Gun Rust! HELPPP....911!

[WJP9]

What an aweful feeling! As I prepped to go to the range I noticed small dots of surface rust on my relatively new Keltec P3AT---specifically on the slide serrations and the extractor. I buffed them out with a toothbrush and coated them with oil.

Some facts....I DONT shoot in the rain and I use a silicon rag on the outside surfaces of my handguns after cleaning. Bewildered, I inspected my gunsafe and found that the foam pad on the bottom was very slightly damp.

Now it has been humid here in past months and my safe does sit directly on the closet's wood floor. I am going to put the safe on a shelf at eye level to get it off the floor and am going to put a shelf in the safe itself to keep my "babies" off the base. I may even put a dehumidifier in the closet.

What other precautions can I take and what are some good anti-rust tips. I am very embarassed as I have never experienced gun rust and try to keep everything in tip-top shape.

Is the damage done to my keltec and will the problem persist?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rob72]

The thing that comes to mind is the "Goldenrod", an electronic dehumidifier, specifically for safes. If the foam was damp, you've got some serious condensation (or something!). I do not have, nor have I used the Goldenrod- I use dessicant packs because our humidity is rarely that high- but its been around quite awhile.

[QKShooter]

You can use a clean rag & rub a little biy of car wax type pure carnuba wax on your firearm then let it dry and give it a light buff with a soft cloth.

That's what I I always did with my blued steel guns when I shoulder holster carried them in HOT summer.

It does not make the gun slippery & really adds a nice extra bit of protection.

Lately I've been using Armadillo Wax by Blue Wonder which is Carnuba ~ Linssed Oil ~ & Polymers gun wax & it works great but, the pure carnuba wax seemed to work as well.

[tec]

Sorry, feeling lazy today, so I just cut and pasted this from a post I made on another forum.
I used Blue wonders "XFR" (xtreme friction reducer) then applied the Armadillo on my 9mm. Then I would apply another layer of Armadillo for giggles. Works very very well. To apply the armadillo, you can heat the slide or heat the wax, then apply, let dry then buff. Believe it or not, I use a soldering torch to heat the slide to accept the armadillo. It takes just a second of flame.

With the 45ACP, I now use a blue bottle of DuPont Teflon, liquid form, on the insides and outsides of the whole thing. It is available from Lowe's home improvement stores and I am certain elsewhere. The Teflon is a lubricant, it cleans finger prints off, it repels water, it does it all. And, it's like $4-5 bucks.

To use, I just shake well, squirt some on, rub around with a clean finger or paper towel, let dry, then lightly buff. For the internal mechanisms and slide, Same thing, only skip the buffing. I even apply it to the insides of the mags and springs, It REALLY makes a difference there. Just becarefull about over applying to the internal mechanisms. To clean it off, brake cleaner works nice, and it's cheap. The Teflon actually makes the powder residue clean off the inside of the slide much easier for me.

[blueyedevil]

I would recommend the Remington glass bead dehumidifier, and weather strip your safe door. The golden-rod is just a heating element, which does keep the condensation down but really doesn't do very well for humidity in my opinion. I've had much better luck (as proven with a hygrometer) with the Remington unit.

[Lumberjack98]

You can get the rust off with Blue Wonder. Put it on and let it set for about 5 minutes and then just wipe it off with a cloth. Repeat if necessary. This way you're not scrubbing off any of the finish.

When done put on a light coating of oil and then some Blue Wonder Armadillo (as mentioned above).

Good luck.

[CopperKnight]

I use a rod dehumidifier in the bottom of my safe. When I first set it up in the basement, I had rust within a week (bolted to the concrete wall and floor). I put this in and haven't had a problem since.

As I understand it, it gently heats, causing the air to circulate and not letting the box get too cold. However it works, it did fine for me. Think I paid $30 for it about 8 years ago.

[P95Carry]

Not much to add but - Boeshield I am liking more and more for protection - acts a bit like QK's wax approach.

I have otherwise tho for years, kept a small rag impregnated with CLP and wipe vulnerable surfaces with that - have to do this on 226 ST because trigger, hammer and levers are plain steel and will rust from my copious sweat vapor

Even grip screws too and part of rear sight need same attention.

[Rob72]

WJ, I have to confess, I'm a big believer in coatings, too. For $50 you can get a Duracoat kit that can be airbrushed using the compressed air cans from Hobby Lobby, WalMart, etc..

[Usmc_cowboy]

+1 for the Blue Wonder....I use it on all my weapons, never had a rust issue