Got a new SxS and have not had a chance to shoot yet. Too busy and work and such. Decided to put some of those red aluminum Azoom snap caps in the thing(new ones) to allow some dry fire and also leave it uncocked when stored. Kept the shotgun upright in rack type storage in the house in a dry room, no basement or garage. Midwest, not coastal! After about a month, found rust forming where the snap caps touched the chambers at the rear. Got ahead of it in time. Cleaned up the chambers and took the snappers out. Brown spots on the caps where they contacted the chambers. Might be my fault, but can anodised aluminum like that react to bare steel? Or something on them? Have no idea what caused this, the muzzles were not plugged so no trapped humid air in there.
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Snap Cap Shotgun Rust?
- Thread starter Tom2
- Start date
TexasDuckHunter
New member
Was it rust?
are you sure it was rust? Azoom snap caps have been known to rub off on the gun, which in turn could look like rust. Im not an expert but i have seen this plenty of times. how did you clean the rust out? If it just wiped off then it probably isn't rust.
are you sure it was rust? Azoom snap caps have been known to rub off on the gun, which in turn could look like rust. Im not an expert but i have seen this plenty of times. how did you clean the rust out? If it just wiped off then it probably isn't rust.
No it was pretty much rust for sure and I took them out of the package and installed them without wiping them over sweaty palms or something like that. Used a dremel and oil to get the rust out. Still stained dark. Was just where the azooms are larger diameter at the base end. There are still brown rust spots on the caps from where they reacted to the steel. That anodizing is produced by a strong acid, I thought, then the treated surface is dyed with colors. I wonder if they did not remove all the chemicals that react with the aluminum or something. I leave either Azoom or plastic snappers in some stored pistols for dry fire and such and never had a problem. I think I will look for some of those Italian plastic jobs to use instead. Some people have issues with sweat rusting guns, just from their hands. I don't have particularly sweaty or rust caused from handling here. I was not hot and sweaty at the time, even though the nice SxS would make some people hot and bothered!
Rust is an oxidation of the steel, aluminum vs. steel is galvanic corrosion. If that was the case you would see white sort of powdery deposits from the steel eating the lesser of the two metals in this case aluminum.
The rust had to be caused by moisture or some other contaminant. The anodizing process does use an acid but the dye is done in the same bath and then rinsed multiple times. I'ver never seen a trace of anything come back when I've had aluminum components anodized.
The rust had to be caused by moisture or some other contaminant. The anodizing process does use an acid but the dye is done in the same bath and then rinsed multiple times. I'ver never seen a trace of anything come back when I've had aluminum components anodized.