How to clean rust inside barrel

[newcastter]

I have an old 7.62x54 that has a little rust inside the barrel is there a way for me to remove this without damaging the rifling?

[tomme boy]

You can use a lead lap, but it is going to increase the size of your bore.

[azrednek]

I've always cleaned out mil-surp barrels by shooting 100+ rds through it.

[Milsurp Junkie]

How much rust? Is it a frosting, or is it pitting? If frosting, then a 30 cal stainless bore brush and ATF would usually do the trick. Just put the muzzle in a small jar of ATF, and run the brush up and down the bore 20 times. Run a couple of clean dry patches through it and see if you need to do the treatment again.

If it is pitting, you are going to have to see how deep it is. It may very well still be a shooter still, but you are going to have to see your self.

[newcastter]

I believe just frosting, I will try your suggestion and see what it looks like.
Thanks

[Ed K]

There are many chemicals on the market today that make claims or rust removal without damage to the underlying metal. Evap-o-rust and Krud Kutters' "The must for rust" come to mind. You may want to look into them.

[largom]

I would NEVER use a stainless bore brush on my gun. In fact the only bore brushes I use are Nylon. Not saying it's good or bad but just my way. To clean minor rust from a bore I use a bore brush [your choice] 1 cal. undersize, wrap with cotton patch material, wet with oil and rub in JB bore compound. After 30 or 40 passes the rust will be gone as well as sharp edges of tool marks or pits. Repeat if necessary. You could also "firelap" the bore. Lots of info on firelapping on this forum.

Larry

[sbowers]

I have been a master gun smith for some time now and someone needs to tell me how fire lapping a bore lap's it with out cutting the sharp edges of the rifling there by reducing grip on the bullet. Ect,ect,ect.
Steve

[Char-Gar]

I have cleaned lots of rust out of lots of barrels and never caused any damage using 000 or 0000 steel wood wrapped around a worn cleaning brush to get a good fit. Put some Kroil or other penetrating oil it and keep adding more steel wool as the fit loosens up.

[uscra112]

I'm with Char-Gar - steel wood on a brush with kerosene or Kroil.

[badbob454]

kroil, soak overnight , clean .use a brass, copper or stainless brush if steel jacked bullets wont hurt a barrel a few swipes of metal brushes shouldnt hurt either

[shotman]

the outers electric cleaner will get everything out . You can clean all you want and then use the outers and see how much didnt come out

[uscra112]

I've had that idea and never acted on it. Use a piece of piano wire as the electrode, and a solution of washing soda for the electrolyte. O-rings that are a under bore diameter and a snug fit on the wire to keep the wire centered. You don't even need the Outer's system, a small 12 volt battery charger will do. Positive to the electrode, negative to the barrel. That's crucial, get it backwards and the current will eat your barrel.

I do this on all kinds of parts, but dunked in a tank with a chunk of heavy un-plated hardware cloth for the sacrificial anode.

[303Guy]

... someone needs to tell me how fire lapping a bore lap's it with out cutting the sharp edges of the rifling there by reducing grip on the bullet.With a tight fitting cast boolit with grit embedded in it, the cutting action is uniform in the grooves and on the lands and should also be uniform on the grooves sides. My brass fire-lapping slug shows wear on all faces. It seems to actually sharpen the rifling. The brass slug is intended for rust removal and rust pit edge dulling. For frosting I would remove the rust chemically then fire-lap with lead boolits.

Here is a 'rust textured' bore that I fire-lapped. There is no loss of bore diameter and the throat is still tight. This gun, a two-groove No4 is scary accurate and does not copper foul at all. But Then I lube the bullets with the equivalent of a grease cookie.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-463F.jpg

Here is a before and after fire-lapping.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-445F.jpg

Here's the link to how I do it. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=146955

[btroj]

I have fire lapped many barrels, never saw any results that made me think I had a "loss of grip" on the bullet.

As for cleaning rust from a barrel. I would start with something mild like JB or 0000 steel wool. Then shoot it and see how it does. If it still seemed to be a bit rough I would then fire lap it.

[725]

Firelapped a friend's very rusted .223 T/C barrel yesterday. First I worked on it with a bronze brush, Kroil soaked patches, Flitz and nothing corrected the years of neglect. As a last resort, I firelapped with about 20 rounds coated with Flitz. Thing looks brand new! Rifling appears sharp and clean and no visable pitting. Shoots very tight groups. Now all I have to do is teach him to take care of his stuff.

[schutzen]

Some will disagree with this, but it works for me.

Purchase a cork (real cork not rubber) that is slightly larger that the chamber.

Insert the cork in the chamber and force the bolt closed.

Set the gun with or with out the stock in a 5 gallon bucket with the barrel up and blocke to keep it from tipping over.

Fill the barrel with Kroil and let it sit for 3 or more days. I let mine set for a week.

Pour the Kroil out and clean as normal.

You will be amazed at what comes out.

[Wolfer]

Never had much problem with my barrels rusting but PB Blaster is the rust eatingest stuff I've ever seen. I too have never had a problem fire lapping or lead lapping. You better have some time to spare if your going to enlarge the bore

[Frustrated Middle Child]

I know this is an old thread. A friend sent me this link to tell you about a product that we offer. Trust D-Rust is a bore cleaner designed especially for rusted bores. It works great for the damage caused by corrosive ammo. It will not take out live metal, but will take out the corral type rust that has grown in there. I am a frequent poster on the RugerForum.com site but am new here. www.Targething.com and go through the training site to the store button. Or directly to the www.RustPissesMeOff.com site for the items.

Thanks - Amanda

[Outpost75]

Plug bore and fill with Kroil and let soak for a week. Then use JB and Kroil with 000 steel wool wrapped around a worn bronze brush on Dewey rod.

Finish with 2A Clover on a lead lap if there are any tight spots.

[ndnchf]

I've had that idea and never acted on it. Use a piece of piano wire as the electrode, and a solution of washing soda for the electrolyte. O-rings that are a under bore diameter and a snug fit on the wire to keep the wire centered. You don't even need the Outer's system, a small 12 volt battery charger will do. Positive to the electrode, negative to the barrel. That's crucial, get it backwards and the current will eat your barrel.

I do this on all kinds of parts, but dunked in a tank with a chunk of heavy un-plated hardware cloth for the sacrificial anode.


I have done this and it worked very well. I used a 1/4" steel rod in rusty .58 cal musket bore. To insulate the rod from touching the bore, I used a rubber cap (like used on vacuum hose) that slipped over the end of the rod that went down to the breech. I used a couple of rubber grommets along the length of the rod to keep it from touching the sides. I needed to pull the rod ever hour or so and clean off the accumulated rust, but that is to be expected. I did it with a small 1 amp charger and a battery in the circuit. Without a battery, it would trip the breaker on the charger. If you have not tried electrolysis for rust removal, you are missing out. Just google "electrolysis rust removal" , There is a lot of info out there. It is very simple and you probably already have everything need to do it, except maybe the washing soda. But you can get that at Walmart.

[DeanWinchester]

Shoot the tar out of it. If it's still kinda funky after a thorough enema, try paper patching. A properly prepared paper patched boolit is not only accurate but a heck of a bore lapper too.