Posted: 5/2/2015 9:53:32 PM EDT
Well at least it isn't shit in my cornflakes. My Kimber eclipse custom II now has rust on it.  Right along the business end of the barrel. From searching around, a lot of people seem to think that the Kimber barrel is of mild steel or something that is less resistant to rust than the rest of the setup. So I'm thinking a new barrel might be the answer here. Anybody know which (hopefully drop in) barrel to get that won't turn into rust?
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This is pretty common on the Kimbers. Take some "000" steel wool and spray some of your favorite oil on it and rub. it will come off. Then you can do one of two things keep it well oiled, or degrease the spots and put some automobile paste wax on it.
Replacing the barrel is a expensive fix for a minor problem. |
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There is no such thing as a drop in 1911 barrel. With that said a Nowlin or Bar-Sto would both make your gun better. How would a Wilson Combat barrel compare? That's what I was thinking about putting in mine since most of the other parts I'm changing out are from them. |
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Quoted: This is pretty common on the Kimbers. Take some "000" steel wool and spray some of your favorite oil on it and rub. it will come off. Then you can do one of two things keep it well oiled, or degrease the spots and put some automobile paste wax on it. Replacing the barrel is a expensive fix for a minor problem. Amen |
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How would a Wilson Combat barrel compare? That's what I was thinking about putting in mine since most of the other parts I'm changing out are from them. Quoted:
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There is no such thing as a drop in 1911 barrel. With that said a Nowlin or Bar-Sto would both make your gun better. How would a Wilson Combat barrel compare? That's what I was thinking about putting in mine since most of the other parts I'm changing out are from them. WC makes good barrels. They make good guns. |
| I've worked at two gun stores in the last 3 years. At both stores, at one time we always had atleast 12 Kimbers in the display case and atleast 10 Kimber in the back on layaways. The present store I am at is less than 5 miles from the coast, the previous store I was less than 30 miles from the coast. Between selling and displays, I've honestly seen hundreds of Kimbers. Not one have I ever seen rusted. In fact, in the last 3 years I can't recall ever personally sending one back for repair or seeing one sent back for repair. |
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This is pretty common on the Kimbers. Take some "000" steel wool and spray some of your favorite oil on it and rub. it will come off. Then you can do one of two things keep it well oiled, or degrease the spots and put some automobile paste wax on it. Replacing the barrel is a expensive fix for a minor problem. Thanks, I got the rust off with some elbow grease, and oil. I can see tiny micro pitting where the rust was, but other then that, everything looks good. That will keep me reminded of what happens when I don't clean it right away after taking it out. I really need to be more attentive from now on. |
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Break Free was the first lubricant that really stopped things like fingerprint rust from occasional handling.
Before it you wiped every surface you touched down with an oiled rag every time you touched a blued gun. Even stainless needs protection from the chloride in sweat. |
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As pointed out, rust on Kimber barrels is common. Friend of mine had the same issue years ago and decided to call Kimber. They told him it was due to the amount of iron they use in their barrels and to use Flitz to remove and protect. While I can't comment on the metallurgic make-up of their barrels, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Flitz polish does indeed work as advertised.
Here is what we used on his barrel.... Flitz Polish Paste |
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Kimber tends to put a thin veneer of good looks on the outside of the guns so they look nice but from a production stand point are not very well built These two have been just damn amazing. The one problem I had with a broken rear sight adjustment screw on my Team Match 45 was handled and back to me in less than two weeks, no cost, no freight. Kimbers customer service kicked ass so good that I didn't hesitate to buy the matching gun in 9mm when I was at a gun show in Austin last year. 
Thin veneer of good looks being a blasted and brushed stainless frame and polished DLC coated slide. 
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I have a little surface rust on the frame of my Stainless Colt commander. I was foolish in not cleaning it after carrying IWB on the first hot day of the year, and then putting it up for a few days. I will do as someone here suggested - coat the pistol in oil, let it set overnight and then clean with steel wool, and as long as the rust didn't pit the surface, you won't even be able to tell it happened.
Most all steel will rust. I was in the knife business for quite a while, and learned a lot about metallurgy. Here are some odd facts that some of you may find interesting, and will give you some incite into the procurement and selection of material. Stainless steel is steel that has a chromium content over 14% (going from memory, you may want to check anything I say if you're betting your life on it). Some steels have chromium to aid in carbide distribution, but over 14% it frees up chromium to prevent rust. It also increases wear on machinery at those levels. All steel is a compromise between price, toughness, hardness, and machinability. Carbon steel will rust quickly. Stainless steel will rust, but not as quickly. The finish can also help prevent rust - notice how I said the brushed parts of the Colt frame rusted. The polished flats on the frame and slide have not even started to exhibit the smallest bit of rust, and it would be some time before rust will take on high polished areas. Most people tend to equate a high polish with stainless steel because in handguns stainless guns are often left without a surface treatment or coating. Kimber could use a stainless steel for the barrels at the cost of machinability and price. They would pay a higher price for the steel, it would cost more and take longer to treat and machine - there would be more man hours in each gun and their tooling would need replaced more often. They could also use a high cost surface treatment that would add 200$ to the price of your gun, and would only make the barrel a little more resistant to corrosion. The thing is that most people that buy a Kimber, $1,000 puts them in Safe queen territory, and those pistols will never see the use that would initiate rust. They will be carefully oiled and cared for, and barely shot. We are the exception when it comes to gun ownership. It doesn't make business sense for Kimber to add a couple hundred dollars to the price just to address the rust problems that a small percentage of owners face. |
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In the 1911 grid chart of the latest Kimber catalog, it lists as "SS" the barrel material for many of the models.
