Electrolytic Rust Removal - Russian SKS

VancouverBox

VancouverBox

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I was over on Vancouver island for almost two weeks due to a family member's fight with Cancer, and family members from all across Canada had met together to be there by his side.

One of the days a group of the guys decided to go down to the local range to let off a bit of steam down range.

Needless to say I put around 300-400 rounds of corrosive ammunition through my SKS, and I didn't have my range bag at the time so I wasn't able to swab the barrel until I got home almost a week later.

The barrel is quite rusted and i'm looking for a surefire way to remove it. I cleaned the barrel fairly thoroughly and managed to get rid of most of the rust but I found a fairly interesting rust removal method that i'm considering doing as well(see the link below).

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

Wish I could say that I don't feel stupid, but what other methods are there for removing rust?

Are there any other ways to protect the rifle from rust other then the usual maintenance after using corrosive ammo?

And how much pitting in a barrel is allowed before it becomes a safety hazard?
 
It will remove the rust, but also the bluing and turn the metal a dull gray and the rifle will have to be polished and reblued. I think having the bore chrome plated would be a better solution.
 
I meant the inside of the barrel, it will fill in some of the smaller pitting and protect from further damage.
 
Where would I have to go to get the bore chromed properly, i'm assuming it isn't your standard car part chroming they do when it comes to the bore of someones rifle.

EDIT:

Nevermind, I found a thread regarding this :]
 
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I don't really see this becoming a "safety hazard" just because your bore is pitted .... Remember that electrolysis will turn those rust spots into actual pits, so your bore may end up "looking" a lot worse once you're done .... Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much, having "too much" rust in the barrel may affect accuracy, but it's not like an SKS is a precision instrument to begin with .... Anything you do will be purely for cosmetic purposes. My advice : a liberal dose of CLP down the bore and gas cylinder, leave it there a week, brush, patch, repeat .... After 3-4 such sessions you will see that stuff will stop coming out. The "worst" I can see happening is that you <may> have limited your gun's lifespan from about 15k rds to about 14k rds, which is more than most folks will shoot in a lifetime with those anyway.
 
VancouverBox said:
I was over on Vancouver island for almost two weeks due to a family member's fight with Cancer, and family members from all across Canada had met together to be there by his side.

One of the days a group of the guys decided to go down to the local range to let off a bit of steam down range.

Needless to say I put around 300-400 rounds of corrosive ammunition through my SKS, and I didn't have my range bag at the time so I wasn't able to swab the barrel until I got home almost a week later.

The barrel is quite rusted and i'm looking for a surefire way to remove it. I cleaned the barrel fairly thoroughly and managed to get rid of most of the rust but I found a fairly interesting rust removal method that i'm considering doing as well(see the link below).

http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

Wish I could say that I don't feel stupid, but what other methods are there for removing rust?

Are there any other ways to protect the rifle from rust other then the usual maintenance after using corrosive ammo?

And how much pitting in a barrel is allowed before it becomes a safety hazard?
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Your sks bore is not already chromed? What kind of sks you have?
 
RobSmith said:
I don't really see this becoming a "safety hazard" just because your bore is pitted .... Remember that electrolysis will turn those rust spots into actual pits, so your bore may end up "looking" a lot worse once you're done .... Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much, having "too much" rust in the barrel may affect accuracy, but it's not like an SKS is a precision instrument to begin with .... Anything you do will be purely for cosmetic purposes. My advice : a liberal dose of CLP down the bore and gas cylinder, leave it there a week, brush, patch, repeat .... After 3-4 such sessions you will see that stuff will stop coming out. The "worst" I can see happening is that you <may> have limited your gun's lifespan from about 15k rds to about 14k rds, which is more than most folks will shoot in a lifetime with those anyway.
Click to expand...

I agree,I wouldn't worry about it too much,,,just go buy another one if your really worried,,,,as we all know the price is right for a decent SKS,I think it would cost you more to chrome it than buy a new one??
 
I'm thinking of going with what rob mentioned, Although I did get a jump of glee when the thought of turning it into a project rifle came up.

At $195 a rifle worst case scenario is I just end up buying another SKS.

I have the feeling I might just spend that extra cash on a decent nugget or scaling upwards towards an enfield which would be a cool addition to my collection; like you said, they're not exactly precision instruments to begin with, but fun as hell to shoot none the less!
 
I was afraid of the thought of firing corrosive surplus ammo in my SKS when I began to read your post but I noticed you mentioned your bore is not already chromed ? I am guessing your SKS is late 40s, early 50s ? Interesting to see an SKS that does not have a chrome bore. My '53 Tula (I think) has a chrome bore as, after cleaning, it is extremely shiny and reflective of any light being shined down the bore. There is also (again I think) chrome around the crown of the muzzle. Considering how cheap SKSes are right now I would just have fun and shoot it or buy a replacement chromed barrel. At the worst, buy another SKS.
 
My 1950 Tula doesn't have a chrome lined barrel either, I just clean like I would any of my Milsurps after firing corrosive ammo, no worries.
One of the main reasons I bought this rifle was because of the spring loaded firing pin which equals no slamfires, plus it is a relatively rare dated rifle.
 
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