Skyyr
12-06-10, 23:13
I've got an 11 year old Marlin 336 AS (blued steel lever action with a wood stock). My dad gave it to me, well, 11 years ago and it's never seen hard use. It's been on a couple of deer hunts and that's about it. Always wiped it down after using it. The blued finish I'd say, conservatively, is 97-99%.
Anyways, the last few times I've cleaned it, my rag turns dirt brown. Mind you, this isn't a "rust"/reddish-brown, it's simply a (deep) tannish dirt brown. The color is not from the cleaning solution. After one or two passes over an area, I can switch to a clean portion of my rag and it stops picking up color. The finish in the area is blue(d), with zero sign of any corrosion or rust.
Normally I'd think this was dirt, but it hasn't been used in over a year. Both times I cleaned it (I try to clean my guns at least once every 6 months), I had the same results. No blueing appears to be coming off the gun, nor is there any sign of a rust or the color brown before the cleaning. Last time I cleaned it with BF CLP, this time I wiped it down with SLIP 2000, both resulting in the brown color (so I know it's not caused by my cleaner).
Any thoughts or ideas as to what this color is from?
Anyways, the last few times I've cleaned it, my rag turns dirt brown. Mind you, this isn't a "rust"/reddish-brown, it's simply a (deep) tannish dirt brown. The color is not from the cleaning solution. After one or two passes over an area, I can switch to a clean portion of my rag and it stops picking up color. The finish in the area is blue(d), with zero sign of any corrosion or rust.
Normally I'd think this was dirt, but it hasn't been used in over a year. Both times I cleaned it (I try to clean my guns at least once every 6 months), I had the same results. No blueing appears to be coming off the gun, nor is there any sign of a rust or the color brown before the cleaning. Last time I cleaned it with BF CLP, this time I wiped it down with SLIP 2000, both resulting in the brown color (so I know it's not caused by my cleaner).
Any thoughts or ideas as to what this color is from?