Rust all over my Mosins, gun noob, please help me save these rifles!

[Drame22]

Hello everyone,

I went shooting with my Mosins a few weeks ago, I cleaned them like normal and put them away. When I pulled them out today, the metal was almost completely covered in what looks like powdered rust. It comes off mostly with just a swipe of my finger, though some does remain despite trying to wipe it off with shop towels. How did this happen?

My cleaning steps:

Boiling water down the barrel, patches.
Bore solvent, patches.
Oil, patches. Then a final patch with oil on it.


Am I doing something wrong? Did I not dry the pieces enough? I'm scared, please help! I couldn't live with myself if I were responsible for wrecking these beautiful guns.

It's not on the wood, which I assume means it is rust. I haven't taken them apart(frankly I'm terrified to what might be underneath), but tomorrow is my day off and that means saving my Mosins. I'm also new to guns so if anyone notices me doing anything wrong, please tell me!



I've wiped most of it off, but the fact that they went away clean and came back out dirty worries me. I also store them in a set of old school lockers, would these be letting moisture or something in to the guns? I don't have a gun safe yet, unfortunately, but I have a basement room, it's never damp or humid, almost always around 60 degrees and dry.


Cheers,
Drame22


EDIT: It's also all over the bayonets!? What IS this stuff?

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[jluck]

I would guess residual water is causing oxidation

 

[Drame22]

Well how do I fix it?


And does that mean I didn't dry it well enough?


Does anyone have a different method of cleaning that would reduce the chances of this happening again, or better still, a method of making sure they're completely dry?


Cheers,
Drame

 

[accessbob]

Lightly rub it with steel wool and gun oil to remove the rust. In the future, make sure the water goes down the barrel and not the outside. You will likely need to pull the receiver and barrel from the stock to remove any rust and then I would use some CLP on it followed by a very light coat of oil.

~~ Bob

 

[Frankenrifle]

Get a long-neck funnel from your store of choice. The ones with the flexible tube. stick the barrel aiming down into a receptacle of your choosing. Stick the end of the flexible hose into the breech. Pour in boiling water. Give the rifle 5 minutes to cool down. Patch dry. Scrub with your favourite bore cleaner/copper/lead remover. Patch. Repeat previous two steps. Oil barrel. Using a damp cloth wipe the entire outside of the rifle. Dry the outside. Oil the outside metal. Clean the bolt as well and oil it.

That's exactly what I do with mine and they've survived years in my care.

 

[JV100]

I've never heard of boiling water down the barrel..

 

[JV100]

I think the water is doing it myself. I'd just clean with solvent's. Another trick I use is I put silica dry pack's in my safe. I keep them out of random stuff I buy. They come with shoes and all sorts of stuff. Just throw them in your safe or locker, it'll help absorb moisture in the air. Then oil well before you put away.

 

[accessbob]

The water removes the corrosive salts that are formed when corrosive primers are used.

~~ Bob

 

[Certaindeaf]

It sounds like you've essentially done the right things.
How and where do you store them?
Ah, I see the basement deal. I'm extra careful with dessicants and air circulation in the summer if storing in basements here.

 

[Frankenrifle]

I've never heard of boiling water down the barrel..

The temp of the water doesn't matter. I've had better results with very hot to boiling as opposed to room temp or cool. The patches come out cleaner with boiling water.

 

[Asp]

I've never heard of boiling water down the barrel..

You have never owned a Makarov.

 

[JV100]

The cleaning chemicals now days will remove any salts, poring water down your barrel is a old practice. Do what you want, windex is the new option. I'd stay away from the boiling water trick either way. Your gun tho

 

[nwo]

To ensure removing any residual water, or anything else, spray the heck out of the metal with BRAKE CLEANER. This will remove all of the water, and oils, etc leaving perfectly dry, bare metal. After this procedure, be SURE to give a coat of OIL on all the metal parts to protect them.

I've used brake cleaner for years. It works great. Don't ever spray it on painted, or plastic surfaces though. Only metal. It will not harm bluing, or parkerised finishes. Just oil afterwards, and you are good as new.

 

[MarkAd]

The cleaning chemicals now days will remove any salts, poring water down your barrel is a old practice. Do what you want, windex is the new option. I'd stay away from the boiling water trick either way. Your gun tho

JV100
What a condecding bunch of poo. NO the cleaning compounds will not remove the salts unless they contain Ammonia. Un, you do know that Windex is mostly water with color and Ammonia added. Boiling water is used by huge numbers of mosin owners.

It sounds like he got in a hurry and put them away wet.

If the OP is interested PM ,e and I will share a few tips that will help prevent some of this is the future.

 

[JV100]

Hence the windex. Not sure what "condecding" means tho. I do own a mosin "mark" and I just use windex to de salt. Seems to work fine for me, sorry didn't mean to "condect" anyone!

 

[saxon]

why use water when most solvents like hops will clean corosive ammo salts.
i have been shooting mill surps with corosive ammos for over 30 years with hops
and the ONE time i did try water i had the same efect you have, from humidity in a closet.
went back to hops no problems.
and if they are in storage for a while a good helping of CLP on all the metal

edit to add
you can always go to a surplus store and get some GI bore cleaner that was made for cleaning corosive ammo to

 

[biggie24420]

You should get some ballistol, it works great!

 

[Jim Colvill]

I give the metal, inside and out, a light coat of Mobil 1 5w30 before putting my Mosins & Mausers away. (always use synthetic oil) I haven't had a problem. But then, I'm a freak and I look them over at least once a week just to admire them.
~Jim

 

[jjackffrost]

you left some of the salt from the old ammo on it. It happens. should wipe off worry more if the bore is pitted.
I use Windex with ammonia got the idea from one of my AGI gunsmithing videos and light lube with frog lube paste and yea you have to tear it down when you get home. I use Windex to clean the bore and parts when the gun is clean and dry take a hairdryer and heat up the barrel till it is hot to touch run the frog lube paste patch two or three times let it set over night and run a patch thought it again it will get a lot of crap out that the frog lube pulls out of the bore, warm up the barrel again and run the paste through it again, do this three times after that you just have to clean it normally use frog lube paste for the oil it has made cleaning the the rifle a breeze,

 

[trainsktg]

OP - You described the cleaning procedure for the barrel, but you didn't describe the cleaning procedure for the rest of the gun. For instance, like you, I once got a green haze on a Mosin bayonet because I didn't properly clean it after shooting with it attached to the rifle. Make sure everything gets cleaned and oiled before stowing the rifles, and make sure that you are not stowing them in a humid environment, like a basement, without supplemental moisture control. It doesn't hurt to check the rifle for the next few days after cleaning to make sure nothing was missed.

Keith