Rust issue in reloading room.

[Kevin1990]

Well, I started moving everything back in to my reloading room this evening and my dies, and le wilson trim case holders, and other things are covered in rust. This has happened before and I rectified with a humidifier. I unpacked my PMA mandrel body and mandrels and they look brand new. (Stainless steel.)

Couple questions.

How would you remove rust from these items, and any ideas on how to keep it at bay?

Anyone have any suggestions on some good dies that are stainless steel or impervious to rust?

I like my redding but they actually have What looks to be pitting in them. Pretty sad/frustrated about this.

Thanks fellas.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

Dremel with a polishing wheel and some lapping/polishing compound has worked for me before
and this

Amazon.com

 

[Rocketvapor]

Do you KNOW what the humidity is in your reloading room?
Even a cheap humidity meter will give a pretty good reading (maybe +/- 5%RH).
AND,
I'm sure you meant DE-humidifier to control a rust problem.

Blaster penetrating oil. Spray, soak, buff.

 

[L.Sherm]

Even a cheap humidity meter will give a pretty good reading (maybe +/- 5%RH)

I have one in my gun safe also, along with a golden rod.

 

[rwj]

and any ideas on how to keep it at bay?

A light oil coating.

 

[LCazador]

WD40 and 0000 steel wool rub. Dehumidifier right? How big is room? Is there a window or door that can be sealed from outside air?

 

[AlNyhus]

Pick up a gallon of Evaporust and submerge your items in it. It's amazing stuff. The Wilson dies and case holders that are 12L14 are prone to rusting just from finger prints. Humidity control and proper storage are what works to keep it from happening again.

 

[moondog]

I feel sorry for you guys. I can leave raw steel on my garage floor for years and not have it rust. I store extra ar500 behind a shed and just wipe it off. I did have an action I sent back east some years ago for a barrel come back with a bit of rust on the bolt.

 

[LVLAaron]

Evaporust

Amazing stuff. It's almost too good to be true.

If you leave stuff in it for a really long time, you get a super hard cold blue!

 

[AlNyhus]

If you leave stuff in it for a really long time, you get a super hard cold blue!

Yep. Stuff comes out with a Parkerized look to it.

 

[mic2377]

In terms of removal, all of the prior posters have good ideas.

In terms of avoiding this in the future, you need better products for corrosion prevention. 2 excellent products that come to mind are Corrosion X Aviation, and Cortec Corshield VPCi-369. These are both industrial strength corrosion inhibitors that will prevent corrosion in bare metal even in harsh environments (moist, salt-laden, etc). The Cortec product in particular doesn't just work just by contact, it actually emits a corrosion inhibiting vapor over time. Both are available in spray can form.

To put it this way, I have used products like this for the past several years, and even sprayed the underside of my truck with them annually. My vehicle is approaching 5 years old and is spotless underneath despite living in a Midwest climate with lots of salt. They aren't cheap but they really work.

Don't use regular gun oil products, they just aren't even close to the above products in performance.

Also get a good dehumidifier.

 

[SeabeeKen]

For long term storage, Boeshield is an excellent rust preventive. A wax like coating. Cleans off easily with most any solvent. For day to day protection I am finding Seal 1 CLP+ is amazing for preventing rust

 

[17cal Fan]

Every time I buy anything that has a Desiccant packet I save the packets in a plastic bag and dispense as needed. All of my dies and boxed equipment has at least 1 packet in the box.

 

[akajun]

what's rusting your stuff is not humidity ( unless you live near the ocean) but more likely condensation from temperature swings in your reloading room. is it heated/ cooled? was the area you moved it from heated/cooled? Iron/ steel, especially big heavy stuff does not warm up around the air its in and causes condensation to form. I keep all my machinist measuring tools in the original wooden boxes and in Gerstners or some other box to keep the rapid temperature swings from affecting them. . My reloading dies stay in the original boxes or in a wooden cabinet. Also in my shop this time a year I keep a small space heater plugged in set to 60. I don't need it to actually warm it to living conditions just to keep the temperature swings down.

If I can keep rust off my stuff in South LA 100 right next to the river and Atchafalaya Basin you can too.

 

[Steel Mover]

Live in FL, high humidity, and travel around the world hunting, in all kinds of weather, plus in my shop and reloading room, I use G-96. It is a spray so spraying my dies before putting them on the shelf helps quite a bit. If it gums ip a bit, spray and it dissolves itself. I spray paint the regular steel parts of my presses, like the handles.

Have a large dehumidifier in the safe room, to keep the humidity down to 30%.

 

[K22]

I had the same issue for years with my reloading table in the basement. The dehumidifier and continual vigilance with rust prevention helped but it didn't complete solve the problem.

So, I moved everything upstairs to a control atmosphere room (the dining room). Since I am a widower and don't get any visitors, I turned the dining room into my reloading room. It didn't take long to realize a significant improvement.

I am not going to win any contests in the "Galley of Homes' with my "man cave" dining room but it's much more pleasant to reload in a controlled atmosphere room and my equipment perseveration has improved.

 

[451whitworth]

I use Cortec vapor phase paper in every die box, etc. It's that brown paper that engine/transmission parts and machine tooling come wrapped in. You can buy it in 16" x 16" sheets and cut to fit into any storage box. It solved my problems and you never have to clean off a liquid rust prohibitor.

 

[FNSafari]

Get ammo cans with seals. Put your small stuff in them with a desiccant pack. Store in an area where humidity swings are minimal and humidity is below 60%

Like Al mentioned the non-ss steel neck trimmer case holders and the trimmer units are very susciptable to rust.

 

[mic2377]

The Cortec vapor phase paper is also awesome and an excellent addition to their spray/liquid products. Just put a sheet in a closed container and voila!

I got turned on to Cortec by my brother who is a manufacturing engineer. He needed an solution to protect bare metal parts for lengthy before finishing. It works...

 

[DiRTY DOG]

Throw away all your gun oils, because they clearly suck, and replace with Hornady One Shot Cleaner and Lube. It's an excellent rust preventative, an excellent dry lube, won't evaporate or gum up. It's amazingly good. Use it in a clean bore like Lock Eze to eliminate cold/clean bore fliers. You'll need a large can to go through and clean/lube all of your reloading stuff and all of your guns. After that just a light spritz and wipe off after you use dies etc. Awesome for ccw guns, hunting guns, general tools in your garage, anything that rusts or needs lube.