Rust on stainless SP101

[napg19]

Took off the Houge Monogrip and found four little dots of rust under the hammer pivot assy. on the right side. I carry left side. Whats the best way to take the rust off. I'm not worried if it gets scratched in the process, it's my carry gun. Thanks.

[4V50 Gary]

soap free steel wool.

[napg19]

Thanks, I'll try that.

[mete]

Light rust on guns is best removed with 0000 steel wool and oil.

[oneoldsap]

I use stainless steel wool which is available at resturant supply outlets . When you use regular steel wool you leave a little bit embeded in the metal and it will rust so it looks like the gun rusts . Have you ever steel wooled rust off only to have it return ?

[Dfariswheel]

A good option is to use a Scotchbrite pad.
This is the same type of synthetic abrasive pads as the green pads sold in grocery stores for pot scrubbing.

Buy them in various "grits" in automotive supply houses and in limited grits in hardware stores.

As above DO NOT use steel wool, with oil or not on stainless. Particles will embed and will rust, ruining the stainless.

To prevent this from happening again, after you have the rust off, apply a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax to the frame and don't wipe it off. Assemble the grips and the wax will prevent the frame from rusting.

[smoakingun]

oil and 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper. scotchbrite comes in 3 grades, green: coarse, red: medium, gray: fine.(roughly 1200 grit} you might not care about scratches, but why put them there if you don't have too

[Unclenick]

The stainless steel wool sounds like the best idea to me as the hardness will be closer to that of the gun. Stainless gets its rust resistant properties in part from the chromium and chromium oxide that cover the iron in the steel. When you use anything abrasive to the stainless, even Scotch Brite or harder metal wool, you remove that oxide and expose more free iron for future rusting.

I suggest you use a product called Rust Release or another called Evaporust (Harbor Freight has it) to remove the rust. After that, if you want truly stainless performance from the gun, the only thing I know that works is passivation of remaining exposed free iron. This can be done with hot dilute chromic acid baths that actually add fresh chromium oxide to exposed iron, or by removing just the free iron itself with nitric acid. Those operations are best done by metal finishing shops due to the toxicity and hazards associated with the chemicals involved. I've heard that citric acid solutions can also passivate, but have no idea of the concentrations or temperatures or immersion times involved. That, at least, would be safe to do at home.

[napg19]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info here to use.

[hooligan1]

Heads up on the steel wool, It will cause the stainless to show rustspots. I found this out from a service call, on a brand new stainless steel sink. The lady cleaned it with steelwool and bleach, both of these will sometimes make the stainless show rust. However yours probably wasn't caused by these things. I would still refrain from using steelwool, I'd switch to scotchbrite, real fine scotchbrite. You could probably remove it with your fingernail.

[wperez]

Try a brass brush and oil. I have a stainless steel revolver with the same problem developed under the rubber grips ( very small pitting ), it worked well enough, I just check once in a while.I changed the grips to walnut just for the looks and they are very confortable to boot

[Unclenick]

Since this post, I also learned you can passivate stainless with citric acid. See my post #10, here.

[Bill DeShivs]

I believe the Ruger finish is equivalent to the grey Scotchbrite pads.