HELP-- repair of slide pitting on Walther PP

[TdocZ]

To begin with, I am a newbie toTHR. So please indulge me if this posting is frustratingly naive.

I have a 1960's .32 cal Walther pp (original blue finish) that was stored too long in a fire-safe case. To my horror and dismay , the previously pristine slide had rusted and pitted in small localized spots. The rust was sanded away but the pits are a bit too deep to sand off.:banghead:

I have read on various forums that Devcon steel epoxy is a commonly used pit filler. There appear to be several different kinds of Devcon steel epoxy and I am not certain of which I should purchase. Moreover, I have only seen it sold Devcon steel epoxy sold 1 lb quantities which is way more than I need. Any recommendations for how to repair the pitting?

Lastly, I am assuming that I will ultimately need to coat the slide with something because any filler used will not blue. Any advice on how I should finish coat a "repaired" slide?

I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

 

[rcmodel]

Well, it would have been best if you had removed the rust with 0000 Extra Fine steel wool & oil. Steel wool would probably have made it presentable enough to have left it alone afterward.

And it would have gotten the rust out of the pits without distroying the remaining bluing like your sandpaper did.

If you didn't get the pits out, you didn't get all the active rust out of the bottoms of them either.

Now, it is too late to do anything short of a full re-blue by a reputable firearms refinisher.

I would not recommend steel epoxy, or any other filler, unless you plan to do a shake & bake paint finish when you get done. But, you have to bead blast first to get all the rust stopped in the pits or it will still rust under the paint.

rc

 

[TdocZ]

Thank you for the quick response.

I should have been more precise, I did use steel wool to "sand" off the rust. I didn't remove a bunch of original blue from around the pitted areas. I have attached a pic. The lighting is poor but you can see where the pitting occurs over the serial numbers and stamp. I don't want to remove the serial numbers or stamp which is why I didn't do much smoothing of the pits. I did touch-up blue around the pits only to protect the pits until I figure out what to do.

From a distance the pits are unnoticeable. But I want to stab a screwdriver through my eye socket everytime I look at them....

 

[dfariswheel]

A good "one stop shopping" source for you is Lauer Duracoat.

They sell a special filler material to fill imperfections in guns and they sell one of the best of the "paint type" epoxy gun finishes.
This finish is a multi-part epoxy that has to be sprayed on.
It hardens enough for handling in a day or so, and becomes fully hardened over several weeks.
It has an excellent reputation for durability and good looks.

They sell the coating in many colors and they sell inexpensive airbrush sets to apply it.
The Dura-fill is intended to fill pits and gouges.

http://www.lauerweaponry.com/