Back in the mid 80s I ruined a Sig P220 due to rust. I worked a bad wreck in the rain one night and my Sam Browne belt, holster, and weapon was drenched. When I got off duty the next morning I had to go to court and when I finally got home I forgot about my gear that I'd placed in the trunk of the Crown Vic.
I was off for the next three days but come Monday morning when I remembered my gun belt I went out to the car and got it out of the trunk. The slide of my P220 was covered in a light coating of red rust. I cleaned it off, the best I could and traded it in on a then new Randall stainless 1911 that I carried for several years.
Due to that incident for the rest of my career I would only buy and carry stainless weapons. Which included a 4" S&W 629, Colt Series 80s stainless Combat Commander, S&W model 60 backup and a Kimber Custom Combat Carry 1911, all of which I still own.
While stainless is not 100% rust proof it is still far more forgiving than carbon steel when it comes to rust. Now that I'm retired it really doesn't matter all that much and these days so I generally carry a Ruger LCP, S&W 640, Glock 26 or my Kimber or a combination of them. Since I've always carried a backup weapon to my main carry piece.
7th