The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Hi all,

I own a 1919 Purdey which I love to shoot with, although I try not to do so when it rains because it is unbelievable how quick it gets rust stains on it on wet days, specially in the outside of the barrels.

However, last week I was shooting partridges over pointers when the weather changed against the forecast and more than a few drops of rain were enough to leave in the outside of the barrels an uneven coat of orange rust stains, which made me spend the day after working to take them out with generous amounts of WD40 oil, instead of my usual ballistol, and #0000 steel wool.

Everything came off an in the end there was no serious arm done. Even so this episode had me thinking that maybe silicon or a silicon based oil would provide a proper protection against wet weather.

Does anyone ever tried this or any other method against wet weather corrosion with good results? I would like to have your opinions on this.

Regards all.

Very fine wax paste also has beneficial results - a case of building up a weatherproof layer that stops the water reaching the metal

It might be worth having a word with your valet too, ooman, and ensure he holds the umbrella more closely next time.

The product I use is ACF 50. works on my motorbikes which are used all year around.

meles meles wrote:It might be worth having a word with your valet too, ooman, and ensure he holds the umbrella more closely next time.

Can't do so. He went on strike protesting against bad weather working conditions.

I used to use wax floor polish, it was already in the house and it worked well.

Clear boot polish or dubbin will do the job.

Beeswax mixed with some tallow just to get it moving does well also, makes a great black powder lube too.

I also put water pump grease tween any woodwork and metal to stop water ingress.

Egg on Leggs1 wrote:The product I use is ACF 50. works on my motorbikes which are used all year around.

Thank you. Didn't know about the existence of the product but went to their web site and although there's no mention of using in firearms the description gave me the impresion that it just might work.

My concern however is about blueing, which in the end is a controled rusting process. Acording to your experience do you think it is safe for the barrel blueing to use the product or it ends up erasing it?

BR

dromia wrote:Beeswax mixed with some tallow just to get it moving does well also, makes a great black powder lube too.

I've used Beeswax but with no tallow mixed, the result was that it would not last long before starting to wear off not just because of weather conditions, also because of hand sweat. Nonetheless I think I'll give your method a try.

BR

You need to get Jeeves to make you a custom barrel rain Mac