Rust is weird stuff

[Cosmoline]

I've posted before about the tragedy of discovering that several of my favorite rifles were speckled with rust after having been kept in the closet of my cabin during some deep cold spells.

Well now the snow is melting and what should I find in an old unsealed wooden box but another rifle! An Austro-Hungarian M-95 carbine I thought I had sold before the move. Whoops! Well it was partially broken down but totally unprotected. It had been sitting in that box through the rains of last fall and the snows of this winter.

YET THERE IS NO RUST ON IT!

Not a spec. Cleaned it up a bit and it shoots fine.

This leads me to conclude that the problem isn't really leaving your firearms outside, or even letting them get wet. It's heat and sunlight. This rifle had plenty of nasty conditions, but it was protected from both heat and sunlight.

 

[mete]

Condensation is the biggest enemy and changes in temperature and humidity can cause condensation.

 

[pauli]

condensation only happens due to relative temperature differences. perhaps the wooden box (sealed or not) provided sufficient insulation to moderate temperature fluctuation enough to keep condensation from being an issue.

either that, or the wood acted as a dessicant...

 

[Cosmoline]

Well the rifle itself was very wet. Water drops were all over the barrel. I would have expected the thing to be a solid piece of rust after all this time. Anyone with advanced metelurgical knowledge?

 

[Deadman]

Just some random thoughts.
If the box was covered in snow maybe there wasn't sufficient oxygen inside the box to cause rust? Afterall corrosion requires some form of oxidation doesn't it?

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

If the box was covered in snow maybe there wasn't sufficient oxygen inside the box to cause rust?

Could have been like a frozen ice cube of preservation.