ShamboPyro
Member
Do fingerprints lead to rust on a blued gun? I always wipe down my guns with a microfiber cloth, just because I'm somewhat of a nutcase when it comes to fingerprints and streak marks on my guns; however I was just wondering.
Fingerprints
- Thread starter ShamboPyro
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45_auto
Member
Yes, and also on a stainless gun.
Deus Machina
Member
They can remove oil on an oiled gun, and leave salty moisture in the form of sweat on a bare one. And that's not taking into account the PH balance of various people.
So, essentially, yes. Wipe the fingerprints off and re-oil.
So, essentially, yes. Wipe the fingerprints off and re-oil.
ApacheCoTodd
member
Having had firearms glommed both in the shop and at shows, sometimes hundreds of times each day, I'd say:
Do fingerprints lead to rust? Not necessarily.
Can they lead to rust? Absolutely!
Especially dependent upon the person leaving them, what they've recently been in contact with and the like. I've found my own prints on guns that I know I haven't touched in months with only a wipe to remove them but then I had one particularly toxic fella leave some kinda EPA grade prints on a 1911 that I literally couldn't get off fast enough that there wasn't a bit of residual damage - I'm talkin' a minute and a half - maybe.
Do fingerprints lead to rust? Not necessarily.
Can they lead to rust? Absolutely!
Especially dependent upon the person leaving them, what they've recently been in contact with and the like. I've found my own prints on guns that I know I haven't touched in months with only a wipe to remove them but then I had one particularly toxic fella leave some kinda EPA grade prints on a 1911 that I literally couldn't get off fast enough that there wasn't a bit of residual damage - I'm talkin' a minute and a half - maybe.
bergmen
Member.
The only rust on any of my guns over the past 50 years or so have been due to finger prints on blued surfaces that I didn't wipe off with an oily rag when I got home.
Once I started doing that (wiping off with oily rag), all of my guns look like new.
I also insist that whenever I buy a blued gun that the handler wipe it down before putting it in the safe for ten days. This can ruffle some feathers as it did when I bought my Ruger Bisley. This guy looked at me and got in a huff that I would even suggest that he didn't do that as a matter of procedure.
Guess what? When I picked it up it was dry as a bone, just got lucky on the fingerprint/rust issue.
Dan
Once I started doing that (wiping off with oily rag), all of my guns look like new.
I also insist that whenever I buy a blued gun that the handler wipe it down before putting it in the safe for ten days. This can ruffle some feathers as it did when I bought my Ruger Bisley. This guy looked at me and got in a huff that I would even suggest that he didn't do that as a matter of procedure.
Guess what? When I picked it up it was dry as a bone, just got lucky on the fingerprint/rust issue.
Dan
YES.
My grandpa pulled a WWII luger out of a box it'd been in for a few years to show me one night, and there was a visible HAND print rusted in to the thing. You could even make out the swirls of the fingerprints. Ruined the finish on the gun.
I put away a BRAND NEW smith & wesson M&P handgun ("STAINLESS" marked) after taking it to ONE pin shoot the summer of '09. Didn't care for the trigger pull at all.
A year later I pull it out to sell it in '10.. lo and behold. RUST spots all over the damn slide.
I kicked myself in the rear for not oiling it.
Now it's a matter of COURSE. I get a gun home from shooting, or put one away after showing a visiting friend, it gets wiped down with oil.
EVERY TIME.
My grandpa pulled a WWII luger out of a box it'd been in for a few years to show me one night, and there was a visible HAND print rusted in to the thing. You could even make out the swirls of the fingerprints. Ruined the finish on the gun.
I put away a BRAND NEW smith & wesson M&P handgun ("STAINLESS" marked) after taking it to ONE pin shoot the summer of '09. Didn't care for the trigger pull at all.
A year later I pull it out to sell it in '10.. lo and behold. RUST spots all over the damn slide.
I kicked myself in the rear for not oiling it.
Now it's a matter of COURSE. I get a gun home from shooting, or put one away after showing a visiting friend, it gets wiped down with oil.
EVERY TIME.
JTHunter
Member
Either wipe the gun down or wear thin cotton gloves to keep perspiration off the gun.
Look at the way antiques, firearms or otherwise, are handled by museums and dealers.
Look at the way antiques, firearms or otherwise, are handled by museums and dealers.
230RN
2A was "political" when it was first adopted.
I got a bunch of those red mechanic's shop rags and I keep one with every gun, in its case. No gun gets put away without a wipedown, holding it by the stocks. The color distinguishes them from any other rags I use in the house. I washed them when I got them to make sure there was no residual salt or abrasive dust on them beforehand, and wash them frequently as well. Hint: don't wash red shop rags with your whitey-tighties.
