M16A1 metsl flaking issue?

[Bruce McAskill]

The metal is just going to continue to disintegrate. It's like rust but the aluminum version. Once the salt got below the surface it was all over for it. Even if you were to blast it the metal will continue to come apart and will finally fail. Like any iron or steel that's been in salt water for a long time it has to be treated with a long period of being in fresh water and that takes years to leach out the salt. It's close to failure now so you would be better off looking for a new one. This one is gone.