Rust and mildew removal question

[HWooldridge]

One of our sons is a ranch manager for a wealthy family in north Texas. The dad made his billion in the oil field - got a divorce, retired, spent a bunch of money on guns, cars, heavy equipment, etc., etc., then he died suddenly and left most of it to his daughter. She has good common sense but is technically challenged and most things mechanical are a mystery to her.

My son called me tonight and said they opened an underground vault today that contains about 25-30 antique long arms. The vault had an air exchanger system that apparently broke about a month ago and now all of the guns have mildew on the stocks and some level of light rust on the metal.

He wants me to tell them how to restore the condition - or possibly take on the job. Of course, I don’t know anything about what's there and have not seen any pictures - my son says it’s mostly Civil War era muskets and old Winchesters. Knowing how the dad bought things, it would not surprise me if they were in pristine shape before the damage happened.

I know this is premature, but I’m thinking about trying burlap soaked in oil for the metal parts, and a whole lot of elbow grease. I have a carding wheel but am worried it may be too aggressive.

I also have no idea what to do with the wood - would a toothbrush with baking soda and water work to remove mildew on a typical finish from the 19th century?

[challenger_i]

Wood: stiff brush w/baking soda, but use alcohol (preferably Everclear, due to the low water content). The alcohol will kill the mildew. After air-drying, oil the wood well. Test an inconspicuous area with the alcohol first, in the event the wood has a shellac finish.

Burlap and light oil, for the metalworks, may suffice but if the rust gets persistent, add 2 ounces wintergreen oil to a quart of Marvel Oil and use that with the burlap. Wear rubber gloves. Do NOT get any on your lips, or you will be craving wintergreen Lifesavers!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

The traditional method of rust removal from firearms is to use 4-0 steel wool (4-ought, 0000 grade) and a light oil. This will remove only the rust, but won't harm the remaining original blue. BUT, any rust in pits that have resulted from the rusting is very difficult to remove and is best done with a liquid rust remover. That is hard to control, and any that runs onto the undamaged portion of the finish will remove that bluing. Very careful use of an eyedropper for this will help. As for the mildew, try a cloth soaked with hydrogen peroxide. After it comes off, usually easily, apply a coating of carnauba wax to prevent reoccurrence of the mildew. No guarantees against it coming back as storage conditions are important, but like all guns periodic maintenance should be the rule.

DG

[HWooldridge]

Thanks for the tips - I’ll let y’all know what develops.

I have never met these folks but it sounds like the lady is trying to preserve time capsules from the day her dad passed away - she has all of his cars parked in a large climate controlled garage but they never get driven. I’ve seen pictures of a jeep Renegade from the 1980’s that has something like 150 miles on it - you would not believe the interior and exterior - looks like it just drove off the lot.

[Ford SD]

From the internet.

I have used this method ..... I would also spray down the walls and floor of the area ... you will also have to repeat cleaning as required

the Mold is a fungus not a mould, I had a fiberglass M14 stock and it was sitting next to a wood stock and it also had some mold on it (Eating the oil etc on the stock)

it you can take the metal parts off the wood it is a lot easer. I have used a spray bottle of the below mixture.

over the bath tub Spray and let sit 10 min ..... brush with a soft brush ... hose off ..dry with blue shop cloth
respray wait 5 min brush again, wash off and dry, let dry 24 hours put on what you want to use on the wood and reasembel

it will most likly come back ...6 months to a year (not so bad) and you wil have to retreat.

How it got in to my safe ... years ago ... I was given a british banoet with sheath it went in to my safe ... Opened up later .... SUPPRISE
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How to remove and kill mold on a stock.

Mold is a bad thing, like cancer, to have on a stock and if it is not removed it will spread.
This post will show you how to remove and kill the mold so that it does not come back.
As always we need a Victim, and our victim will be a Turkish Walnut 1893 Mauser stock That has been sitting in The Foster Home for Broken and Unwanted Stocks. This stock is being adoptided by bitrclng and needed to be cleaned and repaired.
Here are a few close up pic's.
You can see the light gray and dark spots on the stock. If left untreated the stock will rot over time.


This is a pertty easy job and here are the things that you will need.
Rubber gloves.
Clorox Bleach.
Paper towels and some water.


Mix one cap- full of Bleach with 2/3 cup of water.
If you use too much bleach you could danage the wood.

Since these two stocks are going to be refinished, I stripped them with Strip-X striper before I started with the mold removal. (Striper will not kill the mold)
First you will need to wet the stock and let it sit for a min. or two. This will allow the mold to actavate (wake up).

Next dip your paper towel onto your bleach mix and wipe the stock down (I uses a bottle sprayer). Allow the stock to dry for about 4 hours and wipe it down again. You will need to wipe the stock down 4 to 5 times. This will kill the mold.


The metal parts you will have to treat separate

[Shawlerbrook]

Pretty much covered the metal above. On mold and mildew on gun stocks I have used Ballistol with great results.

[jonp]

Fast is slow and slow is smooth. If they are antique firearms any light rust or mold acquired in a month should not be bad. Der G. is a good rundown IMHO of what I would do. Go slow and easy then escalate as needed. Shawlerbrook echoes my luck with ballistol.
Just go slow

[cuzinbruce]

You might check out gunsmith Mark Novak's videos on Youtube. He boils the metal parts, then cards them. A lot of useful info. Here is a link to a good one to start with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rShG_F85W1Y

[HWooldridge]

You might check out gunsmith Mark Novak's videos on Youtube. He boils the metal parts, then cards them. A lot of useful info. Here is a link to a good one to start with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rShG_F85W1Y

I have watched some of his videos and they are very informative. I don’t have a boil setup but could probably justify the cost for this job, if they decide to go ahead with it.

I will report back on whatever happens.