Rusting screws on UM rings

Joined
Jun 19, 2018
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381
Location
oregon
I live in Oregon on the west (wet) side. I black tail hunted 4 hunts either a morning or an evening. Rifle comes in with me and my rain gear into the house. Bolt and mag are dropped and scope caps are opened then rifle is put by the wood stove. I bet in total 12 or 14 hours of exposure in total.
Yes it is pouring rain outside as that’s the best hunting. But all my screws on my UM rings are rusting pretty bad.

I was under the impression they were all coated with something. I know I saw someone else having the same issue on here but I couldn’t find it in a search. So is anyone else having issues? May call them today and ask
 
I live in Oregon on the west (wet) side. I black tail hunted 4 hunts either a morning or an evening. Rifle comes in with me and my rain gear into the house. Bolt and mag are dropped and scope caps are opened then rifle is put by the wood stove. I bet in total 12 or 14 hours of exposure in total.
Yes it is pouring rain outside as that’s the best hunting. But all my screws on my UM rings are rusting pretty bad.

I was under the impression they were all coated with something. I know I saw someone else having the same issue on here but I couldn’t find it in a search. So is anyone else having issues? May call them today and ask

I’ve never seen a good gun screw that didn’t rust. There are some soft junky ones that don’t. I live in the wet part of AK. I like ACF-50 to keep the corrosion at bay. Good stuff.
 
They don't have too...

With the caveat that even stainless steel alloys can rust in the most challenging environments...

Stainless alloys like 300 series, 450, and such have the same to higher tensile strength than the steel alloys that are used to make grade 8 bolts.

As a guy that also hunts in unbelievably wet and salty conditions it drives me nuts not more attention is paid to materials and coatings on premium products. I know we are a niche market, but I I'll pay the extra cost.
 
They rust. They claimed the bolts to be nitrided, I don’t know if they still do, but they definitely aren’t.

Wasn’t too happy about that. They replaced the bolts free of charge but still doesn’t inspire confidence when nothing else on the rifle rusted. This was from one snowy day in the field, not like the rifle was sitting in the rain for days.
 

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I was under the impression they were all coated with something. I know I saw someone else having the same issue on here but I couldn’t find it in a search.
They are supposed to be nitrided. Others have had them rust. Nitride doesn’t mean they won’t rust. Nitride is not a coating, it is a surface hardening treatment that typically resists rust better than a non treated part. I think the rusting was mentioned in one of the tikka nitride threads.
 
Hmm, no rusty screws on any of my Sportsmatch rings, guess I can stop wondering if I should switch…


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Noticed this as well. I had my rifle in a sprinkle uncovered for just a couple of minutes and one screw was rusted next time I looked. Unfortunate.
 
The screws are no longer nitrided due to hardness/potential screw failure issues.

The reason they get light surface rust is because they are degreased from UM- unlike all other rings and screws from other companies which are oiled.
 
They rust. They claimed the bolts to be nitrided, I don’t know if they still do, but they definitely aren’t.

Wasn’t too happy about that. They replaced the bolts free of charge but still doesn’t inspire confidence when nothing else on the rifle rusted. This was from one snowy day in the field, not like the rifle was sitting in the rain for days.

They’re steel screws that aren’t nitrided anymore for good reason, and degreased from the factory. Which means they like almost 100% of ring screws on the market, will get surface rust.
 
Some have been used extensively in the rain/snow, all were degreased.


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I have multiple pairs sitting in the house that have surface rust. And not all users that have used the UM rings in the rain have rust on them. The water, humidity, temperatures, lube or not, etc. all play a part.

This is a non issue.
 
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