Check out my rusty LCP.

[CPshooter]

So I made a thread awhile back about my LCP having rust on the barrel. I never called Ruger at that point. I simply ignored it and just kept it oiled well to prevent it from getting any worse.

It mostly stays in a little storage slot in the dashboard of my 2005 Chevy Equinox. It's basically a little inconspicuous pocket with a rubber mat. It's not enclosed or anything. I take it out every now and then for whatever reason and never noticed the rust getting any worse. Recently, I took it out and noticed there were tons of surface rust spots all over the slide! At this point I'm thinking ***?! I live in NW Indiana. It's been a dry winter up until recently, so I don't know how this happened. For rust to have showed up as soon as it did, it could only mean one thing: crappy steel. I have H&Ks, used to have Glocks, XDs, etc. Never experienced this with any of these other brands.

My particular LCP was one of the 370- prefix serial number guns that was recalled for the "safety upgrades." I'm thinking maybe their QC wasn't up to par when they first started manufacturing these pistols.

So I gave Ruger a call. They were very polite and enthusiastic, which was great, but someone was supposed to call me back and never did. I'm going to call them tomorrow to see what happened.

Anyhow, here are some pics so you can see just how bad it is:



A pic taken with the flash reveals just how bad the rust is:

 

[m2steven]

That's some serious rust. Wonder if you got the gun near some caustic mist or something. It's odd to say the least.

 

[Delaware_Dan]

Do you have or leave any kind of drinks in the car regularly?

 

[RedAlert]

Do they use salt on the roads there? I so I would imagine that makes the air rather salty and that being trapped in the dash pocket it suffered more than regular exposure to the rusting process.

 

[REAPER4206969]

If you neglect your pistol by leaving it in your car, what do you think is going to happen?

 

[NJG33]

The rust almost looks like its in a spatter pattern, especially since it covers the finished and unfinished metal. It also seems to only be on the top and right side of the slide whereas the left side of the slide (was it laying on that side by chance) seems fine.

 

[Ben86]

The rust on the barrel is an easy fix. Some very fine sand paper and some oil treatment and it should be alright. The slide may have to be refinished.

This is one reason why I don't do the "car gun" thing.

 

[AKElroy]

Had the same thing happen to a Beretta Tomcat. Kept it in the center console of my truck. One weekend at the coast, and the salt air & condensation rusted it over in two days. Either the road salt, or judicious application of salt for your fries from Micky D's did you in.

 

[CamaroLovr]

I have a buddy that has one that did the same thing. He used his as a car/pocket pistol. I understand your frustration. yes it was neglected but its a pistol meant to be carried in your POCKET. Its kinda a moist place in there too! Looks like Ruger would have taken that in mind when they coated these.

 

[Katana8869]

If you neglect your pistol by leaving it in your car, what do you think is going to happen?

Exactly... :banghead:

 

[CPshooter]

No drinks in the car except while I happen to be drinking something. Then I'll throw the container/bottle away.

Yes, they do salt the roads in the winter. While this is a reasonable suspect, I don't think the salted roads would cause this.

NJG- Good observation, but there is actually equal rust on both sides. The second pic was taken with the flash on the camera turned on. This dramatizes the rust significantly. You can't really see any rust in that first pic.

It does appear to be in a spatter pattern, but I guarantee nothing sprayed, splashed, or spattered on this pistol. I wipe it down with an oiled cleaning patch rather often. It's not like I put my fingers all over it, put it away, and forget about it. Rust tends to "spread" once it starts. It's like cancer to steel. The barrel became like that very soon after I got the pistol, before I even had it in my car. It was also in a speckled/spatter pattern. The slide rust just happened though. That's why I decided to contact Ruger and make a thread about it.

The rust really isn't quite as bad as it looks in the second picture. Since I noticed it, I wiped it down in heavy oil. When it's still wet from the oil, you can't even see the rust at all, except the barrel hood looks sort of dark and not really shiny.

I don't know...I think if my H&K pistols, or my brother's Glock 26, or any other "higher end" pistol were in the same position, there wouldn't be a spot of rust. The barrel rusting so quickly, even though it was oiled compulsively at that time because I constantly pocket carried it (rather humid environment in the pocket), was an indicator that the metal is of crappy quality.

I could see it being neglect if let's say I were to just buy a pistol, handle it until it became dry, and put it in an enclosed area like a glove box or center console for prolonged periods of time, but that's not the case. I take care of my firearms like most of you would. Leaving a pistol in a ventilated place for no longer than a few days at a time, right after wiping it down with oil shouldn't be a problem.

Hell, the barrel hood on my Sig P229 has an uncoated surface. I don't believe it's stainless (could be wrong though), and I don't see it rusting any time soon. The LCP's barrel hood started getting darker and darker with little rust pits every day that went by. The Sig's barrel hood is as shiny as it was the first day I got it. I had a Colt Commander 1911 and a Kimber UCII that had raw-finished steel barrels. Never a spot of rust on those either.

