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My holster is causing rust?

xstuntmanxstuntman Member Posts: 678 ✭✭✭✭
edited November 2007 in Black Powder and Cowboy Action Shooting
I made a light brown lefty crossdraw holster for my single action .22 and it's been looking great until... I got it out of the gun safe tonight with the revolver in it and found orange rust starting up after only 2 weeks. I keep it sprayed with RemOil so it has to be something in the leather. I'm thinking it'll be hard to get saddle soap in there - maybe spray silicone inside? Anyone ever have this problem? Thanks, Mike
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    joelHjoelH Member Posts: 42 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Mike, I make it a point to NEVER store a pistol in it's holster!
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    oldgunneroldgunner Member Posts: 2,466 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Holsters are only for carrying guns, never for storage. Leather and most other holster materials hold moisture.
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    northwolfnorthwolf Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by joelH
    Mike, I make it a point to NEVER store a pistol in it's holster!


    Good advice AND I think the tanning chemicals are attacking the steel! It doesn't matter what you put on the leather, sometimes with the leftover chemicals, it can combine to something nasty.
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    mongrel1776mongrel1776 Member Posts: 894 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I stuffed a brass-framed 1851 Colt replica in a leather holster and left it there for several weeks, not giving it any thought. When I brought it out, close to a month later, faint pitting had started through the bluing, and the brass frame was corroded green where it had been in contact with the leather.

    +1 on not storing guns in their holsters.
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    Wolf.Wolf. Member Posts: 2,223 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    --
    -Leather is tanned in a variety of ways.

    Chrome-tanned leather is the more modern approach. This method uses chemical salts for the tanning process and is corrosive to metal.

    Vegetable-tanned leather is the old style of tanning leather that is still used today. You are less likely to experience the kind of corrosion you are talking about with this type of leather. However, leather does have moisture in it and as previously stated, it's not a good idea to keep your gun or your ammunition in the holster or the gunbelt loops.

    Some leather is tanned using both methods. First it is chrome-tanned and then vegetable-tanned. I don't know why this is. Supposedly, though, the second process, the vegetable-tan, negates the chrome-tanning salts, I don't know.
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    xstuntmanxstuntman Member Posts: 678 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well thank the Lord I checked sooner rather than later. Thanks for schooling me guys. Mike
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    OdawgpOdawgp Member Posts: 5,380 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Just thought that i would add this, as it is along the same lines when it comes to gun storage.

    don't keep your gun in your truck under the seat, specially just laying bare on the carpet. And don't wrap them in anything and leave it in the truck either.

    the change in temps from warm to cold, over and over will cause condensation to build up between the gun and the carpet or what ever it is wrapped in. In a weeks time the gun will have rusted nearly 100% on the carpet side only and if it is left long enough it may pull the carpet up when you try to remove the gun from the vehicle.

    unfortunatly i am speaking from experience [:(]
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