Corrosion under a Mark III front sight?

[bullockdgmanor]

O.K., I'm baffled. I have a brand new Mark III 678 Target, with the blade front sight (and adjustable rear sight). I've used it about 4 times, for a total of aroun 1,000 rounds. I keep it clean and oiled. Great gun - I really like it.

Over the last few weeks, I've noticed brown crusty stuff oozing out of the back of the front sight, right under the blade of the sight itself. I wipe it away, sometimes put some Weapon Shield in the area...then a few days later it comes back.

Is my gun rusting away? What should I do?

Thanks!

Dan

 

[rugerguy]

if it is indeed 'bluing salts' then it has to be neutralized and hot ,boiling water is what we used at the shop.....then oil it down..............you can put the muzzle in a pot of hot water, and swish it around ( no need for the entire gun to go in, and make sure the gun is 'UNLOADED' before you do it...then spray it down with some sort of oil, let it set and keep an eye on it.....usually threaded parts or parts that are put together and blued as a 'unit', can and will leech out if not neutralized after the hot-dip tanks...may have been in a hurry , on a Friday afternoon, or shift change, or.................. :roll:

 

[bullockdgmanor]

Thanks for the quick reply -- I'll give it a try, and report how well it works!

Dan

 

[bullockdgmanor]

Last night I did as Dan (RugerGuy) suggested; I stirred a pot of boiling water with my Mark III muzzle for a few minutes, then field stripped the gun (I wanted to clean out all the condensation before I caused rust elsewhere). I oiled the front sight area thoroughly with Weapon Shield, and reassembled the gun. I'll check over the next several days to see whether my corrosion returns, and let y'all know.

Dan

 

[bullockdgmanor]

It worked! It's been a week, and no recurrence of the corrosion from under my front sight (used to show up every 3-4 days). Thanks, Dan (RugerGuy)!

Dan

 

[berettapistols]

Dan who would have thought..
You are the Man..
Experience, They don't sell that @ Wal-Mart..

 

[bullockdgmanor]

Yep, and FWIW, Dan's fix is still working -- no sign of the corrosion returning, after 4 weeks!

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, and FWIW, Dan's fix is still working -- no sign of the corrosion returning, after 4 weeks!

Yep, works for a good long while but in time it will happen again... so are the rules of nature as metal is always trying to return to mother earth. Keep in mind, too much oil acts as a vehicle for electron flow and can actually enhance the rust .... Just a thought here

 

[rugerguy]

ashes to ashes ...........yikes, we are here for so short a time.........

anyway, once its been neutralized, and hopefully the metal being now ,kept lightly oiled, it will not be an issue......it's usually only after the
"parts" have been "blued", or any parts that are not blue separately, but as a "unit" and there may be gaps ( openings) for the salts to set, that it needs attention................some oils work better than others, I'm not sure as to your "Weapons Shield" for that type of thing I use 'stupid' things like 4 in 1, or WD-40, or any of the "rust buster"(Blaster) things, nothing special, just what we have laying around the shop..........
I was wondering if the base of the sight body was 'blued' or "in the white"????? theres "creeping" type oils , like 'Kroil' too.........
I think you'll be ok, just do your 'normal' maintainance............
By the way, I do recalll one time seeing a front sight that the curve of the bottom of the sight did NOT come close to matching the curve of the barrel, BIG gap.....used a filler material to make it look better, after it dried, just cleaned off the excess..................

 

[bullockdgmanor]

Thanks for the additional input.

Dan in response to your question, everything that I can see on and around the sight is blued - no bare metal showing - but I suppose there could be some exposed metal inside, on the faying surfaces...

Thanks!

Dan

 

[Yosemite Sam]

I've had several Rugers and few other guns with the "not properly stopped bluing" problem. In fact most of my blued Rugers had a nice little orange fuzz on them when new. It can be particularly tough to get out of nooks and crannies, like between the ERH and barrel on a revolver.

Just noticed the same problem on my CZ452 target rifle the other night... Another reason to like stainless.

-- Sam