Rust on stainless steel revolver

[Christopher Hayes]

Had a ss revoveler in a soft holster for over a year appears smalll black areas, rust? Can I sand out w/ super fine sandpaper

[stinkeypete]

there are satin finishes, polished, and bead blasted.

For a satin finish, I might start with a solvent and a flannel cloth and see what comes off...
then gently try the green scrubby 3m ScotchBrite... but if the pits are not quickly going away.. go to 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. I use scotch brite as a final step to get that "brushed" look back.

Be gentle. Use a firm backing pad, work slowly and feather your work area so you don't end up with a funky bald spot.

Take it slow and easy and you can get it looking like brand new again!

[Pahoo]

Had a ss revoveler in a soft holster for over a year appears smalll black areas, rust? Can I sand out w/ super fine sandpaper

I have seen this condition a few times and yes, you will be able to clean some of these areas. However, I find that some areas are just too deep. I refer to these as worm-holes as they are very localized and deep. Naval Gel or similar product will neutralize the process in the bottom of the holes but you still have a hole.. ..
Still good shooters but devalued and just have to live with it. …..

Some folks will argue that because it's SS, it is rust-proof and find out different, the hard way.

Be Safe !!!

[Ricklin]

If you have spent any time around salt water boats you appreciate the fact that stainless can best be described as rust resistant.

My old engineer friend Dwight (RIP) always liked to say it is neither stainless, nor is it steel.

Rust never sleeps, for stainless steel, it does nap.

[Pahoo]

stainless can best be described as rust resistant.

But not rust-proof. It's a different process and looks but it is rust !!!

Be Safe !!!

[polyphemus]

Try a paste of baking soda and peroxide and then remove with plain water.
This should lighten the spots, then repassivate with citric acid,lemon juice works well.With a little patience you can get it so that it is barely noticeable.

[gwpercle]

0000 steel wool and any light oil will polish it right off.

They call it stainless steel and it does resist rust some but it will rust some if stored improperly . Holsters aren't the best for storage and some cheap leather ones will actually cause rust.... some chemicals in the tanning process can do it .

Gary

[LineStretcher]

Originally Posted by gwpercle

0000 steel wool and any light oil will polish it right off.

They call it stainless steel and it does resist rust some but it will rust some if stored improperly . Holsters aren't the best for storage and some cheap leather ones will actually cause rust.... some chemicals in the tanning process can do it .

Gary

Sort of, what's actually happening is that something used in the making of the holster has transferred to the gun and stained it. 0000 steel wool should not be used because it will leave behind traces that will eventually rust. You should use a fine non metallic scotch brite type pad. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers work very well. Once it is clean, soak it in simple green followed by Acetone and then lightly oil and wipe dry. This will remove any possible metallic traces left behind.

In the future if you store a gun in a holster to assist in break in, wrap it in saran wrap first. Otherwise, do not store your gun in your holster unless you clean it frequently.

[Bill DeShivs]

Steel wool does not leave traces of itself in stainless steel. You simply wipe it off-it doesn't imbed itself. That's an old wive's tale.

[Unclenick]

Usually, the reason given for passivating stainless steel (nitric or citric acid process) is traces of free iron have been left at the surface from the tooling used to shape it and that does not have the protective chromium oxide layer the stainless under it does. It starts to rust and that can take the oxygen out of the chromium and tunnel into the other iron in the part

One method of passivating is to degrease the steel in hot lye solution and then hot rinse and put it into a pot of 10% citric acid at 140°F for 30 minutes, and then into boiling water to remove the acid and then into boiling distilled water for a final rinse before drying. This works very well and will remove all rust as well as free iron simultaneously without any separate rust removing process being required. This is an industrial process and the hot lye is used for degreasing because it works well (oven cleaner, basically) and is inexpensive. You should be able to use the more expensive solvents and degreasers, too. Just be sure all traces are gone before you put the parts into the hot citric acid bath. Citric acid can be bought in 10 lb bags for around $28 postpaid here. It can be had for $23 postpaid at Amazon if you have Prime to cover the postage. I buy in this quantity because I also use it for brass cleaning.

Note: do not use citric acid on plain steel as it will eat it. This is just for stainless.

If you just want to neutralize rust, I would avoid Naval Jelly or the other inorganic acids because they can leave the surface activated. One of the chelating rust removers like Evaporust or Rust Release is better for just rust removal.

I've never experimented with steel wool to see if it can be rubbed into stainless hard enough to leave rust-initiating bits behind, but I have seen recommendations to use bronze wool to avoid doing that, so I don't know which way to think about it here. Steel wool is coated in oil to keep it from rusting in the package, and that oil may also help prevent embedding, but that is speculation and I don't know it to be a fact. I used to use steel wool soaked in solvent to remove the oil for carding rust bluing, and that was never an issue, but that's a situation where you want surface rust to be able to form.

There are numerous grades of stainless steel, and austenitic 316 (marine grade) or some close alloy are usually the most corrosion resistant. They just aren't as strong as the 400 series carbon-containing stainless steels usually used in cutlery and rifle barrels and guns are. Here is a brief article on gun metal.

[LineStretcher]

Originally Posted by Bill DeShivs

Steel wool does not leave traces of itself in stainless steel. You simply wipe it off-it doesn't imbed itself. That's an old wive's tale.

I have worked with a lot of stainless steel of varying grades and you are wrong.

