rusting in my USP's barrel!??!

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hologon

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I was talking on the phone last night, idly looking at my USP when I saw some odd brown-red flecks on the INSIDE of the barrel.

Hanging up immediately ("Oh, I forgot! My water's boiling on the stove! Call you back in a minute!") I put a patch on a jag through the barrel to discover, in fact, quite a bit of brownish-red rust-looking flecks/stuff coming out.

As far as I know, I meticulously clean the barrel after each use (brass brush 20 times, Hoppes' on patches until clean, oil on patch, more patches until dry).

This is followed by Hoppes on a patch on the frame/slide/outside of barrel, and then a liberal coating of oil which gets wiped off. This is then followed by a wiping down with a silicone cloth.

Why would I be seeing rust flecks in my barrel? Am I doing something wrong? Could the Hoppes be corrosive? Is the Remington Bore Cleaner or Breakfree CLP better/worse?

Now that I think about, whenever I use a oiled cotton rag on the outside of my blued Ruger 22/45, I also notice that the rag becomes a little brownish, too.

Is there something I'm missing in the cleaning/lubing procedure? Is this normal?

I live in NJ, where's damn humid all the time, but I don't carry my guns, and there's pretty much no salt spray.

Thanks!

-Jon
 
Hoppe's #9 is a good thing for its intended purposes. Use it to clean the bore and clean primer residue around the firing pin housing area. Don't with the outer surface of the wepaon with it! CLP will clean powder residue off of the outer surfaces just fine and not harm your finish. I suggest the easy does it approach. I often use nothing more than a Benelli,Beretta or CLP oil to clean the bore if clean burning ammo is used. Which is always the case for me. Many times, I use Rem Oil to clean the bore instead of Hoppe's if only a 100 or so rounds have been fired. Avoid anything that says "flamable" on the warning label for surface protection. What the warning tells you is that there is a strong solvent carrier in the formulation that may harm the gun's finnish. Remember, the primary catalyst in #9 is Kerosene as it states on the bottle.

I suspect that the coloration on the rifling of your pistol's bore is the remnant from jacketed ammo. Think of the heat and friction that is generated each time you pull the trigger. Something tells me with a fine weapon like a USP you are not shooting unjacketed ammo through it. My advice is to keep it clean and shoot that puppy!

The older I get, the more I realize the value of chrome-lined barrels. They make cleaning a pleasure provided no dirty fodder is employed.


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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."
 
I've seen this same thread before. I also have experienced similar observations witrh my USP. Hoppe's just didn't clean what looked like carbon fouling between the polygonal rifling. I ended up trying one of these "gun show special" solvents/friction reducers called "Sweetshooter". It worked like a charm.

"Will" may have a good idea. It could be copper fouling. Maybe try some Sweets 762 bore cleaner. If you're interested in getting some of the Sweetshooter, email me and I'll look up the number for you.

Good luck.

CMOS

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Join GOA, NRA, LEAA and vote.
 
I have seen several threads about rust on the USP. You wish it was copper residue, but it's not, it's rust, rust, rust.

What a fine gun... and a great value too.
 
I notice rust ( sometimes pronounced ) on
some of our SigPro's that came from the factory. Sig said that may be uncured nitrate
(nitrite?) from the blackening process on the
stainless steel slide. To us it looked just like rust except some of it would flake off
instead of having to be scrubbed off. We use
the sentry solution Tuff Cloth ( .com )which
works really well. Esp. on the mags.

[This message has been edited by bobo (edited November 05, 1999).]
 
Porter,

You may have seen several threads, but I have only heard about 2 or less people that have actually said they have this problem. Everyone else appears to be offering other possiblities.

Seems I remember something similar happening about dry firing and broken firing pins. Its rare, exceptionally rare.

I can only speak for myself, but my USP fits my hand like a dream and feels like such a natural extension that I love it. I try and keep it clean and have had no rust yet. I'm inclined to side with Will. Its probably copper fouling.
 
The thing that worries me is that the barrel was completely clean when I put her away two weeks ago.

Thoroughly scrubbed and wipe with clean patches, oiled, and patched again. No trace of residue of any type.

And yet last night somehow something that looks a lot like teeny flakes/dust that was distinctly red-brown came out of the inside of the barrel.

Is that the colour of jacket residue?

Could the jacket residue somehow have dried and then started flaking or something?

(Yes, I have been shooting only jacketed rounds -- Winchester USA 115 grain (nasty red primer sealant!) as well as some 124gr Hydrashok and 115gr Silvertips.)

Thanks!

-Jon
 
If I read your cleaning procedure literally, you go bronze brush 20 times, then bore cleaner patches, then oil on patches, then dry patches, right?

