Airgun Corrosion

[Tominco]

I saw this article on the Airguns Of Arizona blog, thought it was pretty interesting and wanted to share it with all of you. I really like that they had some actual pictures to share from a rifle that was affected by corrosion. The link should get you there and then either scroll down or go to the recent articles links on the right side.

Keep it dry! 

Happy Shooting,

Tom

 

[zorro13]

When I got into PCPs I knem nothing about them. Now after reading this link I am glad I listened to the rep at AoA and spent the extra money for a filtered air pump.

 

[Phildog59]

Great article pictures do help just shows how important it is to use some kind of an dessicant air filter.thanks for the info Tominco.

 

[Bruce]

This is why I get my tanks filled at a dive shop and never used a hand pump or have my own compressor,

 

[Windmill01]

I saw this article on the Airguns Of Arizona blog, thought it was pretty interesting and water to share it with all of you. I really like that they had some actual pictures to share from a rifle that was affected by corrosion. The link should get you there and then either scroll down or go to the recent articles links on the right side.

Keep it dry! 

Happy Shooting,

Tom

Nice play on words Tom “corrosion and water” or was that a Freudian slip? Btw good article thanks for sharing.

Gary

 

[stinkajames]

Thanks Tom. I have been meaning to start a topic asking for moisture damage pics in PCP airguns. It is interesting to note that the pictures are all of "lower priced" guns. I know I have had different guns respond differently to moisture at least externally. Eg. A fairly new remington 700 barrel that will go rusty on the same day you touch it with your fingers, vs. A 50 year old CZ barrel that you can manhandle all day in the rain and it doesnt have a rust spot on it. Different quality metal it would seem. I would love to see/hear from anyone who has had moisture issues in a high end gun like an older FX royale or maybe an old daystate. 

James.

 

[Tominco]

I saw this article on the Airguns Of Arizona blog, thought it was pretty interesting and water to share it with all of you. I really like that they had some actual pictures to share from a rifle that was affected by corrosion. The link should get you there and then either scroll down or go to the recent articles links on the right side.

Keep it dry! 

Happy Shooting,

Tom

Nice play on words Tom “corrosion and water” or was that a Freudian slip? Btw good article thanks for sharing.

Gary

lol... That was an oops. Going to fix it now. 

 

[Insanity]

Thanks for the share.

 

[Xbowsniper]

Guys, 

Sometimes this is an underrated topic. When I first started with high end PCP airguns, I was getting my air from a paintball shop. All good.........for a while. The shop moved locations, and after that, the problems began. The Steyr LG110 FT was inconsistent and shooting like a shotgun at 30 yards. Still under warranty after only 4 months, the gun was sent to Hector Medina, for factory warranty service. After tearing down the gun, he could not believe the gunk and crap that was everywhere, particularly in the regulator. He advised me to never get air from the paintball shop that has no filtration. Was a question I never asked, shame on me. If a paintball shop has PROPER filters for our needs, this does not apply. I now get my air from a paintball shop that is ALSO a dive shop. I'm getting breathable quality air, and that's what you want.

Also, as far as corrosion is concerned, I had a LW barrel on my Steyr, from the Ennis, NC Nationals, that is known in the FT world as "THE GREAT RUSTING BARREL ". Before I began the first day's competition, the barrel was PRISTINE, shiny, looking good, and ready to do some competitive damage. 5 hours later, the "damage" was evident, the outside of the barrel was solid hunk of RUST. I was dumbfounded by this, as well as amazed. I remember commenting to Harold Rushton that it was the acid rain in pun. He said that his barrel was showing signs of rust, that it never did. Who knows. I was never able to get all the rust off that barrel till this day.......

I'll have to see if I have any pictures....



Tom Holland 

 

[Xbowsniper]

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

Xbow, look s half way to Browning.



John

 

[Xbowsniper]

John,

I can safely say that even chucking the barrel in a lathe, getting that rust off was a mother. Still haven't been able to get it all off. In doing that, I discovered that the barrel was actually bent. It was bent after the spot where the grub screw holds the barrel down on the Steyr. I plan on straightening the entire barrel, and running a scope down it in the future. Might even blue it afterwards, give it a layer of some sort of protection. Despite the rust and damage, it still shoots surprisingly well.

Tom Holland 

 

[MP44]

From an FX Independence 

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[Xbowsniper]

MP44,

I don't feel too bad anymore!!! I guess this happens more often than I thought.......

