Stainless steel passivation

[Lonewolf74]

So I have a few rifles that are stainless steel and despite taking great care of them once in a while I find real light specs of surface rust.

So I remembered reading about this passivation process and started digging into it. It seems to be a pretty simple process and am planning on doing it to my rifles.

The questions I have are; have any of you done this on your rifles?
How did you go about it, what was your process?
Most importantly did/would you do it to the inside of the barrel and action?

 

[WildRose]

So I have a few rifles that are stainless steel and despite taking great care of them once in a while I find real light specs of surface rust.

So I remembered reading about this passivation process and started digging into it. It seems to be a pretty simple process and am planning on doing it to my rifles.

The questions I have are; have any of you done this on your rifles?
How did you go about it, what was your process?
Most importantly did/would you do it to the inside of the barrel and action?

Stainless just means Stains Less than carbon steel.

I don't mind seeing the age creep in on mine but they can be melonited or treated with titanium dioxide or simply have it cerakoted and you'll never have to worry again. Even when you have some wear on the cerakote you're still protected.

 

[Lonewolf74]

Thanks for the reply. I do intend on having 2 of them cerakoted though I may have waited too long to get it some before this season. One of the biggest reason I wanna cerakote them is to get rid of the shine and glare they produce.

Before I have them cerakoted though I do want to do this passivation process. The combination should ensure that there is never any rust on my stainless guns

 

[WildRose]

Thanks for the reply. I do intend on having 2 of them cerakoted though I may have waited too long to get it some before this season. One of the biggest reason I wanna cerakote them is to get rid of the shine and glare they produce.

Before I have them cerakoted though I do want to do this passivation process. The combination should ensure that there is never any rust on my stainless guns

If you do be sure and give us a review after you get them back and put a season or two on them.

Most of mine now are cerakoted and over time the rest will probably follow as well.

The one concern I've always had is the bore but since I started using the "Machinegunners Lube" that has pretty well been addressed.

 

[Lonewolf74]

What is the treatment you can have done to the inside of the barrel, I believe it's called nitriding?

Would this help to protect from corrosion or is it just to make the surface hard and slick to help reduce wear?

 

[Lonewolf74]

The Hornady one shot dry lube is the very best product I've found for protecting against corrosion.

However 2 of my rifles I use HBN coated bullets and bore so I avoid using anything in the bore. I do wonder if that can make the bore more susceptible to corrosion or if the HBN should be a decent barrier itself?

 

[Gord0]

Hornady one shot dry lube is awesome for rust protection!