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Posted: 2/7/2011 8:12:43 AM EDT
| I was curious. How important is it to oil the outside of the upper/lower recievers and barrel? It's an XM-15. Should I do it every time I handle the weapon? How corrosion resistant is the finish exactly? |
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The upper and lower are anodized aluminum and will not "rust" The barrel is parkerized chrome-moly steel, and unless you keep it in a sauna or in the sump of your offshore fishing boat it'll be just fine. I don't store any of my stuff in sealed cases for any length of time without some sort of desiccant in there. |
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It's pretty tough to get rust on an AR in most climates. Some people say keeping ARs in soft cases will cause them to rust... well that is where mine usually live and none have a hint of rust on them. I never oil the outside of my guns, just internal contact points.
As RDCTU said, aluminum will not rust. It can get nasty looking corrosion but being anno'ed it's not very likely. |
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Quoted: Well I'm in Florida so the humidity is probably an issue, but let's put it this way. If I put a solid fingerprint on the anodizing, and one on the barrel, roughly how long would it take for the corrosion process to become visible? Sitting in the open, zipped up in a gun case or sealed up in a hard case/safe? Unless you've got some sort of mutant-oxidizing skin oil it won't be apparent for a good long while... |
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Quoted:
It's pretty tough to get rust on an AR in most climates. Some people say keeping ARs in soft cases will cause them to rust... well that is where mine usually live and none have a hint of rust on them. I never oil the outside of my guns, just internal contact points. As RDCTU said, aluminum will not rust. It can get nasty looking corrosion but being anno'ed it's not very likely. Went shooting on a rainy day. No raindrops on guns, just moisture from air. Came home and left them in the soft cases over night. Both my colt and my DPMS had rusty barrels. Cleaned the DPMS with some oil and a rag, still has some slight discoloration. Ordered a new barrel for the Colt, since i bought it used and had put 5k down the pipe myself. Then of course i needed to get a new hand guard because i felt bad i had let it rust. Then new optics. Then new BUIS. Letting it get some corrosion on it was the best thing that ever happened to that gun. Worst thing for my wallet though. 
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Quoted:
Okay cool. When I'm home my rifle is in the open within reach. When I'm not or when I have company over it goes in a locked gun case. I've just been really OCD about it and I'm going through massive amounts of CLP As long as you keep it inside and not outside it will be fine. I have seem some pretty gnarly corrosion on aluminum down there. |
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Use a light, thin coat of CLP and wipe it off with a rag. Try to use a rag that doesn't shed much. The shedding isn't terrible, I've never had any problems but the small bits of cotton or cloth can hold moisture to them. I also like borestore bags for storage. If you have one you keep loaded for home defense, the bag is probably not going to work. |
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Barrel and other steel parts with good park on it will not rust easily. But if the park is old and has been worn down, it can rust quite easily.
My issued M16A2 in boot camp was old as hell (80's?). Alot of the park had been worn off from continuous scrubbing, drill, and general wear. After hours of drill or whatever we did, they'd eventually end up in the "armory" (small room in the squad bay) and the next day all the barrels were orange. This was in Camp Pendleton during boot camp. |
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Quoted: Barrel and other steel parts with good park on it will not rust easily. But if the park is old and has been worn down, it can rust quite easily. My issued M16A2 in boot camp was old as hell (80's?). Alot of the park had been worn off from continuous scrubbing, drill, and general wear. After hours of drill or whatever we did, they'd eventually end up in the "armory" (small room in the squad bay) and the next day all the barrels were orange. This was in Camp Pendleton during boot camp. Happened to me every day in boot at PI. I live in NW Florida and my weapons when stored indoors will not rust at all, but if I store them in my car trunk for a few days some rust will show up. At least with parkerization it makes the rust easy to wipe off when you apply oil on it again. Living in humid FL is not as bad on weapons as people think. The anodized aluminum will never corrode unless it undergoes galvanic corrosion which will not happen unless you store it under you boat. The only thing that can happen is that the anodization may turn purple after several decades of hard use. |
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Quoted:
Okay cool. When I'm home my rifle is in the open within reach. When I'm not or when I have company over it goes in a locked gun case. I've just been really OCD about it and I'm going through massive amounts of CLP It has been my experience that even in a heated/air-conditioned home any Parkerized, blued or bare steel is subject to rusting if a thin film of some kind of CLP is not maintained. For Parkerizing, avoid rubbing, which polishes it. Maintain the dark, matte finish by blotting your CLP on with a soft cotton cloth or cotton ball. Use dry material to remove the excess, still blotting and not rubbing. Even quicker, spray the oil on, then blot off excess. My rule is a thin film of CLP on every metal surface, inside and out. Repeat at intervals of no more than 90 days unless the gun is used in-between, at which point it should be cleaned and oiled. |
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