Tom Holland 

 

[Glem.Chally]

John,

I can safely say that even chucking the barrel in a lathe, getting that rust off was a mother. Still haven't been able to get it all off. In doing that, I discovered that the barrel was actually bent. It was bent after the spot where the grub screw holds the barrel down on the Steyr. I plan on straightening the entire barrel, and running a scope down it in the future. Might even blue it afterwards, give it a layer of some sort of protection. Despite the rust and damage, it still shoots surprisingly well.

Tom Holland

Have you soaked it in vinegar? Works well to neutralize the rust. A paste made from baking soda and lemon juice works great too just slather it on and leave it half an hour or so. Wipe/scrub it off and voila shiny metal. Works amazing, i had a car with a high quality but neglected exhaust with surface rust all over it. The baking soda and lemon juice made it look like new again with minimal elbow grease.

 

[Xbowsniper]

Glem.Chally,

Yes, soaking it completely in baking soda and lemon juice took the bulk of it off, but the deep down damage was done. I got about 98% of it off in that manner, and the rest I removed with a super expensive tube of German polishing compound. Stuff costs $80 for an 8 oz tube. That pretty much got the rest of it, other than one or 2 deep spots that are difficult to even see. This barrel needs just a few more minutes of TLC, and it'll be ready to be blued. I have a borescope coming, so on a future episode of my Field Target Tech Channel, I'll be scoping that barrel, and a bunch of others. Should prove interesting to say the least.

Tom Holland 

 

[Paul6187]

This is just my .02 worth.First, what I see in the photos on the link looks to me to be aluminum which leads me to believe that there is dis similar metals corrosion. Now this is just assumption for me and I am thinking that the seals and o-rings keep them from touching but adding moisture may start the corrosion process by aiding in electrolysis. This is all just guessing on my part. As for the barrels rusting I am wondering on the percentage of nickle or chromium in the steel. I would be wary of such barrels that I would intend to use in my rifle. The water trap on pumps or in line filter.traps to me would be a must have. While I may be a newbie to air gunning I am familiar with shooting in many forms as well as barrel construction. Sadly there are no magic bullets to eliminate corrosion all together because compressing air will always produce condensation in some amount. I would try to find a hydrophobic lube to use in maintenance, a little drop here and there may help out more or less.

Anyway, thank you for including me in this conversation and happy shooting.

 

[oldsparky]

Thanks for sharing the article on corrosion. As I read articles about to lube or not to lube I wonder. I have worked on pneumatic high voltage circuit breakers for years. The mechanisms are the same as our air guns. Materials used are aluminum, brass, stainless steel, derailing with o-rings. Pressures from 150 PSI to 3950 PSI Maintenance is usually a 2-5 year cycle. Some manufactures maint. Procedures have you coat metal parts with a turbine oil and wipe it off leaving a film, one maker specify’s using a fogging spray (the kind used for storing outboard motors) Giving a short spray in the vessel where the charging valve is. Corrosion is a problem, cold temps cause leaks. Too bad we don’t have room in our guns air tanks to have a bag of desiccant. thanks for the link



Jim

 

[Saltlake58]

I currently use a paintball shop as I have no other options. Dive shops in Utah do exist (go figure, here in the desert?) but they are mostly travel agencies catering to the dive community in the state. I am planning on a compressor shortly, and have already purchased a large filter for it. With luck, that'll give me unlimited air, and provide consistent air as well.

I do appreciate the help everyone gives here. Makes airgunning so much more fun than not knowing and really destroying expensive equipment.

 

[Franklink]

This thread got me thinking about my first PCP, a Discovery that I purchased new around 2013. For the first two years of it's life it was ONLY filled with a Benjamin hand pump. That pump quit working and I found corrosion inside the pump that convinced me to open up the Disco tube to check for the same. I found none but decided to apply some silicone on the inner walls of the air tube, guage block, etc at that time. I bought a Hill pump with desiccant after that and went another two years shooting it quite a bit. It has been shot sparingly in the last year and been filled with a bottle in that time. All said, probably 95% of the air that has been ran through it came from a hand pump. Empty tins of it's favorite pellet add up to around 5500 shots, again, over five years.

I do live in Arizona and see pretty low humidity for most of the year, with the exception of about 2 months each summer (our monsoon) where the humidity is high and it rains once or twice a week. The gun was pumped and shot during that high humidity time of the year but I would make a point of pumping indoors. 

So, had some time yesterday and decided to open the Disco back up. Innards were clean as a whistle with this one exception:

There is some minor discoloration right at the rim of the guage block. I included the other most likely to rust parts of the gun in the pic. 

All in all, I expected to find much worse than that. I don't know if it was the silicone coating I applied 2 years in, or if the handpump blows out enough moisture when the line is bled, but I thought I'd share my first-hand experience with a situation that seems like it should have created some corrosion.