[TechBrute]

I have a friend with a rather extensive gun collection. Hundreds of rifles, handguns, shotguns, etc. I'm not talking about a bunch of SKSs, I'm talking Barretts, Blasers, Sig 550s, Springfields, FNs, Remingtons, Kimbers, HKs, etc.

He has a gun room in his house, and while the room itself isn't reinforced, he does have several of the biggest safes I've ever seen. Well, the safes are all full, and so there are several stacks of gun cases with the overflow.

He fell ill a couple years ago, and his energy level isn't what it used to be. He still carries, but hardly gets to the range any more.

Anyway, before I get too far off track, his life changes has caused some of his collection to fall in to a state of neglect. Unbeknownst to him, a leak in the roof soaked a stack of guns. When I was shamelessly browsing his collection, I noticed mildew on some of the lower boxes. I started moving stuff around and found that the box on the bottom that contained a Blaser S2 worth (at one point) well in excess of $20K. It was covered in rust and was but a shadow of its former self. It was in the original box, and unfired.

What's the worst case of neglect you've PERSONALLY seen? We've all seen the pictures of the gun graveyards, but are you responsible for a gun becoming useless or valueless? Is your buddy?

[LiquidTension]

I'm responsible for taking an old Savage 65A apart to refinish the stock, and making the gun unuseable by never finishing the stock. It's still propped up in the corner :rolleyes: It's on the proverbial "list."

[mete]

Some of those guns may be ok inside even if they look terrible outside. I worked on such a gun that had been in a river for some time . The outside was horribly pitted but the inside was in good shape and a quick clean-up and it worked fine. Those types of guns make great shooters and you don't have to worry about getting them scratched !!! I saw a totally chromed O/U ,the owner had it in his car trunked which leaked and pitted the gun. So he chromed it and it works fine.

[RavenVT100]

Besides screwing up the finish on one part of my wife's ruger MkII, not really. I am very meticulous with my stuff.

[P95Carry]

My worst personal ''sin'' was letting my ol' faithful M85 snub suffer some neglect. Summer carry two years ago resulted in some sweat corrosion around top of grip on left side - it did not get wet per se but the way I sweat I guess it was just saturated vapor effect!!

I used to wipe over with a CLP cloth but - of course - not often enough. The worst has long since been cleaned off but (hangs head in shame), there is still some slight pitting. Functionally the gun is A1 and is now my wife's purse carry. I guess with all the holster wear as well - it has become well ''seasoned'' :)

Otherwise, I go to considerable lengths to avoid corrosion of any sort.

[Moondoggie]

I unknowingly laid an old Model 10 S&W on a shelf next to a gallon of Muratic Acid (pool acid) for several months. I had no idea that the bottle cap didn't seal. The fumes from the acid faded the blueing in spots. Not nearly as noticeable when it's well coated with CLP.

That's the worst I've ever done, thank goodness!

[Cowgunner]

I droped my Ruger Black Hawk onto the floor and dinged the front sight...........

[Zach S]

I own a Para Companion that I had to have blasted because of rust. Got it back from the smith, shot it a lot and put it back in carry rotation. Three or four days later, it was rusting again.

For about a year its been soaked in break-free, wrapped in a zip-lock bag and in a pistol rug in the back of my safe. Most of the time I forget I own it, although when I remeber it I take it out to make sure its not getting worse, spray a little more break-free in it, and it goes back in the back. I'd detail strip it and blast it, but I'm a little nervous about taking an LDA apart.

Someday I'm gonna send it to Tripp.

[Standing Wolf]

I left a thumb print on an 8.375-inch model 27-2 barrel. I'd had it taken off the gun some years earlier, but it now sports a corrosion spot that makes it useless to anyone.

[HighVelocity]

I unknowingly got some blood on the receiver of an 1100 and didn't clean it before it pitted the metal. :(

[Shear_stress]

I just buggered up the head of the trigger overtravel adjustment screw on a CZ bought the day before--and that was after I soaked the screw in CLP. Not a serious loss, monetary or aesthetically, but it bugs me just the same.

[PlayTheAces]

I've got a model 19 that belonged to my uncle. Beautiful blued gun, low mileage on it. Unfortunately, he left it in a leather holster for years, and he lived near the beach. It has two corroded areas on the cylinder flutes, 180 degrees apart, thanks to that holster.

Nice shooter, but really a shame about the corrosion. :(

I've also got a Para that started developing some light rust while sitting in my safe. Luckily I caught it before it set in, and keep it well oiled now.

It really pays to check your weapons every so often - letting them sit unattended for long periods just ain't good.

[Ifishsum]

Wasn't me, but my brother in law (who was 16 at the time) snuck out his father's High Standard Citation .22 pistol - bull barrel, custom sights, match trigger, etc from his competition days - and took it on a camping trip. Before the trip home, he wrapped it in a wet towel and stuffed it into a duffel bag and forgot about it for 6 months. Dad found it encrusted with rust, pretty much ruined. :fire:

[firesafety3]

Had a client leave his Browning 16 in the duck blind on the last hunt of the year. Another guide came across it the following September brushing the blinds for teal season.

The guy never called or anything. I can only assume he thought he lost the shotgun in transit somewhere.

[TMM]

i dropped the bolt of a bolt action rifle onto a flagstone patio. luckily it fell on the bolt handle.

[Bill2k1]

I have a .22 revolver that I took apart just to see how it worked and managed to break a plastic peice that was half broken. Now I don't know where to find parts or how to fix it. It sits in a case.

[Cosmoline]

When I first moved into the sticks a few years ago, I forgot about several firearms and left them outside all winter. Those firearms, including an M-95 Austro-Hungarian carbine and an old Single Six were absolutely untouched. They had been stuck in plastic totes and got buried under snow. After breakup they were 100% fine, with no rust at all. Ironically, it was the firearms I tried to "care for" by taking inside the cabin that turned into rust buckets. I learned an important lesson--if a rifle is cold and you're outside, leave it cold. Don't bring it inside the warm tent or cabin.

[smokemaker]

My dad has a duck hunting buddy who lost 3 or 4 Parkers (Yeah, originals) overboard from a johnboat into the lower Niagara River. I'd a paid the divers whatever they wanted for a retrieval, but he let them drown.
Abuse, thats what it is.

[entropy]

When I was 10 years old and a budding gunsmith, I took an H&R breaktop .22 (looked like a Schofield) apart, intending to put it back together. I put it in a Ziploc bag, stuck it in a drawer, and forgot about it. My Mom found 'a bunch of gun parts in a bag' while cleaning and threw them out. :what: My Dad was mad (at her, not me! :p ), but the funny thing about it was it had been her dad's gun, that he'd given to my Dad.

Don't even get me started about all the hunters who put their guns away without cleaning them after the season is over, then drag them out and are surprised when they don't go 'Bang' when they check the sights two days before the opener. :rolleyes: But they keep me busy every fall! :D

[jefnvk]

I've done the wet duck gun in gun case lots of times. Only a Rem 870 Express, not a lot of money or history lost. And, it continually cleanes up good.

Scratched up my Springfield 1911 real good trying to get the slide release back in the first time I took it apart.

[Zach S]

Scratched up my Springfield 1911 real good trying to get the slide release back in the first time I took it apart.
Ahh, the famous idiot mark. I've got to the point where purposely I put it on any 1911 I buy that doesnt have it, that way I dont kick myself in the rear and call myself an idiot when it actually happens. Kinda like scuffing boots I buy for work once I get them out of the box.

Thankfully, most of my 1911s were purchased used, and the idiot mark came with them.