12ga barrel rubber stoppers

[natlmatch]

All,

I'd like to de-rust the outside of the barrel of a gifted Maverick 88. Does anyone know where I can
buy the correct rubber stoppers (breech and muzzle)?
Or do any of you crafty smart peeps use something from around the home?
i plan on submerging the barrel in apple cider vinegar.

Thank you!

[stubshaft]

Your local hardware store should have some rubber corks. Even a cork from a wine botttle can be shaved down and used.

[megasupermagnum]

I wouldn't put any plugs in. Vinegar won't hurt steel, and your bore isn't coated with chrome or anything like that. I do this trick quite a bit, I've currently got a set of exhaust manifolds sitting in vinegar in the garage. It's slow, but works with no damage to steel. It does etch aluminum, and it stains brass. You can unscrew your bead if you don't want it to turn dark, or just buff it off later with steel wool. It will eat all your bluing off, and leave your barrel black color. It will need to be neutralized in baking soda afterwards, or it will rust like crazy fast.

All that said, I've done a few rusty shotgun barrels, and nothing beats a wire wheel on a bench grinder. Wizz wheel the rust and bluing away in 5 minutes, clean it off good with solvent, cold blue, and done. People can say all they want about cold blue, but BC super blue does a good job, at least as good as a standard pump shotgun bluing.

[fastdadio]

Instead of vinegar, I would suggest a product made for the task.
https://www.amazon.com/Vht-Rust-Conv...ustomerReviews
Or;
https://www.autozone.com/miscellaneo...ULDw&gclsrc=ds
I'm no gunsmith, but I have restored many old motorcycles. Wire brush and soak all the rusted parts and bits overnight, rinse with water, and badda bing! ready for plating or painting. These are not noxious chemicals either. No bad fumes, not acidic, easy to work with.
I have cleaned up a couple abused old shotguns, and for a final finish, if you're not set on bluing, I highly recommend this stuff;
https://shop.brownells.com/gunsmith-...b71b0b7d96a9a5
Easy to apply, tough chemical resistant coating.

[Hannibal]

If the rust has been there long enough to cause pitting then draw filing/sanding is the only way to get rid of the pits. If you go this route then removing the rust chemically is unnecessary and will only cause the restoration to take longer.

[megasupermagnum]

This is a Maverick 88. The guy isn't going to be spending $65 to $100 on rust remover for a barrel you can buy on ebay for under $100. $3 a gallon vinegar works fine, but I don't think any chemical is going to beat a wire wheel in this case.

[natlmatch]

All great info!! Thanks gang!!!

I owe you guys a few pics so you can see what I'm dealing with. I do intent to paint this with a baked on Rustoleum epoxy
Appliance rattle can finish (with which I've had great success on other pieces (40mins @ 400deg)).

I've painted over bluing and had no problems but I've never dealt with rust like this before and do want to take it all off.

I should mention that what you see in those pics is after doing 3 passes and wipe-downs with oil-impregnated 0000 steel wool.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/yS5Lw28

[megasupermagnum]

Oh that's nothing, you won't hardly have any pitting even. Like I said, take that to a bench grinder with a wire wheel, and you will be done in no time flat.

[Hannibal]

Oh that's nothing, you won't hardly have any pitting even. Like I said, take that to a bench grinder with a wire wheel, and you will be done in no time flat.

I'm curious how you can make such a claim with no image of the barrel to look at. A wire wheel won't remove pitting and it doesn't take much rusting at all to create pits. Now if pitting is acceptable in the final appearance then sure, why not wire wheel it.

[megasupermagnum]

I'm curious how you can make such a claim with no image of the barrel to look at. A wire wheel won't remove pitting and it doesn't take much rusting at all to create pits. Now if pitting is acceptable in the final appearance then sure, why not wire wheel it.

The images show up just fine for me.

[Hannibal]

My mistake, wasn't looking in the right place. I disagree, there will be pits under that rust.

[megasupermagnum]

I've come back from a morning duck hunt with worse rust than that. He will be fine.

[Tokarev]

I had a barrel rusted exactly like in the pictures and I got away with rubbing the rust off with a piece of oil-soaked canvas. There was still blueing remaining under the rust. 10+ years later no further rust appeared.

[Geezer in NH]

Steel white from Brownell's in my former shop. We never plugged bores rust gone but requires a tank and heat.

For at home, I use a rust remover bought at NAPA auto stores it's the same as all the other rust removers buts easy to find for me.