To get out just powder fouling, normally 20 passes with a bronze brush won't do it. I usually go wet patch (bore cleaner), then bronze brush 10-20 times, and repeat wet patch (bore cleaner), brush, and expect to go 100-200 total passes (with wet patches every 10-20) before the wet patches come out sorta gray instead of smeared black.

In other words, pushing wet patches through until they look clean doesn't mean the bore is really clean. More bronze brushing will loosen up more crud.

I may be reading your cleaning procedure wrong so apologies if I am.

The BIG problem I see, though, is if you go oily patch right after bore cleaner/wet patch. The bore cleaner and oil aren't always compatible. If/when they mix, sometimes harmful and corrosive by- products can form. I know that bore cleaner and water mixed together definitely makes something that rusts steel pretty well.

After going with bore cleaner patches, use DRY patches until the bore is swabbed out of bore cleaner. Also, wiping the muzzle and other outside areas where bore cleaner smeared may help. Now set the barrel aside for a while to let the remaining bore cleaner residue evaporate while you do something like clean the magazines and the receiver, or watch X-files and laugh at Mulder dropping his handgun for the 1000th time.

Now run an oily patch through the bore.

I don't think the silicon cloth is hurting but I don't know the chemical composition of whatever they use in them.

I hope that helped. If the USP is still rusting within 2 weeks, you may have to run oily patches through the bore every week or something.

Edmund
 
Sir Edmund may have a point. Keep in mind that most bore cleaners contain very active and flamable components that are designed to quickly dry or "flash off" if you will. I certainly would heed Edmunds advice about allowing the bore cleaner to flash off.

There is the possibility that the bore cleaner is wicking into the crevices of the bore and doing its job after you store the pistol which explains the flaking after you put it away.

I would suggest that if you do not shoot frequently make it habit to clean the handgun more than once after a heavy shooting session. I have found that cleaning fluids tend to keep working after you quit working. Remember metal has a natural grain structure (which is why I avoid guns formed from primarily cast components). Often when you clean the sidearm after a range session and secure it, you will find areas you missed the next time the wepaon is taken out.

Again, I say shoot it and don't lose any sleep. You have a fine weapon and more likely than not, your grandchildren will enjoy it to. Come to think of it, I can't think of a pistol I have ever owned without a chrome-lined barrel that didn't have what appeared to be an "orangish/redish" tint around the twists.

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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."
 
I guess HK should have made the USP with a polymer barrel too, since polymer is so "TOUGH" why not! HAUGH! HAUGH!

But seriously, it is probably just surface rust that can be easily removed and prevented with maintenance. Punch your bore throughly and leave a generous coat of CLP or alternate lubricant in the barrel; you can clean out excess before using or carrying your weapon.

Good Luck,

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SURE SHOT
 
Sounds like rust to me as well. If copper fouling was present, you would see the streaks in the bbl. After a long range session and good cleaning, it will appear as green on your patches.

Mike
 
My first question is how are you storing the HK??? I don't think you have a problem per se with your cleaning but how you store the gun. I live in the barrier islands of Florida surrounded by salt air, high humidity, and high temperatures most of the year and keep all of my firearms stored in Bianchi Blue Bags, which are anticorrosion bags and keep them in the safe that way. The only time they come out is when they are ready to be shot and for cleaning after the shoot. I never have a problem with rust and I have stored properly lubricated firearms in these bags for three years without rust or corrosion. I used to check the long term storage guns monthly, but after the first year I reduced the checks to once per year. If you can't find Bianchi Blue Bags, Brownells has anticorrosion bags that you can seal with tape or hot glue - the blue bags for pistols have a ziploc type of seal. Try http://www.brownells.com if you need to check them out. Brownells has been good to my family for many years and are first rate.
 
Simple solution... don't dry the guns after oiling it. Be sure to use an oil that doesn't gum up though.

tada,
Ben

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AOL IM: BenK911
ICQ # 53788523
"Gun Control Is Being Able To Hit Your Target"
 
I had a similar problem before with my USP, and discovered that the red residue was from the primers on the ammo I used, Win USA. When I drie fired some of the matter got ejected into the bore, and looked all the world like rust, but came out very easily. I have used my USP heavily and have had zero rust corrosion problems yet, but I may be a lucky one.
 
Might be rust, might not be. Always a risk with anything other than stainless, chrome, or Tenifer, and even they will rust if you neglect em enough.

Get a stainless aftermarket barrel if it really bothers you.

Always thought it strange SIG/HK do not put stainless barrels in their stainless slides?

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>>>>---->
 
Simple answer is to have a Glock barrel fitted to your USP. I doubledamnguarantee you that it won't rust.

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Shoot to kill; they'll stop when they're dead!
 
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