What do you guys do to keep your blued guns from rusting after being out in harsh environments?

[JohnS624]

You just dumped a big steaming plate of marginally applicable information on the table without any attributions or quatation marks. I guess you can operate this way on these sites without risk. Don't get me wrong I don't care one way or the other but you've still barely hit the berm let alone the target.

Regards

Have you ever heard the old saying "If you can't blind them with brilliance, baffle them with ********"?

[Ol` Joe]

I would tend to recommend Boeshield also. It's about the only product that seems to handle condensation fairly well. ive owned and operated several decent sized woodworking shops over the years and we always paste wax the tables on our saws, shapers, jointers, surfacers etc but even then get some warm moist Spring air into the shop and stuff will freckle and stain wherever the wax film has been scratched or broken. If I am going to wax my fine pieces I prefer Renaissance Wax as it is much easier to apply on irregular gun type surfaces with lots of profile, nooks and crannies. It's a bit pricey but it works. Good old Paste wax may be a bit more work to apply but it achieves the hardest rugged hide, wears the longest and is somewhat self healing when warmed up a bit. And there is a lot to be said for that special time spent handling and looking at every part of your rifle which you'll do when hand waxing. Petting my dogs, oiling, cleaning and feeling my rifles is never wasted time. When I lived and hunted out West we always left our rifles on the porch cause if you brought them in to a heated room they would sweat something fierce.


Regards

I too was taught at a young age to leave cold firearms in the garage, or screened porch until my hunt was over for good or the gun could be wiped down and oiled. They also were left out of the case due to the fleece or foam holding moisture and causing rust.
Condensation isn't just attracted to the outside either, it gathers in the bore and action too and hangs there if the air is warm and humid enough.

[10x25mm]

You just dumped a big steaming plate of marginally applicable information on the table without any attributions or quatation marks. I guess you can operate this way on these sites without risk. Don't get me wrong I don't care one way or the other but you've still barely hit the berm let alone the target.

Regards

What would you like references to? Corrosion pathology is all pretty basic metallurgy, chemistry, and biology.

[10x25mm]

Let's deal with the first of your two original criticisms, electrolysis:

Electrolysis and bacterial growth are sources of surface corrosion of guns ??

I suggest a little more research on the claim of electrolysis and even bacterial corrosion of blued guns . Perhaps you can explain the presence of electrical current on a rifle in the field since as far as I know 'electrolysis is basically the decomposition of an electrolyte by electric current. It's quite a common problem with vessels and something I've dealt with for years. It Usually DC.

Download two papers from the UK National Physical Laboratory. I selected these because they specifically deal with the prosaic subject of iron corrosion.

First, download Basics of Corrosion Control:

http://www.npl.co.uk/upload/pdf/basi...on_control.pdf

Go to pages 2 & 3:

CHEMISTRY OF CORROSION

Common structural metals are obtained from their ores or naturally-occurring compounds by the expenditure of large amounts of energy. These metals can therefore be regarded as being in a metastable state and will tend to lose their [Gibbs Free] energy by reverting to compounds more or less similar to their original states. Since most metallic compounds, and especially corrosion products, have little mechanical strength a severely corroded piece of metal is quite useless for its original purpose.

Virtually all corrosion reactions are electrochemical in nature, at anodic sites on the surface the iron goes into solution as ferrous ions, this constituting the anodic reaction. As iron atoms undergo oxidation to ions they release electrons whose negative charge would quickly build up in the metal and prevent further anodic reaction, or corrosion. Thus this dissolution will only continue if the electrons released can pass to a site on the metal surface where a cathodic reaction is possible. At a cathodic site the electrons react with some reducible component of the electrolyte and are themselves removed from the metal. The rates of the anodic and cathodic reactions must be equivalent according to Faraday’s Laws, being determined by the total flow of electrons from anodes to cathodes which is called the “corrosion current”, Icor. Since the corrosion current must also flow through the electrolyte by ionic conduction the conductivity of the electrolyte will influence the way in which corrosion cells operate. The corroding piece of metal is described as a “mixed electrode” since simultaneous anodic and cathodic reactions are proceeding on its surface. The mixed electrode is a complete electrochemical cell on one metal surface.

The most common and important electrochemical reactions in the corrosion of iron are thus

Anodic reaction (corrosion)

(1) Fe —> Fe2+ + 2e

Cathodic reactions (simplified)

(2a) 2H+ + 2e —> H
or
(2b) H2O + ½O2 + 2e —> 2OH-

Reaction 2a is most common in acids and in the pH range 6.5 — 8.5 the most important reaction is oxygen reduction 2b. In this latter case corrosion is usually accompanied by the formation of solid corrosion debris from the reaction between the anodic and cathodic products.