Besides, why argue this when the solution to avoid the possibility is not only given but so very, very simple.

[Bill DeShivs]

Why? Because I have worked on guns and knives for over 50 years- refinishing, engraving, designing, restoring, and making.
I can assure you that- from this experience, I have NEVER seen it happen. And I use a lot of steel wool on various metals.
If you leave traces of steel wool ON stainless it could, in theory, start a minor rusting process. But a simple wipe, wash, or blowing the residue off will take care of that.

[polyphemus]

OP's firearm is stainless steel.One of my pistols developed this issue under the wood grips a number of years ago and I resolved it the way I described above a synthetic set of grips was installed and no further deterioration observed.
Before I did anything I tried to understand what caused the condition and it appears that traces of chemicals in the wood reacted with the iron in the frame
and produced a form of salt or tannate,defects in the passive layer allowed this.
to happen.

[Unclenick]

Originally Posted by redotlight

If you see red rust it is probably due to some iron particles that have contaminated the surface of the stainless steel and it is these iron particles that are rusting.

That is correct. Iron at the surface starts it, but it can dig right in. I have a stainless Buck hunting knife I notice two small red rust spots on one day. I removed them with a chelating rust remover, and when it was gone there were pits underneath both of them. A passivated part won't do this, however, unless you recontaminate it.

No need to go to the more dangerous acids. Citric works just fine. Not as fast, mind you, but it works.

[T. O'Heir]

"...sand out w/ super fine sandpaper..." No. Even the finest sandpaper will leave wee tiny scratches. A light touch with a fine brass wire wheel in a bench grinder or 0000 steel wool and oil, same as blued steel will work.
"...something used in the making of the holster has transferred to the gun..." Doesn't happen.

[Unclenick]

Most likely the holster held some moisture against a spot that had free iron at its surface.

[pete2]

The type of stainless steel guns are made of will rust, 400 series. 300 series does not rust.

[Bill DeShivs]

Pete wins the grand prize!
Gun stainless is rust-resistant. It does usually need something (like grips or holster) to hold moisture against the surface for rust to start.
Passivation is not a coating, but an acidic surface treatment that removes carbon from the steel's surface.

[44 AMP]

It's called StainLESS not stainproof or rustproof.

I know where there is a 3 story tower built of nuclear grade stainless, its BROWN. Stainless Pipe stock in the laydown yard, same thing, a red/brown surface coating. Might not be exactly the same "rust" found on regular carbon steel, but it is a coating that forms from exposure. And, I'm told its desirable. because like blueing, the "rust" is just on the surface, and it prevents corrosion from going deeper.

I know there are many different grades of "stainless" and they don't act the same. Sometimes they don't play well together, either.

[dahermit]

"...but it is a coating that forms from exposure. And, I'm told its desirable. because like blueing, the "rust" is just on the surface..." There is no such thing as "surface rust" on blued guns. Rust is a chemical compound formed from Iron and Oxygen that forms a structure (Fe2O3) that is larger than the steel lattice it replaced (Fe). If that flake of rust is removed it leaves a pit, despite that the minor rusting, may be very small. Nevertheless, it is not just the surface of the gun steel that is effected. If the rusting process is allowed to continue, more rust is created and the pits get deeper and deeper. In short, instead of referring to surface rust, one would be correct in referring to minor rusting.

[arquebus357]

Good grief. Dunk it in some EvapoRust for a few hours and rust will be gone. EvapoRust is NOT an acid so it won't etch the stainless finish. I would not use any form of abrasive on the finish. If your gun has that nice satin factory finish, It will be ruined. Steel wool is "harder" than stainless steel so it will leave scratches. Maybe bronze wool would be ok though.

[Unclenick]

Just to be difficult, I'll argue that all rust is surface rust as that's where it has to begin. The internal portion of the steel is not exposed to oxygen and humidity, so it can't start there. Nor can it start spontaneously on exposed iron if the relative humidity is below about 30-40%. Even at 50% it has a hard time initiating. This is why old guns and car parts found in Arizona are often in good condition as compared to what you see here. Most folks think the difference is lack of road salt, but even salt needs a minimum of 68% RH to accelerate rusting by activating the iron or steel surface with chlorine ions.

There is a good article on rust in the Wikipedia.

I agree that Evaporust and Rust Release, both of which remove rust by chelation of the iron in it, are good methods of removing rust, but citric acid will also passivate the stainless steel. It does this not by removing carbon, as suggested earlier, but by eating away both rust and any iron on the surface that does not have a chromium oxide protective layer over it. That layer is what makes steel stainless, and by removing all unprotected iron, there is nothing available to rust. That's what passivation is; removing reactants available for chemical activity (reactions that form products, like rust).

[dahermit]

Just to be difficult, I'll argue that all rust is surface rust as that's where it has to begin. The internal portion of the steel is not exposed to oxygen and humidity, so it can't start there.

Yes, it starts on the surface. However, my point is, despite people minimizing minor rust on a guns surface by seeming to imply that it can just be removed and the gun is as good as new (because it is just, surface rust), if any rust is present, there are pits in the surface of the steel and there always will be.

[Unclenick]

...and those pits will be places where rust easily begins anew.

[Hdonly]

Here in Florida, I will promise you stainless steel guns will rust. Usually starts under wood grips that aren't sealed. Wood soaks up moisture from humid air and holds it next to the metal.