Corrosion Remedy in Slide Serrations

[dt1950]

All, my 1917 Colt has corrosion in the slide serrations, especially on the off side of the pistol. Any recommendations as to best address the situation without marring the finish? Thanks! Regards, H.T.

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[islandhopper]

Not an expert in this area, but I wouldn't use anything that would be abrasive - and that includes even fine steel wool. If it were mine, I'd take the slide off first. Then I'd buy a soft bristle toothbrush and after applying some good quality gun oil on the serration area, I'd lightly/gently go up and down "with the grain" of the serrations. That's the most I'd do if I had already tried to address the area with a soft cotton cloth with gun oil on it and it wasn't getting into the serrations right.

[islandhopper]

Just thought I'd add that even a soft cotton cloth or a soft bristle toothbrush could be abrasive also - especially if you scrubbed hard. It's just the most I'd personally do on a pistol with that nice of a finish. Steel wool or any other more abrasive items would not be used by me.

[Johnny Peppers]

The finish has already been removed where the corrosion is. If anything more than looking at it is abrasive you will just have to live with the corrosion, but personally, 4/0 steel wool and oil will be the safest thing you can use on it as it will remove the corrosion but will not harm the finish. Up until the 1930's most firearms were finished in rust blue, and the rust formed by the bluing solution which was corrosive was removed with either wads of steel wool or powered soft wire brushes.

[Scott Gahimer]

Another option I've had good success with on blued surfaces, and bores, is:
Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner

I always use oil with the alloy pad and pay attention to what I'm doing.

In a bore, I use a chunk of the pad dry. I make sure it is a tight fit and drive it through the bore with a wooden dowel rod. Cuts the crud out almost immediately with just a few passes.

Be careful. Regardless of what you use to break free the corrosion... If you drag the corrosion across a surface, it will scratch the surface.

Also, I'd point out the only thing that looks worse than rust is damage. If you clean any surface to the point it looks as though it was cleaned, that translates to damage IMO. I'd rather look at rust on a 90 year old pistol than spots with thinned finish from improper cleaning.

[campperrykid]

FWIW :
Prolonged soaking in Kroil can sometimes lift most of the rust -- to the point can it can be basically wiped or brushed off. The stuff is amazing -super penetration. I would try a 12 - 48 hour soak , brush and wipe cycle a couple times and re-assess the situation.

[islandhopper]

FWIW :
Prolonged soaking in Kroil can sometimes lift most of the rust -- to the point can it can be basically wiped or brushed off. The stuff is amazing -super penetration. I would try a 12 - 48 hour soak , brush and wipe cycle a couple times and re-assess the situation.

You know I thought about this option also, but I have never had that much luck with it actually removing the main clump of rust. Plus I don't know if it would have any affect on the finish - especially with a couple of days soaking in it. I wouldn't worry too much about a phosphate finish, but a blued one I don't know. It is amazing stuff when it comes to loosening screws and such that are rusted in place. So it does remove some rust. My lastest use was on an M1 bayonet that the grip screw would not budge. I picked the thing up cheap and it had some rust issues and a broken part that required me to remove the grip panels to repair it. I dropped some Kroil on it, waited about 20 minutes or so and it turned right out so that I was able to repair it.

[dt1950]

Gentlemen, Thank you for all of your input! I eventually used Kroil and let it soak in the serrations for several days. I used a wooden toothpick to remove the rust loosened by the Kroil. I finished up by using Flitz and a soft used toothbrush to lightly scrub the serrations. The rust was removed, no harm to the blued finish and the corroded areas are semi-bright. Best regards, H.T.

[Johnny Peppers]

No matter what the advertisements say, Flitz is abrasive. With all the talk about not using anything that might harm the bluing, Flitz was probably the most abrasive thing that could have been used. I believe the way Flitz gets around calling it an abrasive is that their polish falls below the government standard for abrasiveness. Take one of your cleaning rods and clean it with anything you want to be sure it is clean. Put Flitz on a cloth, wipe the rod, and black will come off. Now polish the area off with a clean cloth and again apply Flitz with a clean rag. It will again come off black. The abrasives are working on the metal.

[campperrykid]

You know I thought about this option also, but I have never had that much luck with it actually removing the main clump of rust. Plus I don't know if it would have any affect on the finish - especially with a couple of days soaking in it. I wouldn't worry too much about a phosphate finish, but a blued one I don't know. It is amazing stuff when it comes to loosening screws and such that are rusted in place. So it does remove some rust. My lastest use was on an M1 bayonet that the grip screw would not budge. I picked the thing up cheap and it had some rust issues and a broken part that required me to remove the grip panels to repair it. I dropped some Kroil on it, waited about 20 minutes or so and it turned right out so that I was able to repair it.

Very little disagreement here. The 12-48 soak wipe cycles are just the first steps. Often the clumps take repeated soaking & scrapping with wood . The longer soak times do make a difference. The trick is to renew the Kroil from time to time.
I am reluctant to suggest some of the other techniques on the net because of the potential for damage as people learn.
I have never observed Kroil damage bluing but in theory it could happen. I am a little puzzled as to why the bluing survives.