One of my dad’s guns was partially submerged in brackish water during the hurricane in FL last fall. He just handed it over to me- can I soak it in TC-11, WD-40? I could use any ideas to get me started.
THANKS, GUYS.

I'm sure others will need to know... what gun? Exposed steel, or aluminum, wood or polymer? And what do you observe on outside?

It’s a Bauer automatic .25 cal with pearl handgrips. Looks like stainless. It’s an adorable little gun, comes with its own little zippered case that looks like a clamshell for eyeglasses.
I can see some rust, not a lot, but my concern is the longer I wait, the worse it gets. I’ve been asking for him to hand this over for a month or so, and he finally gave it to me last week.

It depends on what kind of gun, what it is made of, and rust resistance - whether via the grade of steel or finish/coatings that were put on it - of the steel parts, and whether it has sat all these months (even after removal from the water, the salt keeps attacking) with no prior attempts to clean it. Something like a Glock, you could probably clean the mud out of and have it good to go. Something like a blue steel revolver might well be rusted shut and destroyed.

I would start by removing the grips, and soaking the gun in Breakfree CLP. Just wipe off the grips with a soft cloth and a solution of water with a couple drops of Dawn.

From there, I’ll defer to the experts.

quote:

It’s a Bauer automatic .25 cal with pearl handgrips. Looks like stainless ...

Your post was up while I was still composing mine, as well as watching that my breakfast doesn't burn. The frame and slide may be stainless, but the barrel and fire control parts won't be. See if you can even pull the slide back. If you can, then look inside the barrel with a good light. A little bit of pitting in the bore is salvageable, but any pitting in the chamber walls renders the gun scrap. (The barrel is fixed and I assume pressed in.) A fired case will extrude itself into the pits and not extract, or worse. Rusted-up springs, hammers, etc. need a gunsmith, assuming you can find parts.

Depends on how much rust. Some rust is just a thin film that scrubs off with a mild abrasive like toothpaste. Other rust is more established. It takes stronger remediation. I rescued a Browning Hi Power that suffered fairly deep rust on the slide and barrel hood. It was sitting in its case when a flood occurred and the egg carton pattern from the foam in the case was transferred to the metal. My attitude was that the finish and some of the metal was already damaged so I didn’t mind deviating from the original appearance. I buffed the barrel hood clean which removed 80% of the pitting and polished the metal. I had the slide ceracoated and replaced some trigger components that were affecting the function. My solution was not gentle but the result was a handsome gun refinish.

In your case, the firearm isn’t a collector item and has a modest value. I’d start with cotton balls and moistened toothpaste. If that doesn’t do it, continue with more abrasive media and either water or light oil to lubricate as you buff. There are chemicals that remove rust also though I only have experience with muriatic acid and that is extreme and potentially very harmful. It is a last option and leaves metal vulnerable to flash rusting if not immediately treated.

Some pictures would be very helpful.

If you want to email me pictures, I'll host them, that should help everyone understand what options you have.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
If you want to email me pictures, I'll host them, that should help everyone understand what options you have.

Thank you, I’ll do that. Clearly, I’m not a gunsmith and I don’t know that much but I would like to put this back to original if it can be done. I’ll check your profile.
ETA: Sent some images. Hopefully useful ones- thanks again.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...620002834#2620002834

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...980050644#5980050644

Thank you for this. Perhaps I’m in the wrong part of the forum.

To start with to prevent further degradation and because oil will not dissolve salt, rinse with freshwater first, dry, then oil. Not much different than a fishing reel or other metal tools.

Complete disassembly, clean everything using steel wool with oil. One of the few times Rem Oil is useful . Those areas where using steel wool is not possible, then stiff bristled and/or steel bristled tooth brushes.

Obviously you were able to pull the slide back, and most of it doesn't look that bad, but the barrel (see the bottom photo showing the view from the muzzle end), unless a trick of lighting/shadows, does not look good at all.

Remove those grips and get it soaking in something to stop the rust till you can figure it out. Kerosene or even transmission oil fine if that’s all you have around. And total disassembly including the magazine.

Never been a fan of steel wool, I’d go bronze wool. I also like Flitz paste myself. And stiff bristled tooth brushes or bronze bristle brushes to go after all the parts.

Best of luck.

The Bauer "brand" was actually produced by several corporate entities, and they all are out of business today.
Bauer pistols also are not an exact dimensional copy of the original Browning design. Close, but not exactly.
However, many of the OEM Browning parts and newly manufactured PSA parts are somewhat usable in a Bauer with some fitting. It depends what parts you need.
PSA should have anything you need, see the below website.
There is tons of information about the Bauer, Browning, and PSA pistols there as well.

Check in with these people, they produce a currently manufactured licensed Browning copy: https://www.precisionsmallarms.com/
They should be able to help you out with any parts you might need. Perhaps even with original Bauer used parts.
The pistol shown on their website front page has Aspen, Colorado stamped into the slide.
However, it is my belief that now they are located in Utah. The website contact information also shows Utah.

In reference to the corrosion inside the barrel.
As long as the pitting doesn't foul badly with copper jacket material, it shouldn't be a problem.
Brush the hell out of the bore with a stainless steel bore brush.
.25 ACP is not a high pressure cartridge, and certainly isn't "King" for a handgun cartridge one shot stop.
You won't be competing in 100 yard, or 1000 yard benchrest matches with the Bauer.
At best, that Bauer will be shot at across the living room distances. And the projectile may even "keyhole" but who cares.

PSA also contracts out to Mec-Gar for magazines. So newly manufactured magazines are available. Sometimes the Bauer magazine well in the frame of the pistol needs some delicate file work
so newly manufactured magazines fit, also true with OEM Browning magazines. I believe the new Mec-Gar magazines are also a "round top" magazine follower with improved feeding characteristics.

I have one of the OEM Browning pistols in excellent condition, and I need to try one of the newly manufactured Mec-Gar magazines in it. Thanks for the reminder!
Good luck with your restoration project!

I'm shocked, but Numrich Gun Parts has a wonderful selection of Bauer OEM parts in stock also! https://www.gunpartscorp.com/g...turer/bauer-firearms

I agree with ElToro,
Do not use steel wool on a stainless steel surface. Steel wool will embed small particles of the steel wool material in the stainless steel substrate surface.
Once there, it will ultimately rust.
Use stainless steel wool, bronze wool.
Steel wool is OK on a carbon steel surface, but not on stainless steel.

My bad re steel wool. Didn’t realize the pistol is stainless