Rust, and hard chromed pistols.

[Curare]

I have never experienced rust on my firearms, though I fear carrying my P7M8 because I sweat so much. I know that hard chroming will not absolutely prevent rust, however I am considering chroming my P7M8 to reduce that likelihood (along with adding immense surface hardness and wear resistance that spray on finishes do not offer). Anyone here experience rust on their frequently carried hard chrome pistol?

 

[dfariswheel]

It seems that most rust on hard chrome guns occurs when the plating job is substandard (simply a defective, poor quality job) or when the coating is compromised by scratches.

I've carried hard chrome guns against really sweaty skin in "square weather" (95 plus degrees and 95% humidity.
I never had one rust, but I always made sure the people doing the plating were top suppliers and I was careful enough with the guns not to get scratches that actually broke through the plating.
Since hard chrome IS hard, you have to really ding it to compromise the coating.

Hard chrome is still the best all-around gun finish with the best combination of hardness, durability, rust resistance, resistance to adhesion of fouling, cost, and thinness of the coating.

 

[mainmech48]

My experience with hard chrome is in line with dfaris'. I have both factory EAA 'Wonderfinish' and Armoloy refinished CCW weapons. I have not had any problems with corrosion on the treated surfaces of either. The Armoloy-treated pieces are both more than tweny-five years post refinishing and show basically no finish or handling wear.

That said, if I were to send another CCW for refinishing today it'd go to Robar for their 'NP3' nickel composite treatment. It's comparably priced and offers significant advantages to hard chrome in both corrosion protection and functional enhancement.

 

[Kenneth Lew]

I have never experienced rust on my firearms, though I fear carrying my P7M8 because I sweat so much. I know that hard chroming will not absolutely prevent rust, however I am considering chroming my P7M8 to reduce that likelihood (along with adding immense surface hardness and wear resistance that spray on finishes do not offer). Anyone here experience rust on their frequently carried hard chrome pistol?

I stopped carrying my P7 pistols because of corrosion problems. I have one P7M8 pistol that has rust developing underneath the hard chrome job. It is not the end all finishes, but will help delay the rusting process if your firearm is 100% free of any tiny pitts.

 

[mete]

If rust developed under the chrome it was a defective plating job !

 

[foob]

If you wear a shirt underneath, or your holster prevents the pistol from touching skin, I can't imagine it rusting. Especially if you wipe down every night. Don't think you will touch your pistol during normal CCW too.

Kenneth which part of your p7 had rust?

 

[Kenneth Lew]

First 1" on the left side of the slide. The gun sits in a Galco Royal Guard IWB holster. I did not touch the gun much during day.

Another person here by the name Incursion had the some problems of rust developing beneath his grips on his hard chromed P7M8. A search here or on www.parkcitiestactical.com will probably bring up the thread.

Both his P7 and mine were sent to 2 different highly regarded platters. I've seen other hard chromed pistols that also probably develop such a problem because the properties of hard chrome.

 

[mete]

Cleanliness is essential for a good plating job . Not soap and water clean but chemically clean !! Proper hard chrome consists of first 'reverse plating' which removes all surface contaminents and oxide and provides a chemically clean surface. This results in the typical matt finish since the metal is etched by the reverse plating.

 

[Curare]

I carry IWB with no undershirt--and I sweat. I have no interest in rusting a P7M8, with or without chrome. I'll stick to Glocks and Smith wheelguns.

 

[Shipwreck]

I don't have an issue, but I am somewhat careful, despite the hardchromed slides...

Best rust proof protection would be NP3.

 

[AK103K]

I had a blued Commander hard chromed over 10 years ago and it held up pretty well to daily carry. I also switched to a kydex holster shortly after having the gun chromed too, which helped a lot. The pistol was pretty much dry from then on, except where the grip wasnt covered by the sweat shield.

As far as the Galco's Royal Guard goes, I was using one when the blue gave out. The Royal Guard is a rough out leather that sucks up sweat like a sponge and holds it. My gun was wet all the time in the summer and the holster could never dry out. I'm surprised the Colt blue lasted as long as it did. If you sweat, even wearing a tee shirt, (which just gets soaked and holds the sweat even more) a leather IWB is about useless. Kydex really shines here. They also outlast leather at least 10 to 1. I used the same Blade Tech holster for about 10 years. I was going through at least one good leather holster a year, and sometimes more.

My smith told me when I got the gun back after the chrome job, that if it was ever degreased, like with Gunscrubber, it need to be reoiled. He was saying it could rust otherwise, as the pores in the finish would be open. Sounded strange to me, but I did have some minor rust under the grips and around the thumb safety over the years. Nothing like the rust it had when blued, more of a rusty surface discoloring. Hard Chrome will also show holster wear over time. It starts out as a scuff, that turns into a mirror polished streak where it contacts the holster.

This is my Commander after ten years of hard, daily carry in all weather. The black streaks are actually polished chrome and shine like a mirror.

 

[incursion]

It is true that my hard chromed P7M8 rusted. However, if you use Eezox, you should be able to avoid it.

 

[roo_ster]

A quality holster made of horsehide or cowhide treated with a water sealant from the manufacturer will not suck up moisture...and will last for years of hard use. I've carried my 1911 for upwards of 36 hours at a stretch in my HBE COM I (IWB) holster, Texas summer & all.

I have never been impressed with Galco's holsters, BTW. Most are marginal performers relative to a quality custom holster. I do like some of their mag holders, though.

 

[AK103K]

A quality holster made of horsehide or cowhide treated with a water sealant from the manufacturer will not suck up moisture...and will last for years of hard use.

I dont know what you do for a living or how bad you sweat, but I never had good luck with leather, especially in the summertime. SE PA gets steamy hot, with temps hanging around the upper 90's and high humidly. If you work outside, any exertion will usually have you soaked pretty quick. A lot of days I'm soaking wet from sweat by 9:30, and stay that way the rest of the day.

Over the years, I tried leather holsters from a lot of the major makers, smooth out or rough out, with little difference in the results. Once summer arrived, they were constantly wet. I usually tried to rotate through a couple of holsters. This was only marginally effective as they still dont dry out over night once they soak through.

After switching to kydex, there is no way I'd go back to leather for a daily, hard use holster. Most of the better leather holsters cost almost twice that of kydex, and wont last long if you use them hard daily. If you only wear your pistol occasionally, and/or move from a climate controlled car to the climate controlled office, your results will probably be a little different, but even then, the kydex will still last forever, never loose shape, and can easily be adjusted for tension at any given time.


This was the last new leather holster I used with my Commander, a Royal Guard, after about a months use (and about 8 years of storage in a box) in the middle of the summer. The duct tape was there to try and slow the sweat, which didnt work to well.

This is the Blade Tech kydex IWB (on the right) that replaced it and was used daily, year round, for about 10 years.(the holster on the left is a new one I had recently bought for a Government model for comparison) In all that time, I replaced a couple of straps and a small piece of the sweat shield broke off. The holster still worked then like it did the day it was new. Once I went to kydex, the only part of the gun to get wet was the grip panel, and some of the safety area on my body side.