Zane Zackerly
Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 1
One of my rifles has a recoil spring guide that had a few rust spots on it, so I decided to remove them with Birchwood Casey's Blue and Rust Remover.
Several nights ago, I got out the rifle and field stripped it, removing the recoil spring and guide rod.
I disassembled the recoil assembly, of course, since it says on the bottle of rust remover "do not use on coil or flat springs." According to Birchwood Casey, this is because the Blue & Rust Remover will cause "hydrogen embrittlement" that will harm the elasticity of springs and cause early failure.
I always wear latex rubber gloves when I use chemicals, and herein may lie the problem.
After treating the recoil rod with B&RR, I hosed down the part with Gun Scrubber, applied a coating of Break Free, and hosed down the part with Gun Scrubber again just to be sure. I figured if I couldn't see any oil, then the part had been satisfactorily washed of all Blue and Rust Remover, too. After the second degreasing, I then applied the final coating of Break Free.
Although I changed rubber gloves between applying the Blue and Rust Remover and the rest of the oiling/degreasing/re-oiling steps, I neglected notice that some B&RR had gotten onto the handle of a borelight I was using to help me apply B&RR to the inside of the recoil guide.
As I handled the contaminated borelight all through the steps, my rubber gloves undoubtedly picked up a small amount of residue of the B&RR from it. The amount of Blue and Rust Remover that might have been transferred to my gloves was not immediately obvious, and that is why I didn't notice what might be a problem at first.
My gloves did not look "wet" from the residue, and were subsequently saturated with Break Free as I went through the rest of the steps. Further, the recoil spring was already coated with Break Free as the gun had been in storage for several weeks before I decided to do my rust removal.
Now, my question is this: assuming that my rubber gloves had been contaminated by a small amount of Blue and Rust Remover as I reassembled the Break-Free-coated parts, is there a chance the residue was strong enough that it transferred from my gloves to the spring, and possibly damage it with "hydrogen embrittlement?"
Would the fact that my gloves, recoil guide, and recoil spring were eventually pretty saturated with Break Free have offered some protection from the phosphoric acid in the B&RR residue, or could the oil actually make it worse?
I have ordered a replacement spring for this rifle just to make sure.
I'm not a chemist, so the biggest lesson I can say I learned is not to be sloppy at the workbench.
Does anyone have an insight into this?
Have I ruined a spring or am I just being paranoid?
Several nights ago, I got out the rifle and field stripped it, removing the recoil spring and guide rod.
I disassembled the recoil assembly, of course, since it says on the bottle of rust remover "do not use on coil or flat springs." According to Birchwood Casey, this is because the Blue & Rust Remover will cause "hydrogen embrittlement" that will harm the elasticity of springs and cause early failure.
I always wear latex rubber gloves when I use chemicals, and herein may lie the problem.
After treating the recoil rod with B&RR, I hosed down the part with Gun Scrubber, applied a coating of Break Free, and hosed down the part with Gun Scrubber again just to be sure. I figured if I couldn't see any oil, then the part had been satisfactorily washed of all Blue and Rust Remover, too. After the second degreasing, I then applied the final coating of Break Free.
Although I changed rubber gloves between applying the Blue and Rust Remover and the rest of the oiling/degreasing/re-oiling steps, I neglected notice that some B&RR had gotten onto the handle of a borelight I was using to help me apply B&RR to the inside of the recoil guide.
As I handled the contaminated borelight all through the steps, my rubber gloves undoubtedly picked up a small amount of residue of the B&RR from it. The amount of Blue and Rust Remover that might have been transferred to my gloves was not immediately obvious, and that is why I didn't notice what might be a problem at first.
My gloves did not look "wet" from the residue, and were subsequently saturated with Break Free as I went through the rest of the steps. Further, the recoil spring was already coated with Break Free as the gun had been in storage for several weeks before I decided to do my rust removal.
Now, my question is this: assuming that my rubber gloves had been contaminated by a small amount of Blue and Rust Remover as I reassembled the Break-Free-coated parts, is there a chance the residue was strong enough that it transferred from my gloves to the spring, and possibly damage it with "hydrogen embrittlement?"
Would the fact that my gloves, recoil guide, and recoil spring were eventually pretty saturated with Break Free have offered some protection from the phosphoric acid in the B&RR residue, or could the oil actually make it worse?
I have ordered a replacement spring for this rifle just to make sure.
I'm not a chemist, so the biggest lesson I can say I learned is not to be sloppy at the workbench.
Does anyone have an insight into this?
Have I ruined a spring or am I just being paranoid?
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