Originally Posted by dosborn

Five days ago I was able to get to the range and spend about an hour with my (new to me) Springfield 1911. Yesterday I decided to clean and lube. When I took it out of the case I noticed tiny "speckles" of rust on the trigger guard and on the front area of the grip. I was able to remove any evidence with oil and a cloth but this has me concerned. It has the factory Parkerized finish and the gun is only 7 years old.

Also, I had lubed and cleaned before I took it to the range so it noly took a week to get like that. When I do my cleaning I always wipe everything down with oil too.

What can I do?? The factory finish appears crappy anyway. Have thought about Cera but I don't know.

HELP!!

Todd or whoever, if this needs to be in the 1911 section please move it. Since it is finish related I put it here.

Thanks

5 days after firing without cleaning, unless wiped down and in a preferred environment will cause rust. l would have thought that the parkerizing would have held up better, but it's not unheard of. There are several things you can try. One is cleaning the gun after you fire it and make sure it's wiped down prior to sitting, this is the preferred method. Once done you need to keep it in a non-humid area. Two is treating the gun with with Renaissance wax which should do the trick. I've treated several rust prone firearms with Flitz and Brasso to help prevent corrosion. Before going forward with any of those, you should make sure that the Parkerizing will not be damaged, I can't see any of them harming the Parkerizing as they work wonderfully on blued/stainless guns, but hey it's always best to be sure.

Regarding getting the gun re-finished, that's up to you. I'm a big fan of more "resiliant" finishes on guns as my sweat is severyl corrisive (everyones body chemistry is different ya' know) and I have to be very, very careful with my carry guns that don't have a more resiliant finish.

I'd take a look at Melonite, Ionbond DLC, Robar Roguard or NP3, Wilson Armor Tuff, hard chrome, etc. those cost more. If you want to give Durakote/Cerahide etc a try, more power to you, but again check, double check, and tripple check on how those add ons will adhere to the parkerizing before going forward with refinishing.

I would try using the checmical polishes /preventitives first, see if that helps, atleast in the meantime it should prevent corrosion while researching your options.

Thanks VAMarine.

All of my other handguns are SS so this is a new experience. The Parkerized finish looks very thin too. IIRC, the companys (CCR for example) that refinish, remove any existing finish before they apply the Cera finish so adhesion shoulnt be an issue. I will leave it like it is for now and just keep an eye on it. I may tinker with it and trade up for stainless someday.

Originally Posted by dosborn

Thanks VAMarine.

All of my other handguns are SS so this is a new experience. The Parkerized finish looks very thin too. IIRC, the companys (CCR for example) that refinish, remove any existing finish before they apply the Cera finish so adhesion shoulnt be an issue. I will leave it like it is for now and just keep an eye on it. I may tinker with it and trade up for stainless someday.

Yeah, if you send it out they strip it, I didn't know if you were wanting to send it out or if you were going to try and go the do it yourself route with "X"

Refinishing is something I have not wanted to try myself, yet...

I have been around coatings since I was about 15 (2 years of VoTech auto body, 1 year in an actual body shop and going on 9th year at a custom cabinet shop but don't actually work in that dept. -GM) so I feel somewhat confident. I need to do alot more research though, we are talking apples and oranges when it comes to auto finishes and "industrial grade tool" finishes. My big concerns are undercoatings/rust preventers?, duability and even-ness (invented a word?).

Half the reason I wanted a 1911 is to make it my own and customize, but in the back of my mind there is a voice (Mr. Obvious) "Always hire a professional". I know I can fit the parts I want but I know that it will end up in my smiths hands for inspection and fine fitting. Why do I do this to myself

I am just going to keep shooting the piss out of it till I figure it out.

To add to that...

CCR has the slide and a few other parts to my Sig P250. When, wheeeen, I get it back, that may help my decision on the finish.

A firearm should be stipped and cleaned thoroughly as soon as possible after being fired. I wait a few hours at most when I fire one of mine. That is the only real rust prevention that works.

You might try using one of the "dry" lube and preservation products. I use EEZOX. I coat the entire firearm with it, let it dry, polish it and it seems to effectively lube the action of a semi-automatic pistol and preserve all the parts thus coated, from rust.

Originally Posted by dosborn

Refinishing is something I have not wanted to try myself, yet...

I have been around coatings since I was about 15 (2 years of VoTech auto body, 1 year in an actual body shop and going on 9th year at a custom cabinet shop but don't actually work in that dept. -GM) so I feel somewhat confident. I need to do alot more research though, we are talking apples and oranges when it comes to auto finishes and "industrial grade tool" finishes. My big concerns are undercoatings/rust preventers?, duability and even-ness (invented a word?).

Half the reason I wanted a 1911 is to make it my own and customize, but in the back of my mind there is a voice (Mr. Obvious) "Always hire a professional". I know I can fit the parts I want but I know that it will end up in my smiths hands for inspection and fine fitting. Why do I do this to myself

I am just going to keep shooting the piss out of it till I figure it out.

Uniformity might work.

Clean and oil soon after shooting and you should not encounter rust.

Thanks guys!

I am so used to stainless that I never gave it a second thought to clean/lube right after shooting (except for my CC). I usually shoot on the weekends and clean during weeknights, maybe one or two a night. Guess the spoiling is over.