Odd SR22 Rust

[Planefinder]

Hi everyone. I'm a new gun owner and just purchased an SR22 yesterday as my first firearm. When I got it back from the LGS and took it apart for cleaning, I immediately began to notice some issues. I'm curious if anyone else has seen these and if they can compromise the integrity of the firearm or if they are just superficial.

Issue #1: Stuck Guide Rod and Recoil Spring

At first, I noticed that the guide rod and recoil spring was "stuck" in the notch where it was supposed to rest. Looking at the manual, it's pretty clear that this is supposed to fall free as soon as the slide is removed. Mine, however, took some work to get off and I had to pull fairly hard on the spring and attempt to use pliers as well. The attempted use of pliers may or may not have been the cause of some abrasions on the guide rod that are now visible. The root cause of al of this is issue #2 below.

Issue #2: Wrong Spring Orientation on Guide Rod

After finally getting the spring and guide rod loose, I tried to put my SR22 back together, to validate that the slide was working properly. However, I noticed that the guide rod was not retaining the spring. After some online research, I found that the spring has a specific orientation (narrow end on the base of the guide rod) that was incorrectly installed when I recieved my SR22 (not sure if factory or LGS was responsible. Regardless, that has now lead to issue #3 that I noticed when trying to actually clean everything after reorienting the guide rod spring.

Issue #3: Ridiculous Rust

When I first started cleaning, I found rust throughout the area where the guide rod rests, including a coating on the takedown lever (top and sides) and a LOT in the cavity where the guide rod base rests. After two hours of cleaning (q-tips and isopropyl alcohol), I managed to get this down to some residual rust in the cavity where the guide rod base rests.

After what has been a really long-winded description, these issues leave me with three questions:

1) Will the abrasions on the guide rod pose any risks (they are very shallow, but it's plastic)?

2) Will the rust, incorrect orientation and pulling on the spring pose any risks? It looks to be fine, but I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules about these things.

3) The rust had to come from the guide rod spring (unless perhaps it came from metal shavings?). How do I prevent this from recurring--would this have been the result of lube or some other liquid?

 

[Galaxiedan]

Welcome to the forum!,
Every new gun needs a good cleaning and thorough inspection before its first use. Put some rounds downrange and let it "break" in a little..... than see if its still sticky or rusty.

 

[ArmedinAZ]

You didn't say if this is a new or used SR22. If it's new, why are you messing with it???? A new gun with any rust should be going right back to the LGS for an exchange. Rust is not acceptable.

No offense intended, but you said you're a new gun owner, maybe you should be seeking out someone who could look at it as well as asking about your problems on a forum.

If I'd bought that pistol and got it home and found rust I wouldn't try to clean up or fix a thing. I'd make a call immediately to the LGS and get it back there as soon as possible.

Good luck and hope you get it resolved.

 

[GeorgeP]

It isn't rust, it rust colored lube put there at the factory. Is sort of a shipping lube. It will come out with most CLP type cleaners. If you wipe your mags with a light colored cloth you'll see they have the small coating.

 

[Planefinder]

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense and I didn't even consider it.

After I finally got it cleaned up, I took my SR22 to three range sessions (~800 rounds or so) over the past month and each time it's performed very well. Only issues I've seen were two failure to fires with a golden bullet and Winchester Super-X respectively and a few failures to feed, also with the Super X. As anticipated, it seems to really like CCI, while performing passably with remington golden bullets.

Next step is to improve my own accuracy, something that I have a feeling may take a while.

 

[Pal Val]

Welcome to the forum! Let this small experience teach you that not everything is what it seems at first, and that if you find a defect in a newly purchased gun, it is still in warranty. Send it back and let the company fix it for you.

Enjoy your new gun!