Fe2+ + 2OH- —> Fe(OH)2, iron (II) hydroxide

Pure iron (II) hydroxide is white but the material initially produced by corrosion is usually a greenish color due to partial oxidation in air.

2Fe(OH)2 + H20 + ½O2 —> 2Fe(OH)3, hydrated iron (Ill) oxide

Further hydration and oxidation reactions can occur and the reddish rust that eventually forms is a complex mixture whose exact constitution will depend on other trace elements which are present. Because the rust is precipitated as a result of secondary reactions it is porous and absorbent and tends to act as a sort of harmful poultice which encourages further corrosion. For other metals or different environments different types of anodic and cathodic reactions may occur. If solid corrosion products are produced directly on the surface as the first result of anodic oxidation these may provide a highly protective surface film which retards further corrosion, the surface is then said to be “passive”. An example of such a process would be the production of an oxide film on iron in water, a reaction which is encouraged by oxidizing conditions or elevated temperatures.

2Fe + 3H20 —> Fe2O3 + 6H+ + 6e

Now, download Electrochemistry of Corrosion with Figures:

http://www.npl.co.uk/upload/pdf/the_...th_figures.pdf

Go to page 3:

INTRODUCTION

<snip>

In electrochemical terminology, an electrode at which an oxidation reaction occurs is called an anode. The process of oxidation involves a loss of electrons by the reacting species, as occurs in the metal dissolution reaction (1). Thus an area of a corroding metal where metal dissolution occurs is an anode and metal dissolution is the anodic reaction of corrosion. An electrode at which a reduction reaction occurs is called a cathode. Reduction involves a gain in electrons, as occurs in reactions (4) and (6). The reduction of hydrogen ions and oxygen are thus the cathodic reactions of corrosion and the area of a corroding metal Where these reactions occur is a cathode.

Anode and cathode..... Where have you heard that terminology before? Why DC batteries and circuits, of course.

The actual degredation of metal by corrosion is always and everywhere a form of electrolysis.

[10x25mm]

Now let's deal with the second of your two original criticisms, bacteria:

Electrolysis and bacterial growth are sources of surface corrosion of guns ??

I suggest a little more research on the claim of electrolysis and even bacterial corrosion of blued guns . Perhaps you can explain the presence of electrical current on a rifle in the field since as far as I know 'electrolysis is basically the decomposition of an electrolyte by electric current. It's quite a common problem with vessels and something I've dealt with for years. It Usually DC.

Download Lecture 24 of the NPTEL distance learning course Advances in Corrosion Engineering. I selected the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning course from the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology because it directly addresses aerobic bacterial corrosion of steel, among other metals:

http://nptel.ac.in/courses/113108051.../lecture24.pdf

Introduction

Microbially-influenced corrosion (MIC) occurs in environments such as soil, fresh water and sea water and accounts for more than 30 percent of all corrosion damage of metals, alloys and several building materials. Microorganisms of interest in MIC belong to many types such as sulfur-sulfide oxidising, sulfate-reducing, iron oxidizing, acid producing, manganese fixing and ammonia and acetate producing bacteria and fungi. The role of Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) in MIC has been extensively studied. Microbial activities under natural conditions influence many electrochemical reactions directly or indirectly. Microbe-metal interactions involve initial adhesion, biofilm formation and colonization, generation of polymeric substances and inorganic precipitates and subsequent corrosion.

Here you are interested in aerobic (not anaerobic) MIC. The anaerobic SRB MIC is what you have encountered in petroleum vessels. Anaerobic MIC gets a lot more attention, but aerobic MIC is both real and far more common. The most common aerobic bacteria triggering MIC on steel are acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. 'ferro', get it?

The bacteria mostly create the reagents which trigger the electrolysis corrosion noted above, rather than directly attack the steel. There are some aerobic bacteria which directly attack steel, but they are killed off by UV light and are only an issue in underground operations such as mining.

Do you need any further references?

[Outdoorman]

Eezox the heck out of them

Here is a very extensive test done on this with most all lubes and tons of pictures.

http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

[dirtmcgirt76239]

Here is a very extensive test done on this with most all lubes and tons of pictures.

http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

I read it, thanks. Eezox did well, lasted more than 72 hours. I'm satisfied so far, that test was very detailed I might try one or two of his contenders. I really do not car about smell, or lubrication properties. I wish he left that out.

[Danco411]

Cerakote!

[pscipio03]

All my blued 1911s get a light coat of this- especially since they go into leather IWB holsters.

[Musta Demoni]

The only blued gun I really use is my Ithaca 37 and I hunt the hell out of it all fall/winter in rain/snow... whatever. It never rusts, so I don't know what magic they used, but I just clean it like I do all my other guns with Hoppe's #9. I don't even use the oil, just the cleaner. Thing looks amazing.