The Countertop Chronicles

Well, I’ve been carrying the black Kel Tec around with me pretty much constantly (except for when I’m at work in DC) for well over 2 months.

It does its job, fitting pretty easily inside the font pocket of any loose pants I own (ever pair of shorts, most khakis, suits, etc) with less than a barely discernible pattern printed. Can’t complain about that at all, as its my preferred method of carry 90% of the time. However, over the last week, as we were in a high humidity atmosphere (a hurricane dropping 30 inches of water will do that) I did run into a slight problem with rust. I cleaned most of it up last night, but thought I’d post a short update here to highlight those areas where its worn well, where its worn rough, and where it has become, in the words of Phil-Z, a lint trap.

Lots of pics, and more, after the jump.



As you can see, the gun is starting to wear. The parkerization (is that what it is???) is wearing off on the edges, and the barrel/chamber is beginning to take on some seasoning. And once I got this dirt on the grips - from placing it on floor of my jeep, I’ve been pretty much unable to get it off.

The Lint Trap!!

The backside view, of the hammer.

Looking down.

The slide rails. Don’t know how that piece of wood got in there, must have been in my pocket. This lint all added up to making it very difficult to cycle the slide and actually take the gun apart.

The Rust Bucket

The serrated edges in the rear of the slide was the first place I notice some rust forming. It was also one of the first places I noticed that the finish was wearing off (the slide release was actually the first place I noticed it wearing off).

The magazine actually had a lot of rust on it - as did the inside of the mag well, but it mostly wiped right off. But there was a small patch right were it was wearing that I couldn’t wipe the rust off with my hand.

You can see alot of rust forming right around the chamber on the outer edges of the barrel

Here’s the reverse side of the barrel, and you can see some rust forming on the underside. And, yes, it was unloaded you ninnies!!

Here’s the barrel, and the underside of the slide. Again, more rust and wear on the edges. Remember, this is mostly from just sitting in my pocket. I’ve not even shot 50 rounds out of this gun.

Some more views of the barrel. The rust in the top one is on the outer edges of the slide/chamber. The spot at the end of the barrel really frustrates me, but cleaned right up with a patch and didn’t damage the rifling or leave any permanent mark. The seasoning/pitting on the bottom picture wouldn’t go away, but I don’t think it is causing any long term damage.

Still, all in all, this is pretty frustrating to see on a gun that I’ve had/carried only a couple of months and have cleaned and oiled far more than I have fired it. I’m especially shocked in how quickly it emerged after getting to the beach. I’ve never tried to really store/own guns in the deep humid south. I can’t imagine the care and work that would have to go into gun ownership in Florida or Louisiana.