rusty woes

^^^ Willie, so sorry to hear about your losses, how horrid!

Glad to hear you saved your tools, now THAT is a testimonial for Ballistol!

All the best,

Birch
 
Wille, I gotta echo what Birch said I'm really sorry to hear about your house and machine shop. I hope you can rebuild and recover and I'm glad you saved you and your tools.
 
It's been a hassle, for sure. The only things I was able to save were my guns, which I hustled into the attic when it was obvious that we were going to lose the house. I forgot a few... a Canadian Inglis High Power in it's stock/holster was missed, and found a week later... It was perfectly OK believe it or not, black enamel over parkerizing is a tough finish. Sadly my S&W 25-2 in .45 ACP that I have had since 1975 was also forgotten, and I lost it's box and the revolver was beginning to rust. It was stripped, Ballistol soaked, put into a zip-lock still wet with Ballistol, and is in the hands of S&W now for refinish now. The rest of the collection was fine.

The rest of my stuff...clothes, momentos, the detritus of a lifetime... gone.

Oh well.


Ballistol is good stuff. Buy a case of it and it'll last forever.


Willie

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I was hoping to be able and buy it in a store close by, but I'm feeling better ordering it after all the great words about it. Thanks guys, and Willie, best wishes and good luck.
 
I have seen it in a few places on the shelf, but it's easier just to order it online, Brownells prob has it, Dixie for sure, and any of the black powder sutlers will have it too.

Buy the liquid, not the spray.


Willie

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Willie, sorry to hear of your loss. Glad you were able to save your machine shop tooling from being a total loss. Best luck man.
Hot water and soap. Bore Butter, CLP and Lucas Gun Oil. A bit of Gorilla Grease on threaded parts. Works well for me. Ballistol, never tried it, but due to everyone loving it, think I will order some. As to WD40, it has its place I suppose. I banned the guys from using it in the shop as it was misused, in a maintenance shop I find it attracts/holds dust and isn't a good lubricant for what we do. Never tried it on a gun. Some people love it. I do not. Just my .02
 
As to WD40, it has its place I suppose. I banned the guys from using it in the shop as it was misused, in a maintenance shop I find it attracts/holds dust and isn't a good lubricant for what we do.

Because its not a lubricant, its a water displacer which it does very well. I use it when cleaning my bp guns after a water bath. My dad used it for a lube on his guns for years. I got them after he died and they weren't gummy or varnished like so many claim. They were just dry.
 
^^^

Different products have their place. As Hawg said,
its not a lubricant, its a water displacer which it does very well.

It does. (WD = water displacer hello)! The main active ingrediant in WD is fish oil. It is not a lube or protectant. My dear old Dad loves it and uses it for everything. He sprayed down an antique model 12 shotgun (that belonged to my Grandfather) with it and it was in the family gunsafe for a couple years until I got it out to take it on a hunt. The gun was OK EXCEPT for where he touched it with his hand (around the receiver area) to put it away. His fingerprints along with the WD-40 had rusted and eaten away the bluing where he touched it. It destroyed an otherwise perfect condition antique shotgun.

Everything in it's place gentleman...

Birch
 
Willie,
I learned from Hurricane Andrew down here in Florida from a relatives experience...at least one of the gun mfgs (RUGER) completely restored a 22 auto free of charge that was ruined from salt water intrusion. Dillion rebuilt two of their progressives trashed from the storm...free of charge. Neither company would take money for their services. Also, for rusted hand tools, pliers, wrenches, screw drivers, etc. Get a large brass vibrator and vibrate the tools in corn cob media....except for large rust pits the parts come out looking new.

bc
 
^^ Thanks. S&W is not as responsive, but the Ruger story does not surprise me. I had a Ruger .22 rust after a fishtank cracked in the middle of the night, flooding a carpeted area, and my .22 was hidden under a bean bag chair and was not found for a few days (this was college days in the 70's). I sent it to Ruger with a letter describing my poverty, and in 4 weeks got back what I thought was a new pistol and a request to send $15.00 when I had excess funds available. hey had refinished it to NEW and sent it back FREE to me, with a note asking for payment "when possible".

Good service is rare... this was above and beyond.

I'm not sure how Ruger is now, Bill is dead and with him... well... :o


Corncob media is a good tip too. Thanks.


Willie

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Willie, that's a great story! I love to hear things like that in this "everything from China" world we live in. Takes me back to a time when things could be done with a handshake and a mans word meant something. :D

Birch
 
Yup.

I sent them the $15.00 right after I got my first job.

While we are tellinmg war stories...

I was unfortunate enough to crash an airplane a decade or so ago, spent mopre or less a year in the hospital, only survivor, not a good day. Turns out that my ancient gold Rolex GMT Master was damaged in the crash, the back was actually bent in when it impacted my wrist-bone in the crash (think about that for a minute). I sent it back to Rolex with a note... and got it back a few weeks later with the back hammered flat and a note essentially saying "no charge, thanks for the story, let us know if we can use it in our files of Rolex survival stories".

Another class act. Rolex is a charity, in case you're not aware. Hans Willsdorf, the founder, donated all of his shares to a private charity, and all profits are distributed by the charity secretly. Another company, like Ruger, where the ethos of the founder set forth the ethos for the entire company.

By the start of World War II, Rolex watches had already acquired enough prestige that Royal Air Force pilots bought them to replace their inferior standard-issue watches. However, when captured and sent to POW camps, their watches were confiscated. When Hans Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held. Wilsdorf, who believed that "a British officer's word was his bond", was in personal charge of the scheme. As a result of this, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were ordered by British officers in the Oflag (prison camp for officers) VII B POW camp in Bavaria alone. This had the effect of raising the morale among the allied POWs because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that the Nazis would win the war.American servicemen heard about this when stationed in Europe during WWII and this helped open up the American market to Rolex after the war

On 10 March 1943, while still a prisoner of war, Corporal Clive James Nutting, one of the organizers of the Great Escape, ordered a stainless steel Rolex Oyster 3525 Chronograph (valued at a current equivalent of £1,200) by mail directly from Hans Wilsdorf in Geneva, intending to pay for it with money he saved working as a shoemaker at the camp. The watch (Rolex watch no. 185983) was delivered to Stalag Luft III on 10 July that year along with a note from Wilsdorf apologising for any delay in processing the order and explaining that an English gentleman such as Corporal Nutting "should not even think" about paying for the watch before the end of the war. Wilsdorf is reported to have been impressed with Nutting because, although not an officer, he had ordered the expensive Rolex 3525 Oyster chronograph while most other prisoners ordered the much cheaper Rolex Speed King model which was popular due to its small size. The watch is believed to have been ordered specifically to be used in the Great Escape when, as a chronograph, it could have been used to time patrols of prison guards or time the 76 ill-fated escapees through tunnel 'Harry' on 24 March 1944. Eventually, after the war, Nutting was sent an invoice of only £15 for the watch, due to currency export controls in England at the time






Love good companies.


Willie

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^^^

Willie, wow... what can I say???!!!

Thanks so much for sharing. :D Do you mind if I cut & paste that to send to a couple of my friends?

Birch
 
^^ Knock yourself out, I stole it from Wikipedia, although the story is very well known to anyone serious about Rolex. There's a reason they gained the foothold that they have, and it's not because they sold diving watches to yuppies that wear them to the office. If you ever saw mine you would cry... but it's been on my wrist for 35 years, thru thick and thin, two years in the Antarctic, etc. Good stuff.


Willie

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Hawg, that's what I was trying to convey, some people believe it has use as a lubricant. Personally I'm not a fan of the stuff. It does have its place, and used correctly I'm sure its fine.
 
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