Red spots?

[odugrad]

Hey, everyone. I bought a Bushmaster M4 style rifle over a year ago. I store it locked up in the case it came in. A little while ago I was noticing little red spots on the barrel. I was thinking it was rust. I cleaned it well and put CLP all over it. I took it out again today and it's coming back. Even with a coat of CLP on it. Does anyone know what this is? How do I stop it? Thanks.

I have several handguns and none of them have this problem.

[wogpotter]

Chemical reaction between the foam & the bore material?
I'd store out of the case & see if it stops.

[odugrad]

Does it sound like rust? How do you identify rust on a gun barrel?

[Dfariswheel]

Rust on steel barrels will be a dark reddish brown, more brown.
The spots will be hard crusty deposits that can't be just wiped off with a finger.

If you apply a lube like CLP and use a brass scraper to scrape them off, what will be left is a small spot with no finish on it and a small pit in the metal where the rust was.

If the spots are actually red, it probably isn't rust.

[odugrad]

Does this sound common? Does anyone else have experience with this? After using the CLP and a patch, the spots went away.

Should someone use a brass brush to clean rust? Won't this leave the barrel more vulnerable?

[coldbeer]

Can you post a pic?

[JimPage]

Guns just should not be stored in cases. Those are just meant for travel and short term use. More than a week is asking for trouble.

[odugrad]

I'll try and post a pic when I get home. The dots are so small that it may not show in the picture.

What should rifles be stored in? I store all my handguns in their cases and they have been fine.

[Doyle]

Guns just should not be stored in cases.

+1

[FrosSsT]

Guns just should not be stored in cases.

Amen.

[wogpotter]

I store all my handguns in their cases and they have been fine.

Not unlikley. Let me ask you a question. How many of your pistols have a parkerized finish over aluminum alloy?

Different courses for different horses applies here I think.

Incidentally there are 2 different types of foam.
Open cell (the softer, cheaper more common type) which is basically an absorbant sponge sucking in everything in the air including water, salt air & so on & storing it in thousands of little cells.

Closed cell (a stiffer slicker more expensive type) which has every individual bubble closed instead of open to its neighbors) this is much better as it cant absorb water or pretty much anything else in the volumes that open cell can.

Lots of info on the types here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam

If you want to store a gun in a closed case I'd suggest you swap out any open cell for closed cell & use LOTS of oil or preservative of your choice.

You can buy closed cell foam in sheets from lots of places but probably the most common & easiest to find is the "Yoga Mats" or "Sleeping pads" sold at sports & outdoor retailers. It comes in several thicknesses & you can easily cut it with a razor blade to biuld up fitted moisture-resistant custom foam interiors.

[odugrad]

The guns aren't just stored in cases. I take them to range as often as I can. But it's easier for me to get my handguns to the range. And because of that, they are cleaned more often.

Is it easy for a gun to rust? I'm kind of new to rifles and want to keep them for as long as I can.

[wogpotter]

Yep, its one of the most commmon things.
Have you tried this.
Wrap the gun in a layer of fabric cut from an old t-shirt thats been allowed to become impregnated with oil, (not soaking, dripping wet, but just "damp" evenly. Then put it in its case. That should form a moisture protectant barrier.

[Doyle]

Is it easy for a gun to rust?

Depends on the composition of the metal, the type of finish it has, the type of protective oil on it, etc. Some guns are more prone to rusting than others. For example, the Remington 870 Express shotguns with the supposedly parkerized finish are notorious for flash rusting.

[MistWolf]

No handguns have parkerized finish over aluminium. Aluminum cannot be parkerized.

The rust keeps coming back because it's not been neutralized

[wogpotter]

I think you missed the point. I was saying that his handguns were NOT parkerised where his AR probably was.

[MistWolf]

Comparing a parkerized steel barrel to a parkerized aluminum frame is apples to unicorn fluff.

odugrad, stop using CLP. It's not a good corrosion preventative. To stop the rust from returning, you must kill it at the source. If your barrel is parked, something has gotten in the pores and to the base steel. If it's water, you need something to get down in there and displace the moisture.

Parkerizing is porous. It works by absorbing and holding oil which needs to be reapplied as it will evaporate over time. What I'd try is using a good water displacer. The two that come to my mind is Corrosion X and ACF50. Corrosion X is smelly, sticky and nasty and ACF50 may not be easy to find. I believe Mouse Milk may work but I'm unsure of it's water displacing abilities. WD40 is supposed to displace water, but in reality, it's not a good choice for much of anything. It tends to leave behind a gummy residue that does nothing for your weapons.

The simplest thing to try is to soak the affected areas in synthetic gasoline motor oil of the thinnest viscosity you can find. Make sure you re-oil the entire barrel to give the parkerizing a chance to absorb it

[wogpotter]

Comparing a parkerized steel barrel to a parkerized aluminum frame is apples to unicorn fluff.

Which is exactly why I didn't do such a thing. Please read & comprehend before critiquing.

My point was in the simplest terms that the finish differed betwen his handguns & his bushmaster.

[MistWolf]

The problem is, someone who doesn't know better will come along, read about parked aluminum and come away with the erroneuos idea that aluminum can be parked