Salt wood damage?

Heliman

Heliman

Hawkeye
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Southwest Washington
Elsewhere on this sight, I posted a NIB/unfired #1-S 45-70 for sale. I noted in the ad that there was evidence of surface corrosion that could have been caused by storage issues. Other than the area where the butt stock contacted the receiver, this rifle is pristine.

Well, I was able to remove the butt stock and discovered a lot of horrendous corrosion damage where the wood contacted the receiver. Thanks to HAWKEYE#28, nrobe50, and RSIno1 and their observations, I believe the damage to be caused by "Salt Wood".

My question would be what options do I have regarding this damage? This rifle was shipped in late 1970, 43 plus years ago....

Ideas, suggestions??

Here is a pic of the damage:





Thanks in advance for the guidance! :(
 
I would start by giving a call to Ruger. They have mostly denied saltwood but I have heard of a couple occasions that they did fix the damage.If they cannot be of help unfortunately you have nothing more than a shooter with noticable fixed damage as you are never going to get the pits out. No way to fix the wood. You will have reoccurring problems. So a new stock set and a reblue is in order maybe replacement of of some the small action parts. Me I would buy the cheapest plainest stock set I could find paint it with a good outdoor textured paint or a sprayon bedliner type of material. Have the metal refinished with cerakote fiber optic front sight NECG rear peep on the rib. Perfect rough weather or behind the truck seat thumper.
 
The corrosion can probably be removed by soaking for a day or 2 in plain white vinegar. Best to completely disassemble first. Then wash in hot water/soap/rinse/dry, and then the usual preventive measures. Electrolysis is also an option. So called salt wood in contact with the metal can be sealed with 2 or 3 coats of shellac or other quality wood sealer.
 
Wow! Sorry to see that, Heliman :( If rugerguy doesn't see this post, I'd shoot him a PM. I doubt it's not the 1st one like this he's worked on.
 
Bummer!

I too thought the salt-wood was mostly a Browning thing.
 
That is pretty bad and it's obvious no one has ever had the buttstock off before. It may look a lot worse than it actually is though. My cure is G96, and in this case a brass brush should be employed. After 2 or three applications/brushings, the rust should be gone and you'll be able to see how much pitting has occurred. I apply RIG to the metal, and as stated, lacquer, shellac and/or a good thick coat of paste wax to the wood. This usually stops any further corrosion and damage.
With that amount of rust, you're lucky that the wood did not set stained, which often happens in long-term rusting.

That's a nice rifle and it's a shame. I also have an early 45-70, but with no rust issues (whew!). According to some correspondence I had with Lee Newton about it, he stated that he thought that both the non-prefix and early prefixed 45-70s were produced at the same time.


I personally would not send it back to Ruger. There's not much they can do that you can't, and they may just keep it and give you a newer gun to replace it, or put new wood on it, both of which you don't want, I assume.
 
I had a #1 22-250 liberty with a worse saltwood problem than that I called ruger and talked to them about it they had me mail it to them they reblued and restocked it free of charge that was about 8 years ago I would start with a call to them on the few times I have had to deal with them I cant say enough good about them

GRAMPS
 
Definately call Ruger, I will bet that they cover this. Good luck and let us know what they say.
 
As to repair, I am letting the shop handle sending it back to Ruger. They are going to fix it or offer store credit. They do have a 475 Linebaugh #1 I was eyeing also. Regardless, I will let everyone know the outcome.

Dave
 
Salt wood has been discussed on here and the #1 Site at length. Mostly right around 1976 give or take a few years and most prevalent on well figured wood. This is a classic example. I.m surprised you got the butt stock off with out breaking the pad screws. I dissembled a 25-06 once the insides looked worse and the sling stud was corroded to the point it simply snapped off in the wood as did the grip cap and recoil pad screws.

In the past, Ruger offering to do anything has been hit and miss. As for Salt Wood, Ruger, Weatherby, Browning and just about anybody that used well/highly figured wood in their products in the mid 70s ran into the problem as they all used the same wood source.