Similar to Trent's story, I saw a Polish Radom with a forensically perfect fingerprint on its slide.
Similar to Trent's story, I saw a Polish Radom with a forensically perfect fingerprint on its slide.
Owen Sparks
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As I understand it, some peoples fingerprints and sweat are a lot more corossive than others. It may have something to do with the amount of salt in your diet or your body chemistry. Both me and my Dad are unusual in that our palms don't sweat Some peoples hands feel downright greasey in comparison. I don't leave fingerprints on gun metal the way some people do.
Sav .250
Member
It looks like we all agree..... wipe your weapons down. 
BADUNAME37
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I can handle my guns, shoot them and not wipe them down and there is no rust on the bluing anywhere. I believe if you keep them in a really dry environment, the chances of fingerprints leading to rust may be less.
There's a couple of companies that make "collectors oil", meant for long term storage of firearms. I've had real good luck with that stuff. It stays "wet" for quite a long time, even in open air. Doesn't evaporate like CLP or other cleaning solvents do.
Break Free makes some, I think Remoil has some..
Anyway that stuff is worth it, if you're putting stuff up for an "undetermined amount of time". Says it's good for up to 10 years, but I tend to take everything out and inventory /re-oil once a year anyway.
Break Free makes some, I think Remoil has some..
Anyway that stuff is worth it, if you're putting stuff up for an "undetermined amount of time". Says it's good for up to 10 years, but I tend to take everything out and inventory /re-oil once a year anyway.
Ramone
Member
*my* sweat sure will- it seems males in my family sweat corrosive.
I actually don't own any blued guns for just that reason.
I actually don't own any blued guns for just that reason.
ShamboPyro
Member
Thanks for the info, looks like my obsession with clean guns is for the best.
Furncliff
Member
I guess this would be a non issue with the female shooters, since they don't sweat.
They mist...right?
They mist...right?
Owen Sparks
member
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If you watch many shows about guns on The History Channel you will see the museum pieces being handled with thin white cotton gloves.
Here's Breakfree's offering:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/82...-gun-storage-preservative-gun-oil-4-oz-liquid
http://www.break-free.com/?location=/products/index.asp
It's excellent for storage and rust protection.
natman - that's EXACTLY what I use.
I have a Yugo M76 hung on my wall in the basement - an environment which is prone to causing spots of rust on any unprotected metal.
It was down there one month and showed some spots on the front sight tower.
So I wiped every surface, inside and out, down with that stuff.
It's been down there a year and a half now, no spots of rust anywhere.
It works!!!
I have a Yugo M76 hung on my wall in the basement - an environment which is prone to causing spots of rust on any unprotected metal.
It was down there one month and showed some spots on the front sight tower.
So I wiped every surface, inside and out, down with that stuff.
It's been down there a year and a half now, no spots of rust anywhere.
It works!!!
dagger dog
Member
Dressing small game getting bodyfluids and blood on your hands, then handling and not wiping your firearm is the quickest way to rust them !
I absolutely wear the bluing off the backstraps of my pistols. So I'm careful to wipe them down once in a while
Fingerprints can and do cause rust. We had a gentleman bring is a nice s&w 45 semi that was pitted pretty bad everywhere his hand contacted the piece. The strange thing is it is stainless!!
He was adamant that he cleaned his weapon everytime he used it. Well during the conversation he mentioned he had just finished a round of Chemo. Well I have heard that Chemo can change the chemistry of the body. In this case his sweat had become corrosive enough to cause some surface pitting on a stainless gun. Well we bead-blasted it for him and it is as good as new. He will also be a bit more diligent in keeping it well oiled even a stainless gun.
He was adamant that he cleaned his weapon everytime he used it. Well during the conversation he mentioned he had just finished a round of Chemo. Well I have heard that Chemo can change the chemistry of the body. In this case his sweat had become corrosive enough to cause some surface pitting on a stainless gun. Well we bead-blasted it for him and it is as good as new. He will also be a bit more diligent in keeping it well oiled even a stainless gun.Millwright
Member
Always ! That's why collectors/museums buy cotton gloves by the gross ! IAC, if you "barehand" a gun a wipe down with a lightly oiled cloth is de rigur IMO ! >MW
SilentStalker
Member
Everytime I get done handling mine I wipe them down with a wax treated cloth that Hoppe's sales I think. Its a yellow treated rag and works wonders.
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