Spots of Rust, what is best avanue to take to repair

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Guys just bought some guns from a guy that had stored them wrong, they have
small areas of rust on them, what do I do now. You guys always have some good
advice. Thanks in Advance Ray

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[greydog111]

Guys just bought some guns from a guy that had stored them wrong, they have
small areas of rust on them, what do I do now. You guys always have some good
advice. Thanks in Advance Ray

What kind of finish? Sometimes 0000 steel wool and machine oil will take it off without doing much to the blueing. High gloss blue is really touchy though. If the weapons are of high quality, you might want a smith to advise you. Greydog.

 

[jbett98]

Ray, I use a product called "Aerokroil" by Kano Laboratories. It's the "oil that creeps". I just spray it on the rust and let it sit overnight. Than I use a very soft flannel cloth that I soaked in light weight oil and rub. For recessed areas I use a bronze detail brush that I buy at Bi-Mart in the gun cleaning products section. This stuff works great, but it's just removing the rust not any pitting or freckling. You will have to buy this product online.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

Depends on how deep rust is. (surface rust or not)

You can start with light rubbing with super fine wool with oil.

 

[FA9]

Bronze wool and Kroil.

Bronze wool is softer than bluing so it won't scratch.

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After

WOW! Great job!

 

[[email protected]]

Wow guys thanks that is the info I need, and the guns are all older, one is a 30-40 Krag and a couple older 22's so this should work good, will look for some Bronze wool today and get some Kroil, Thanks again and nice job on the rust spots.....Ray

 

[Greenbug]

Blue wonder gun cleaner also works very well with just a cotton rag, or some bronze wool or 0000 steel wool for the heavier stuff.

 

[iamme]

I'd start with CLP and a toothbrush. If you go bronze don't go the route of it can't hurt and lean into it. You can go more harm then good.

 

[nforest]

Ospho
you can get it in your local hardware store for etching concrete, try it on something non valuable first. leaves a dark finish.

 

[revjen45]

Blue Wonder gun cleaner says on he label that it can be used to remove rust. I haven't tried it for that, so can't speak from experience as to how well it works in that application. it works pretty well for cleaning guns.

I love Krags. can you post a photo?

 

[Gunner3456]

If the guns aren't valuable and the rust is serious, you can use Barkeeper's Friend which you'll find at the market where they have Comet. It contains Oxalic Acid which absolutely converts rust (iron oxide) to iron tannate which is a stable, bluish-black non-destructive chemical.

You can also get Oxalic Acid in powder form at a hardware store or home center. It will be sold as wood and deck cleaner - just read the active ingredient. Mix about 3 heaping tablespoons in a gallon of HOT water and you can soak parts in it overnight and they'll come out amazing. Might take 24 hours. This will completely strip off the rust, not blue it. It seems to be OK if it cools after you mix it, but if you mix it cold for some reason it doesn't work.

I restore old Schwinn bikes. Here's a rusty chrome wheel I tossed into oxalic acid in a Rubbermaid tub for about 24 hours. No rubbing or scrubbing, just dip and rinse. Notice how it even got into the spaces between the spoke nipples and the wheel.

Oops, I forgot to add. The liquid form won't penetrate oils and grease. Clean the part first with something like lacquer thinner or brake cleaner.

 

[[email protected]]

Nice guys, more info than I could have dreamed of, you guys rock, will get these guns cleaned up 3 will hit the wall cause there mostly wall hangers anyway. Thanks again..Ray

 

[[email protected]]

Ray, I use a product called "Aerokroil" by Kano Laboratories. It's the "oil that creeps". I just spray it on the rust and let it sit overnight. Than I use a very soft flannel cloth that I soaked in light weight oil and rub. For recessed areas I use a bronze detail brush that I buy at Bi-Mart in the gun cleaning products section. This stuff works great, but it's just removing the rust not any pitting or freckling. You will have to buy this product online.

Got your msg about guns but your mail box is full and I have no way to send a PM until you delete some of your old posts....Hope you read this.....you may have others trying to mail you.......Ray

 

[Greenbug]

If the guns aren't valuable and the rust is serious, you can use Barkeeper's Friend which you'll find at the market where they have Comet. It contains Oxalic Acid which absolutely converts rust (iron oxide) to iron tannate which is a stable, bluish-black non-destructive chemical.

You can also get Oxalic Acid in powder form at a hardware store or home center. It will be sold as wood and deck cleaner - just read the active ingredient. Mix about 3 heaping tablespoons in a gallon of HOT water and you can soak parts in it overnight and they'll come out amazing. Might take 24 hours. This will completely strip off the rust, not blue it. It seems to be OK if it cools after you mix it, but if you mix it cold for some reason it doesn't work.

I restore old Schwinn bikes. Here's a rusty chrome wheel I tossed into oxalic acid in a Rubbermaid tub for about 24 hours. No rubbing or scrubbing, just dip and rinse. Notice how it even got into the spaces between the spoke nipples and the wheel.

Oops, I forgot to add. The liquid form won't penetrate oils and grease. Clean the part first with something like lacquer thinner or brake cleaner.

Holy dubs Batman, that stuff is incredible!

I gotta try that! How does it affect blueing?

 

[Gunner3456]

Holy dubs Batman, that stuff is incredible!

I gotta try that! How does it affect blueing?

I have never soaked a blued part in the liquid I make from powder so I don't know. It might even take the bluing off because it is a mild acid. But, if the gun was rusty enough, I'd go for it and then use any of several methods to re-blue it. It won't hurt painted parts and it won't dissolve grease and oils as I mentioned, so it might not touch the bluing. I just don't know. For instance if I have a painted chain guard with good paint on the outside and rust on the inside, It gets the rust without touching the paint, but it does remove the factory decal on the chain guard. Those are all reproduced now so no biggie.

I would certainly not be afraid to soak an entire bolt assembly in lacquer thinner to remove oils and grease, blow it out with compressed air, and the soak the whole thing in oxalic acid. It would come out beautiful. So would things like screws, trigger groups, and anything else you could remove.

 

[Gunner3456]

Here's a 1961 Schwinn Traveler with its original paint, but it naturally had some mild rust. The liquid doesn't hurt rubber so I even got the pedals.