Hey guys,

I recently acquired a russian made SVD. Just a real quick question for some basic maintenance. I notice when the rifle first arrived, there are several minor scratches, slightly revealing the silvery steel part. I suppose that's normal for most russian made weapons, but my concern is that will those small areas where the original coating wear off get a higher chance to rust than the rest of the rifle?

I understand every firearms requires to be cleaned and oiled from time to time. However due to work and stuff, I won't be home most of the time, so I can only clean and oil my guns once every 4-6 months. I own several rifles for years, I kept them in my gun rack, each placed in a brownells rust protection bag. It never have a single spot of rust. This SVD however, even with all those rust protection I'm still worried. Because every firearms I have unlike the SVD, does not have a single scratch whatsoever. The coating is in perfect condition everywhere, so I suppose even out of those brownell bags, it shouldn't be much of a problem. It is the scratched bit on my SVD that got be concerned. Any input will be appreciated.

p.s. I'm more of a gun collector, so only a few of my firearms is actually being used. SVD along with the rest, is purely for collection purpose.

If you're really concerned, a film of grease or LPS-3 over the areas concerning you, combined with your other steps will prevent those scratches from rusting for at least the time you're away.