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I have a little surface rust on the frame of my Stainless Colt commander. I was foolish in not cleaning it after carrying IWB on the first hot day of the year, and then putting it up for a few days. I will do as someone here suggested - coat the pistol in oil, let it set overnight and then clean with steel wool, and as long as the rust didn't pit the surface, you won't even be able to tell it happened. Most all steel will rust. I was in the knife business for quite a while, and learned a lot about metallurgy. Here are some odd facts that some of you may find interesting, and will give you some incite into the procurement and selection of material. Stainless steel is steel that has a chromium content over 14% (going from memory, you may want to check anything I say if you're betting your life on it). Some steels have chromium to aid in carbide distribution, but over 14% it frees up chromium to prevent rust. It also increases wear on machinery at those levels. All steel is a compromise between price, toughness, hardness, and machinability. Carbon steel will rust quickly. Stainless steel will rust, but not as quickly. The finish can also help prevent rust - notice how I said the brushed parts of the Colt frame rusted. The polished flats on the frame and slide have not even started to exhibit the smallest bit of rust, and it would be some time before rust will take on high polished areas. Most people tend to equate a high polish with stainless steel because in handguns stainless guns are often left without a surface treatment or coating. Kimber could use a stainless steel for the barrels at the cost of machinability and price. They would pay a higher price for the steel, it would cost more and take longer to treat and machine - there would be more man hours in each gun and their tooling would need replaced more often. They could also use a high cost surface treatment that would add 200$ to the price of your gun, and would only make the barrel a little more resistant to corrosion. The thing is that most people that buy a Kimber, $1,000 puts them in Safe queen territory, and those pistols will never see the use that would initiate rust. They will be carefully oiled and cared for, and barely shot. We are the exception when it comes to gun ownership. It doesn't make business sense for Kimber to add a couple hundred dollars to the price just to address the rust problems that a small percentage of owners face. |
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Stainless steel is steel that has a chromium content over 14% (going from memory, you may want to check anything I say if you're betting your life on it). Some steels have chromium to aid in carbide distribution, but over 14% it frees up chromium to prevent rust. It also increases wear on machinery at those levels. All steel is a compromise between price, toughness, hardness, and machinability. Carbon steel will rust quickly. Stainless steel will rust, but not as quickly. The finish can also help prevent rust - notice how I said the brushed parts of the Colt frame rusted. The polished flats on the frame and slide have not even started to exhibit the smallest bit of rust, and it would be some time before rust will take on high polished areas. Most people tend to equate a high polish with stainless steel because in handguns stainless guns are often left without a surface treatment or coating. Kimber could use a stainless steel for the barrels at the cost of machinability and price. They would pay a higher price for the steel, it would cost more and take longer to treat and machine - there would be more man hours in each gun and their tooling would need replaced more often. They could also use a high cost surface treatment that would add 200$ to the price of your gun, and would only make the barrel a little more resistant to corrosion. The thing is that most people that buy a Kimber, $1,000 puts them in Safe queen territory, and those pistols will never see the use that would initiate rust. They will be carefully oiled and cared for, and barely shot. We are the exception when it comes to gun ownership. It doesn't make business sense for Kimber to add a couple hundred dollars to the price just to address the rust problems that a small percentage of owners face. There are many varieties of stainless. Most of the stainless you come in contact with will likely have more chrome than 14%, and this will be the variety that is not used in the majority of firearm components (..and knives actually). Your dogs stainless dishes, your flatware, the chrome trim on your car, all likely an austenitic phase of stainless. 200 and 300 series. 17-26% chrome. 300 series also uses nickel. If you are looking at flatware in the store and you see "made from 18-8, made from 18-10" etc. that is an old school way to refer to stainless steels. 18% chrome, 8% nickel or what have you. Austenitic steel cannot be heat treated for hardness, basically only stress relief and carbon distribution. Commercially available stainless steels like this date back to the 1920's. They are very corrosion resistant, and there are test samples till this day sitting outside since then that have yet to rust. The Chrysler building is topped with what is comparable to 302 (German "NiroSta" stainless. A German acronym meaning "no rust steel"). Basically maintenance free for 85 years. Barrels etc. for firearms are made from martensitic stainless steel. Like some of the 400 series stainless (some is also ferritic). Usually a variety of 416 (440A B or C for knives). 416 being a "free machining" version.. this is the 12-14% chrome version you mentioned. No nickel. In terms of machinability it is very comparable to a chrome-moly steel like 4140/4150 which some of the best 1911 barrels are made of.. such as Kart. A "couple hundred dollars" added to the price is laughable (that is around what most 1911 barrels retail for). In fact, Kimber offers many models with stainless barrels, mostly in the "Gold/Super/Master/Raptor" stuff. I would tend to agree that they are a 'safe queen' brand, considering some of the shit they have pulled over the years that should have put them under, of course you have to take fanboy-ism in to consideration too. When they ruined the reputation of MIM under CEO Cohen by trying to do the MIM as cheaply, quickly and crappily as humanly possible, many blamed the manufacturing process, rather than Kimber. LOL. A process used in jet engines to this day. All that said, I like carbon steel barrels, and it is not hard to prevent rust on them. Oil/maintenance. I even have a Kimber Stainless II (that naturally does not use a SS barrel) I bought used for cheap. Never a speck of rust. |
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Kimber barrels are "in the white", not stainless steel. This. They are high quality carbon steel, in the white. If you want a stainless barrel buy a bar-sto. If you want your existing barrel to not rust then have it blued. Or you could actually keep it oiled. |