All Steel Guns and That Dratted Summer Solstice Rust

Yes kiddies, it's summer again - well almost. Summer officially begins, in the USA, tomorrow Friday June 21, 2013 at 0104 hours or late on the night of June 20th (tonight) if you live out west - due to some cosmic balderdash. It will be the Summer Solstice with the sun being in the sky longer than any other day and note High Noon tomorrow really will be high noon (see the linked article).

Regardless of all the cosmic mumbo-jumbo, summer weather is here and that means warm humid days in this neck of the woods - concrete jungle and it also means getting sweaty. Humidity and sweat (especially sweat because it is salty) are enemies of firearms - at least ones made completely or partially of steel. For instance, earlier today, I noted that the right side of the trigger on my all steel Ortgies pocket pistol was a bit rusted. Funny that it is on the right side because I have been pocket carrying that little gun lately and you would think the left side would be getting wet from my perspiration when closer to my body while in my pocket. Whatever - the fact is that it has a rust spot. I will have to disassemble it and give it a good cleaning and a light coating of Break-Free CLP.

I usually try to do regular maintenance, consisting of cleaning and lubricating, of all my guns at least four times per year, once each season Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. If I shoot them I clean them more often. Sometimes though I am lax about that which usually wind up in me paying the price of winding up with rust on some of them. I must admit, I do not remember the last time I inspected, cleaned and lubricated all of them since the summer of 2012. Whoops! Now that I have found the rust on the Ortgies, I guess the time has come for me to get mine arse in gear and do preventive maintenance on all of them. I have to work tomorrow but am free this weekend and I suppose that this weekend is as good a time as any.

When I am all done with the inspecting, cleaning and lubricating all of my guns, I am going to put them away, then pull out a bottle of fine spirits and have a drink or two as I howl at the moon. Since I figure that I will not be done until Sunday evening, the moon at which I will be howling will be a Super Moon because the moon will be full and because it will be the closest to the earth that it will be all year when full.

All the best,
Glenn B