TargetTalk

I know that blued steel parts require a wipe over with an oily cloth to prevent rust.

However, the external parts of modern match rifles are usually made of aluminium ( sorry, I should have said "aluminum" as this is a US site ).

I'm aware that aluminum is very rust resistant. However could anyone assure me that a wipe over with a clean dry cloth after use is sufficient to protect external surfaces from the acids in human sweat?

Would a little bit of gun oil on the cloth, or the use of a silicone impregnated cloth be wiser?

Hi Ken

Most if not all of the aluminium stocks used to day on the latest match air rifles will have an anodised finnish. This is to make them impervious to air born and contact transmitted corrosion.

There is no need to use an oily cloth on this kind of surface. I suggest you just use a silicone cleaning cloth to wipe away any finger marks etc.
and store the rifle in a gun case with silica gel satchets to keep moisture at bay.

Peepsight

Ken,
What peepsight said is true but you should also know th Alu can rust but, once it has been covered in rust (it is so thin that you can not see the rust with the naked eye) it can not rust any more because it's been sealed by the rust. But it would help it wipe it down now and then.

<>Brian<>

I personally wouldn't use gun oil on an air rifle. One major reason for me is that I have heard that getting any flammable material insdie the chamber can easily cause combustion (If anyone knows how a Diesel engine works, you'll understand). I don't know if gun oil is flammable enough for this to happen, but I'm not taking any chances of an explosion inside my air rifle. The .22's of course are built to contain small explosions, so the oil is okay for them and most other firearms. I have also started using Nitrogen in my air rifle rather than just air. Only difference I know that it makes is Nitrogen cannot hold as much water as air. Nobody wants rust inside their barrel.

Many thanks for your replies.

Ken

WaltherWill wrote:
I don't know if gun oil is flammable enough for this to happen

It certainly is if it is atomized (atomised for our British friends).

shooting FT over here you only not have to give your gun a thorough dry and wipe down after a wet shoot to find out what rusts and what doesnt...you probably wont want to find out.

i've got, amongst other things, an ally walther...the stock being ally which oxidises instantly in air is fine...ally doesnt "rust" per se, it oxidises and forms a dully ally oxide layer on any raw parts, but most are anodised...polishing it removes the oxidation, but it will go dull because aluminium is extremely reactive and it oxidises again quickly, but no harm done...what you dont want to get near ally is salt water or salt, because this will corrode ally like rust does. Its the oxidation of aluminium that makes it more durable, as its quite a durable compound, unlike rust which isnt.

that said, you'll find that areas like threads or heads on allen bolts might attract actual rust as water can collect on these and form where the surface protection gets worn by use...there's also scope cap threads and parts in the trigger mechanism to think about as well.

if wet or damp then mine gets the stock taken off, the stock gets dried and wiped with a lightly oiled cloth (using regular gun oil), so does the action and scope (not the lens) I'm careful to not let oil get near the loading port and probe...although deseiling really only occurs with springers, all the same i'd rather not stick oil down the barrel.

i only clean the barrel if it starts shooting bad, considering its shot at least once every week i dont bother even if it's been a wet shoot. Groups at 50yds from sitting are still sub 20mm.

silicone oil is being frowned upon by a few for contamination of metal causing stiction between sliding parts.

any gun i dont shoot more more than a month gets a wipe down as well...just because the UK climate is quite wet in general, so gun cabinets and other cold areas tend to attract moisture.

A couple of drops of gun oil on a cloth is more than enough.