Good Look

RWT
 
picketpin said:
Salt wood has been discussed on here and the #1 Site at length. Mostly right around 1976 give or take a few years and most prevalent on well figured wood. This is a classic example. I.m surprised you got the butt stock off with out breaking the pad screws. I dissembled a 25-06 once the insides looked worse and the sling stud was corroded to the point it simply snapped off in the wood as did the grip cap and recoil pad screws.

In the past, Ruger offering to do anything has been hit and miss. As for Salt Wood, Ruger, Weatherby, Browning and just about anybody that used well/highly figured wood in their products in the mid 70s ran into the problem as they all used the same wood source.

Good Look

RWT
Click to expand...

The bottom screw of the butt pad came out normally. The top screw however would not budge. I was able to swing the butt pad far enough out of the way to remove the stock retention bolt.
 
Do not try any home remedies til Ruger weighs in. The Ruger 1S I had was sent back unused to Ruger by a previous owner. They replaced a bunch of parts and the foreend but left the butt stock in place! That was a flakey fix! I replaced the wood set entirely before selling it. ( I am in cut back mode right now. If I don't see a chance of using it, its going down the road. I'm down to two dozen or so.)
 
wunbe said:
Do not try any home remedies til Ruger weighs in. The Ruger 1S I had was sent back unused to Ruger by a previous owner. They replaced a bunch of parts and the foreend but left the butt stock in place! That was a flakey fix! I replaced the wood set entirely before selling it. ( I am in cut back mode right now. If I don't see a chance of using it, its going down the road. I'm down to two dozen or so.)
Click to expand...
I admire your resolve :wink:

I don't think I could get to that point right now. . .


without some serious arm-twisting!



or lots of money :P
 
Dave,

You made the right choice. I picked up a grade 4 Browning 22 auto a few years ago very very cheap with salt wood. The buttstock was not affected just the forearm. Anyway the wood was BEAUTIFUL. I found another parts gun with the correct Belgian bbl. I cleaned the affected forearm and sealed it with several coats of shellaic and 2 coats of polyurethene for good measure. Well you guessed it the salt bleed back through and started to ruin the 2nd bbl in a matter of weeks. Needless to say my bargain was no bargain at all. I put the pitted original bbl back on and sold it as a shooter to a friend. He leaves it apart until he goes to shoot it, then cleans it and stores it apart. The salt is so bad it rusts through the escuntions in the forearm in about 3 months. I think he bought a dozen of them from brownells. In my opinion you would have had nothing but problems with that gun.

BTW. Before I did anything I called Browning. They would do NOTHING for me. They wouldn't repair, replace, or give me a credit towards a new browning. All's I wanted was for them to seal my wood and I would take care of the rest. The only thing that they said to me is they no longer work on saltwood guns and they stopped in the late 70's or early 80's. the person from browning didn't know exactly when. I wasn't expecting much but they gave me less than zero. Just an FYI in case you see a bargain at the gun shop just remember you are on your own with a Browning
 
I think most of the damage people see isnt do to salt wood but to investment casting. I think some of the metal ruger uses has just to many impuritys in it. Ive allways noticed that some ruger handguns will rust sitting in the safe while another one sitting next to it wont. Rugers have both rifles and handguns just seem to be more apt to rust then remington, winchester, smith and wesson, ect.
 
Lloyd Smale,

My Ruger 1S bicentennial's wood tested positive for salt in areas that never contacted metal! So there was no link to investment casting.

Some others who have positted that bluing salts caused the rust also cannot explain how the bluing salts got all the way to the end of the butt with no metal contact.

Besides Ruger has admitted to a salt wood probem --verbally, not in writing -- in talks with customers. The other theories can be dispensed with as a denial syndrome.

wunbe
 
Go to http://www.artsgunshop.com. At the bottom of the first page you can click on an excellent article about saltwood guns. Bottom line is - if it's saltwood, throw the wood in the fire place.
 
tomno.1 said:
Go to http://www.artsgunshop.com. At the bottom of the first page you can click on an excellent article about saltwood guns. Bottom line is - if it's saltwood, throw the wood in the fire place.
Click to expand...

Excellent piece. It seems that a lot of fancy walnut in the late 60's thru the 70's was salt-cured. Good thing I didn't have the money to buy guns then. :wink:
 
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