I'll let you guys know what Ruger does about it, if anything at all. We'll see. It was my first and only Ruger, too. Depending on how they treat the situation, it might just be my last. I hope not.

 

[okespe04]

Mine got a little rust on the barrel from putting it on the toilet when I shower every day for the last couple years. It came off with a little oil and steel wool. After I shower the gun is pretty much covered with condensation, it goes right back in my pocket as is. Basically my point being my lcp gets wet every day and I have never seen rust like that.

 

[hiram2005]

If it was mine, I would use some Breakfree and OOOO steel wool, clean it up and be good to go.

 

[harmon rabb]

if you want to leave a gun in your car, choose something virtually rustproof like a glock

 

[bannockburn]

I think your vehicle in the winter pretty much seals in all kinds of moisture, especially once the heat/defrost mode starts melting all the snow, salt, and ice that gets in. If it were my gun, I would use some Flitz on it now to remove the rust. Then if you still want to keep it in your car, maybe see about getting all the metal parts hard chrome plated.

 

[gglass]

I'm not sure what environmental variables that your LCP has been through, but my 370- LCP looks NIB after daily carry under my left armpit for nearly 2 years. It also follows me into the bathroom every day, as this is where I dress after taking my morning shower... My showers get very steamy.

I am always amazed at how well this little pistol has held up given the harsh conditions that I expose it to every day.

My guess is that your pistol was exposed to something a little more caustic than a ride in the car.

Mine still looks the same as the day I bought it:

My daily carry rig:

 

[sideways]

It's called condensate you know the hot cold thing.

 

[Nasty]

Rust is *not a sign of poor steel...any carbon steel can and will rust or form a patina. Neither is desirable on a firearm.

Simple neglect.

And I don't even like Rugers...

 

[CoRoMo]

Yep, a car is a miniature green house. When the sun raises the temperature inside the car, all the moisture in your seats, carpet, etc. is drawn into the air. Then you have a bit of a steam room happening. That cold metal on your LCP will then see condensation.

A dedicated truck/car gun would do well to be made of stainless steel. I like the SP101 for that roll myself.

 

[Bovice]

It's not a sign of poor steel, it's a sign of poor treatment OF the steel. You can heat a metal up and bombard it with gas molecules (such as nitrogen) and the lattice structure of the metal will open up slightly, and the gas molecules will fill all these little interstitial gaps in the lattice. The result is that these now trapped gas molecules prevent rust by not allowing iron oxide to form. Think of it as a girl's fat friend who's always playing "goalie" and not letting you score.

 

[General Tso]

Think of it as a girl's fat friend who's always playing "goalie" and not letting you score.

Love it!!!!

 

[RSVP2RIP]

When you turn the heat on in the car, it allows more moisture into the air. When the car cools down that air becomes saturated with moisture (more than it can hold) and it has to condense. Since the steel of the gun may have a lower thermal conductivity than the rest of the surrounding environment, it may still be colder than the rest of whatever you are storing it in. That makes it a condensation point. The reason it is in a splatter pattern is because it is gathering "dew". Cars aren't air tight, in fact even when you have the heat, A/C, fan off, the fan is still running to keep a positive pressure situation in the car so you don't asphyxiate on exhaust fumes. You can't keep a chunk of steel in your car without expecting it to rust unless it is coated with a heavy rust preventative. WD-40 won't cut it. You would have to take it out daily. If you want a "truck gun" then it must be made of stainless at the very least, or you must be willing to put up with rust and/or a possible failure as the springs/innards will rust also.

 

[CPshooter]

gglass - I wish mine still looked like that! Yours looks brand new.

I see where you guys are coming from with the car thing, but it's not the first time I've kept a gun in my car for a few days. I've been doing it for years, through the same old winter weather, over and over again. Never had a gun rust on me. I don't feel that a car is an "extreme" environment by any means. The barrel rusted before I even started bringing it in the car with me...a good year before the slide rust showed up.

I know any carbon steel will rust with enough salt/moisture exposure (even seen pics of Glocks online), but I also know that different grades of steel will be more/less prone to it.

Anyway, here are some pics I just took of it. When I wiped it down with an oiled cleaning patch most of the rust rubbed off and turned the patch orange. It's not so bad when it's oiled up, but the second it dries up it's very prone to rusting. I wasn't kidding when I said that the flash dramatized the rust.

 

[RSVP2RIP]

Then you need to change the type of oil you are using if it is drying up.

 

[okespe04]

My lcp looks rough, the blue is wearing off in spots, I have had some rust on the barrel, it a well seasoned lcp due to everyday pocket carry in very dirty often sandy conditions. Some times the action will get so full of dirt and sand it makes me cringe to rack the slide. On many occasions I have pulled my grit and sand fill lcp and unloaded a few mags flawlessly. It is a rough looking rugged little gun that I have very high confidence in. I don't care what it looks like.

I keep it clean with my own version of "Ed's Red" dunk it in a mix of kerosene, mobile 1 and atf fluid blow it out with air and a little hoppes 9 to finish.