Best way to stop pitting/rust and clean up?

[Guest hhjosef]

Hey everyone, my Walther PP hasnt been in tip top shape since i bought it and already had some pitting on the corner of slide that i believe has been stopped. Anyway, today I flashed a LED flashlight all around the gun and found that there are small bits of rust brown here and there (invisible in normal lighting) with a new spot pitting and on the slide and the overall receiver is going plum colored a little (also invisible in normal lighting) and also has bits of rust spots here and there. The finish on this piece is rough especially since it was a late war last ditch and i dont want to ruin it with any rough sanding with steel wool. I've owned mostly modern handguns and mostly glocks and have nevered encountered a problem like this. What the best way to stop the pitting and remove/ prevent further rusting? Thanks, ill try to get some pics up soon

[peejman]

The only way to truly stop the corrosion is to sand/polish the affected areas to bare metal and apply a corrosion resistant surface treatment (bluing, parkerize, etc.).

The trouble is that the tiny stuff in the very bottom of the pits is what's causing the corrosion to continue. Until you remove it and put a barrier in place, you can't stop it.

It could also be that the bits of rust you see is foreign material that's sitting on (or embedded in) the surface and corroding. Again, they have to be removed.

If you don't want to do any of that, you can stop the corrosion by putting it in a non-oxidizing environment (a sealed container full of nitrogen, argon, or other inert gas).