rust on rifle

[redriverhunter]

wow last year a purchased a savage model 11. I got caught once in the rain came home and took it apart and dried it and oiled. The rifle is still showing light rust all I know to do is put oil on it and keep it oiled. Is there something better Icould be doing?
thanks rrh

[country gent]

Birchwood casey SHeath does a good job preventing rust. Is the rust even or near joints junctions. sometimes bluing salts get in these areas and leech out with moisture also. Disasemble and coat barreled action liberally with the Birchwood caseys SHeath several times over several days time allowing each coat to penetrate. A coat of wax on metal surfaces sometimes helps prevent rusting.

[georgerkahn]

Buffalo Arms purveys a chore-girl looking type product which has worked very well for me. http://www.buffaloarms.com/Big_45_Frontier_Metal_Cleaner_it-1025191.aspx?CAT=3801 At five bucks, it seemed costly, BUT it works for me and seems to last forever. The three life-savers for rust I use are to spray rusted area with G96. I heat rifle a tad -- just hot to the touch. And wipe down with white paper towel -- it's mind boggling how much rust is removed. I let unit cool to room temperature -- maybe five minutes -- and repeat. I then rub area with a dampened with Kroil cloth. Bion, if there's a noticeable spot of rust, I grind a U S Penny to contour, and rub this on rusted spot. Works like magic! BUT, and it's a huge "but" -- you must use a pre 1982 or so penny -- that's when they were made of pure copper. After I'm almost satisfied, I do a third wipe-down with G96, and generally leave that without wiping overnight. The next day, I again use a white paper towel, and follow with Flitz Anti-rust Gun Wax -- a fantastic product which does what it's label indicates. (Twenty or so years ago, a handy-man neighbor was cleaning a basement where he found a super-rusted Iver Johnson .22, which he presented me as junk. I worked a couple of hours as described here above, and some of my students shot it last summer in a hunter safety class I taught! She looks old -- but, this single-shot functions as new, and any semblance of rust has not returned). I'm sure others have "systems" which work for them; this is what I do, and has worked for me.
Good luck!
geo

[paul h]

I find 0000 steel wool and a shot of WD-40 works great for removing light surface rust.

[longranger]

Get it cleaned up wipe all of the oil solvent off and wax it,bore everything you can get to. High quality wax with no cleaners RenWax is popular amongst collectors(google it for purveyors). I have used Meguires yellow with no problems.

[oldblinddog]

I find 0000 steel wool and a shot of WD-40 works great for removing light surface rust.

Try a razor blade (use a safety blade with one edge) and oil, before the steel wool, first. That will allow you to preserve the bluing.

(I've seen this done by a gunsmith that was restoring a rifle. It works great!)

[Frank46]

4/0 steel wool and some clp will take the rust away. Restored two rem 670 police shotguns this way. Rust was all over anything made of steel. Took awhile to clean it all off and leave a thin coat of clp on the exposed metal surfaces. Frank

[725]

All the above sounds good to me. I however use bronze wool and Kroil to rub the rust away and then treat/preserve/store with liberal amounts of Fluid Film. Eezox is another good product, but I'm partial to Fluid Film.

Haven't used my sickle bar cutter in two years. It sits outside. I put it away with liberal coatings of that Fluid Film. The cutters and areas that abrade each other are still shinny and haven't rusted yet. The stuff is good.

[M-Tecs]

0000 steel wool will not hurt the bluing. 000 will. The "Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner" posted above works great also. Never used Fluid Film but Eezox is the best rust preventer that I have tried.

[Artful]

When I lived in Oregon I used wax (JPW) to protect from the rain.

Lots of guys now say Frog Lube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqXi947z0Ck
course it has to be applied according to directions.

[Petrol & Powder]

Rust is a major concern with any carbon steel firearm. Clearly prevention is the preferable route.

Bluing looks great and tradition has kept it alive but bluing is one of the weakest forms of protection when to comes to firearm finishes. Once you get rust on bluing the damage is done. You can remove light rust with the methods listed but it is far better to attempt to prevent it in the first place.

Everyone has their favorite method but the bottom line is shielding the ferrous metal parts from oxygen and water. Wax type products are good in the field and light greases are good for storage. I'm a bit old school when it comes to rust prevention and I tend to gravitate towards the proven products. I'm sure there are newer products on the market but I'm not sure they are any better than the tried and true methods.

If you have a good firearm that is constructed of carbon steel and you routinely rely on that gun in all weather, bluing is not your friend. Spend the money for a more durable finish.
Now I'm NOT talking about re-finishing a perfect Colt Python or pre-war Winchester !! However if you have one working class gun that shoots well but has a blued finish, I would strongly consider getting it refinished in something tougher.

[John Boy]

Surface rust removal:
* Wipe with 50:50 mix of ATF & Acetone
* Rub with Big 45 Frontier Metal Cleaner pad
Bluing is not touched and rust is gone

[Shooter6br]

Try this data.........................http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

[lobogunleather]

I use 0000 steel wool to remove surface rust. For short term, between uses during the season, a good application of oil will protect blued steel pretty well. For long term, between seasons, a coat of Johnsons Paste Wax will keep the metal sealed very well.

[Artful]

Try this data.........................http://www.dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

Thanks for posting - some of the best testing I've seen.

[jmort]

That is great testing info. EEZOX has really done well/best in every other test I have seen, so this is something to consider. It has been known for some time now that the best rust prevention is Froglube applied to warm/heated metal, per their directions, so that it is no surprise that it came out on top. The other surprise is the WD40 Specialist and the One Shot.

[Love Life]

Base coat of Eezox, followed by a light coating of BLL. Apply and rub in. I used to use renaissance wax, but switched to BLL.

[redriverhunter]

thanks for all the replies and help. rrh

[oldred]

Try a razor blade (use a safety blade with one edge) and oil, before the steel wool, first. That will allow you to preserve the bluing.

(I've seen this done by a gunsmith that was restoring a rifle. It works great!)


I have been removing rust for years on various items including guns but I have never heard of anyone doing that until now, 0000 steel or bronze wool was my choice and it worked really great. Having just gotten a T/C 54 cal Hawkin Barrel with some rust on the flats I decided to go out to the shop and try this although I had my doubts I must admit, not any more -that little trick REALLY works!

Thanks for tip!

[Geezer in NH]

Rig grease