My m66-8 has already rusted and pitted under the grips.
I had an old Springfield champion loaded that rusted like crazy. I spent almost as much time scrubbing it on a 2 month canoe trip in Maine as I did my SAW in the Philippines.
My m66-8 has already rusted and pitted under the grips.
I had an old Springfield champion loaded that rusted like crazy. I spent almost as much time scrubbing it on a 2 month canoe trip in Maine as I did my SAW in the Philippines.
Seems like a lot of the grades of stainless used in firearms do rust relatively easily.
I'm a welder, and while I don't specialize in working with SS, I do know enough to know that there is a wide variation in "stainless" steels. Some are magnetic; some aren't. Some are mainly used as filler metals for joining dissimilar or high-alloy metals which themselves may not contain any SS at all. And some grades of SS are truly stainless, all-weather materials when in contact with normal weather at normal temps. Case in point...about 10 years ago I built a SS fence around a pawn shop, 315' long. I was just by there the other day, and it looks like the day it was put up. No sign of rust anywhere, including on the welds.
It'd be nice if firearms could be constructed from these grades, but I'm sure there are good, solid reasons they aren't. Every grade has it's niche.
Ive read of the various grades used in firearms, but dont recall the comments and grades. I did have a forcing cone recut on an S&W barrel, the gunsmith (fairly extensive revolver barrel work background) commented on how soft it was.
I also saw a piece that said that some grades of stainless were found to corrode internally, as in within the structure of the metal in salt environments, which eventually lead to failure of the structure parts, even though they looked OK from the outside. Apparently they corroded in such a way that the carbon or non-chromium elements corroded, leaving a somewhat hollow honeycombed structure without the strength to support weight.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
I took the action apart tonight. The internal parts are in pretty good shape.
The frame, not so much:
I have a suspicion that some of that is mostly congealed gunk.
I'm tempted to get a small glass pan and soak the frame and sideplate in Kroil or something like that there. Maybe some kerosene?
Thoughts?
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
Can't hurt.
My neighbor the gunsmith kept a paint roller pan of kerosine or even diesel as a soak for gunked parts. Covered of course, except when scrubbing.
Code Name: JET STREAM
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI
Getting it wet or soaked in any decent strong bore cleaner, like Shooters Choice, will probably break it up so that a toothbrush would knock it off. A brass toothbrush would probably do nicely. I agree, it looks mostly like surface buildup.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
I also weld stainless and it could be as simple as someone used a carbon steel wire brush on it. I've had guys do that on weld and in a day or to they will rust up because of carbon steel left behind in the pore structure in the metal.