Rusted barrel treatment

[HWooldridge]

Several years ago, a friend of mine asked me to reblue an old Stevens bolt .22 rifle, so I bead blasted the barrel and sprayed it with Oxpho. Came out quite nicely and he was pleased. Fast forward to last summer - he left it laying in a 4-wheeler (but fortunately inside a barn) for several months, now there is a pretty heavy coat of rust on all of the exterior surfaces. Good news is the bore looks pretty good so no harm there.

He would like me to try and kill the rust but doesn't want to spend a lot of time on it because quite frankly, he will probably repeat the previous behavior at some point - might be next year or might be ten years from now.

Last night, I tried scrubbing a small area with some steel wool soaked in WD40. That removed the crust but it's nowhere near smooth. Short of just going ahead with another bead blasting operation, does anyone have thoughts on how to knock down the bad spots and make it look halfway presentable?

TIA, HW

[LAGS]

It sounds like he would be better off if you Ceracoated the metal parts or Duracoated them.
Those will hold up better if he leaves the gun in the barn often.
You can also just spray paint the metal to protect it from rusting.
Spray paint scratches up a little easier than the Duracoat or Ceracoat.
But it does repellent moisture better than bluing.

[racepres]

If it is Nicely coated with fine rust...Yer on yer way to Rust Bluing!!! I bought some small Mauser parts on the Bay a couple years back... specifically asked seller to Not try to Knock any rust off..Boiled the parts in Water...carded 'em a bit...let sit couple months... rusted...boiled again, carded nice c olor so I oiled em up...still look very nice to my eye to this day... tho Not that long..

[Shawlerbrook]

Another vote for cerakote, duracote or Brownells Aluma Hyde.

[LAGS]

If it is a fine rust patina.
De grease the barrel and boil it in distilled water.
That will turn that fine rust to rust bluing.
It won't eliminate any pitting.
But the metal will be protected somewhat from further rust if kept oiled

[Budzilla 19]

I’ve done this to remove rust and leave smooth finish;
Take a. Chrome plated screwdriver, it must have a chrome plated shaft for this to work!
Spray the rust with WD40, rub the chrome shaft of the screwdriver on the rust, it will remove the rust. Wipe the wd40 off, repeat till the rust is gone!
Just burnish the rust off. Got this trick from one of Brownell’s Gunsmith Kinks books.
It works. Good luck.

[stubshaft]

With the type of abuse that your friend exposes the rifle to, I would use Naval Jelly for the rust and then paint and prime with Rust-o-leum!

[contender1]

I've had excellent results at removing rust by using a product called; "Evaporust." I'd plug the barrel, put it in a PVC pipe tube (with a cap glued in place first,) fill the PVC with Evaporust. Let sit overnight & you may well be surprised at the results.

[racepres]

I've had excellent results at removing rust by using a product called; "Evaporust." I'd plug the barrel, put it in a PVC pipe tube (with a cap glued in place first,) fill the PVC with Evaporust. Let sit overnight & you may well be surprised at the results.

I really Like this...Gonna file in my (meager) memory banks... Maybe should Write this Down!!!!!

[Willbird]

IMHO I would just work it down with scotchbrite and paint it with Rust Oleum if he treats it that way .

[racepres]

IMHO I would just work it down with scotchbrite and paint it with Rust Oleum if he treats it that way .

Yes Yes... if Not taken care of...I would simply walk away saying "Looks just like it Should for the current Owner"...Yea...I aint Nice.....Oh Well!!!!!

[sundog]

A friend has a sportered, synthetic stock, 03A3 meant as an all weather hunter. The barrel was very badly stained but not rusted, bore in very good condition. He asked me what I would do to clean up the barrel exterior so that it would be a little more presentable, and btw "don't spend much..."

Final solution was degrease and give it two light coats of flat black ceramic high temp exhaust manifold spray paint from the auto parts store. Still looks good and very versatile for intended use. Water rolls right off and any scratches or scuffs clean up easily with a spritz of the same paint. Easy clean up after a day in the field.

[HWooldridge]

I'll work on it this weekend. The various paint ideas are appealing because he could touch up the gun in the future if (and when) it happens again.

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

[Kestrel4k]

What about getting the friend trained up on how to remove rust ?
I'm thinking it's time he learned how to do it.

[Eddie Southgate]

I really Like this...Gonna file in my (meager) memory banks... Maybe should Write this Down!!!!!

It will also remove all bluing. If you use evaporust as soon as the rust is gone you need to flush with clear water and oil it as soon as you get it dry or it will flash rust almost immediately. It will have to soak for a good while if you have crusty rust and you will still need the 4 aught steel wool .

[john.k]

Evaporust definitely takes time to remove any kind of thick rust.........Ive been soaking a motorbike bit in it for months ,or was until the cat knocked it over .........its an auto advance unit with a drive gear ,and I was hoping to free it up. I got the motor on ebay for 99c........I think if it was to be soaked for several more months ,it might be servicable ,but unfortunately a couple of the teeth on the drive gear are too badly gone to use it.

[LAGS]

I use Vinegar to remove rust.
It also removes the bluing.
If you mix in Hydrogen Peroxide to the vinegar it amps it up a bunch.
That is what I also used to remove rust from auto or motorcycle parts that seemed to be rusted together.
As far as that gear ?
Can those teeth be welded up and reground ?
The fastest rust remover that I ever used is Sulfuric Acid for my pool.
It eats rust fast , but in not too long of time , etch the metal.

[racepres]

It will also remove all bluing. If you use evaporust as soon as the rust is gone you need to flush with clear water and oil it as soon as you get it dry or it will flash rust almost immediately. It will have to soak for a good while if you have crusty rust and you will still need the 4 aught steel wool .

Actually good News... I am having fun with Rust Bluing!! Thanks.

[Texas by God]

Since it IS a “barn gun”, treat it like one.
Sand the rust off and paint the rustable parts with bbq grill paint.
I like barn guns. A piece of tape over the muzzle keeps the dirt daubers out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HWooldridge]

Since it IS a “barn gun”, treat it like one.
Sand the rust off and paint the rustable parts with bbq grill paint.
I like barn guns. A piece of tape over the muzzle keeps the dirt daubers out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amen brother. Paint keeps sounding better with every reply.