Long ago, in a time far gone, when young men served in the military they had the opportunity to take their service firearm home with them once they had served the required amount of time.

My grandfather was one of those people during WWII.  He was allowed to take home his Service Issued S&W .38.  Years later it is now in my possession and one of my favorite articles.

So, anyway, annother thing my grandfather handed down to me is the knowledge that"a firearm that you don't shoot is a real fucking expensive hammer".  Following this wisdom, I took his revolver with me to the LCR as I always do.  However, it never made it out of the case, what with all the wetness and coldness, I didn't do much shooting.  Well, on sunday I was pulling gun cases out of the safe and opened the one I had the .38 in it.....

A warning, the following is not for the faint of heart (Phil, cover your eyes)
GGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!









I was very dissapointed and angry with myself to allow it to happen.

Today, I sat down with some steel wool, solvent and CLP:


Whew!!!



It still needs some more work, but does not look like I fished it out of a river.  It is now cozy and warm in it's original home:



Lesson learned

Quoted: It still needs some more work, but does not look like I fished it out of a river.  It is now cozy and warm in it's original home: ar15.mcternen.com/38/5.jpg Lesson learned

Do NOT store that gun in that leather holster!!!!



www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=742610

+
www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=567717

Quoted: <snip> Lesson learned

Really?

 

From American Handgunner Top 10 Cleaning Blunders: TIP #9--Don't store your gun in a holster. Particularly in humid environments, a holster holds moisture in. Plus, some leather can have chemicals in it that will attack a gun's finish. Store your gun separately to prevent rust and corrosion. "I knew a guy who stored his gun long term in a holster," Jorgensen says. "It was an old blued-steel revolver that had been his dad's. There was so much metal gone it was unusable"

ETA:  Phil's got ESP or something. . .

well ok then... New one to me, been in that holster all it's life except the LCR.  I will take your words for it however.

Quoted: well ok then... New one to me, been in that holster all it's life except the LCR.  I will take your words for it however.

I have the 1911 that my grandpa packed in Korea, and have the holster, So I know how ya feel...He kept it in that holster, and pitted the side of the slide pretty good.

Im glad to see ya got her all cleaned up, She is a beauty!

The parkerized finish is less susceptible to damage from that leather holster, but it's never a good idea to keep guns in leather.

Quoted: rather than them wasteing away in my attic.

Please tell me you would never ever even think of such a crime?!?!?!

Im going to have a heart attack...

good idea OdT!  I have been wanting to go to the Ft. Lewis Military Museum for some time now.  Noone ever seems interested enough to go with me though

One other thing you can try if you trust what you hear on the internet:

a coat of wax.

I myself would not rely on CLP for the "P" part. At a minimum I would use a mix of the gun oil of your choosing and some silicone spray.

Quoted: One other thing you can try if you trust what you hear on the internet: a coat of wax.

www.restorationproduct.com/

Quoted: P.S. I don't even own an attic.

This is true, you put something in your "attic" its likely to fall and hit you in the head.

Quoted: Quoted: P.S. I don't even own an attic. This is true, you put something in your "attic" its likely to fall and hit you in the head.

Remember the attic has more moisture in it than any other part of the house unless you have a leak somewhere.

Quoted: good idea OdT!  I have been wanting to go to the Ft. Lewis Military Museum for some time now.  Noone ever seems interested enough to go with me though

Well maybe if somebody had let somebody else know the other somebody could have taken the original somebody somewhere, but since that somebody didn't have any clue that somebody might be interested in that sort of thing......my head hurts.....I didn't know you wanted to go.

Quoted: Quoted: good idea OdT!  I have been wanting to go to the Ft. Lewis Military Museum for some time now.  Noone ever seems interested enough to go with me though Well maybe if somebody had let somebody else know the other somebody could have taken the original somebody somewhere, but since that somebody didn't have any clue that somebody might be interested in that sort of thing......my head hurts.....I didn't know you wanted to go.

Nevermind that EVERYTIME we drive by it I say something about wanting to go there.  Sometimes you ought to turn on whatever it is that you turn off in your head when I start talking.

Quoted: Today, I sat down with some steel wool, solvent and CLP:

Good thing you discovered it when you did.

I have never had to remove that kind of surface rust before .......  I was under the impression it was brass wool vs steel wool that you should use ??  

Quoted: Quoted: Today, I sat down with some steel wool, solvent and CLP: Good thing you discovered it when you did. I have never had to remove that kind of surface rust before .......  I was under the impression it was brass wool vs steel wool that you should use ??

Under Tweaks direction, we used some steel wool to remove rust from the Hippy's SKS.  I followed the same directions with the .38

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Today, I sat down with some steel wool, solvent and CLP: Good thing you discovered it when you did. I have never had to remove that kind of surface rust before .......  I was under the impression it was brass wool vs steel wool that you should use ??   Under Tweaks direction, we used some steel wool to remove rust from the Hippy's SKS.  I followed the same directions with the .38

Obviously works well. Glad you got it looking right again. Looks like a nice pistol that comes w/ a nice history & story.

Hope I never have to try either method and my firearms stay rust free.

Quoted: Quoted: It still needs some more work, but does not look like I fished it out of a river.  It is now cozy and warm in it's original home: ar15.mcternen.com/38/5.jpg Lesson learned Do NOT store that gun in that leather holster!!!! www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dll/highresimage?saleitemid=742610 www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=742610 + www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=567717 www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dll/highresimage?saleitemid=567717

I'll have to agree with this one.  When my dad gave me my .308 Norma, he included a leather ammo belt.  The belt had been sitting in the closet for years with rounds in it and they were absolutlely COVERED with black and green nastiness.  I had to do a lot of scrubbing on that brass before I could even consider putting them through the rifle.