me in a different climate.

Choose a course of action based on your own insights and those that you've gleaned from other sources such as this thread, then monitor the situation regularly. Won't take long and I'm betting each individual finds something that works for them in their environment. That something may not be the same as what works for another, but that doesn't really matter in the end so long as it works for them. If it works it isn't wrong.
 
Ditch the Baretta and get a Glock. I'm not trying to be snide.

...

For what it's worth, I carry a firearm for a living, and live in one of the highest humidity AOs in the country. I dry my glocks off when I get home (if I remember to / give a crap), and only wipe them down with an oily rag when I'm feeling all hot and bothered about it.

This is my first firearm and one thing I have realized is that I over thought my purchase. I really wanted a "one gun fits all" kind of purchase...

I now understand more when people talk about "safe/range queens" and utilitarian guns... now I need an utilitarian gun and the beretta could be my baby :rolleyes:

Are the SW MP comparable to glock or HK in rust resistance? Glocks and hk are grossly overpriced in my country...
 
While I am a Glock Fan. I wouldn't be too worried about that Beretta. Just wipe it down once in awhile.

If nothing else - a little finish wear adds character to the gun.
 
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