How to deal with pitting?

Speedy3570

Speedy3570

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Good people of CGN,

I got around to taking apart an old Enfield and cleaning it up. Wood is good, metal is mostly good with some blue intact but the sight has some pretty gross pitting on it pictured here https://imgur.com/a/vCWkZJL

I tried scrubbing it for a bit with solvent and brass but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I guess the idea is to scrub the black out of the pits and keep it greasy so it doesn't start corroding again? Is there a trick to this or a particular chemical that works well or should I just keep scrubbing? Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance for your input.
 
From your picture, I think you have figured out that the "pits" are places where the original material has combined with oxygen (became "rust"). Normally the formation of red iron rust results in a greater volume than the original steel/iron. This creates a "bubble" or "bulge" of rust. When the rust flakes away, you are left with the divot - the "pit". The process is complex - closer to the rusting steel, the "rust" is not red rust, it is black rust - that is actually the process used in "slow rust" bluing, which was done for centuries - create rust, card off the red stuff, leave the black stuff, repeat, then finish with a soak in oil.
You can get back to all shiny steel - usually by abrasive blasting, to remove all the corruption out of the pits. Then, using a welding rod the same composition as the parent material, the perfectly cleaned out pit can be filled, and the surface filed to match the original surface. I doubt your No. 1 Lee Enfield is worth that much effort.
In similar cases, I have soaked the metal in a good penetrating oil for a couple of days. This will loosen a lot of the corruption, although probably not all of it. A cheap "good" penetrating oil is a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. I have also used SeaFoam "Deep Creep" and Kroil. Given enough time, these products will work their way under the corruption and loosen it some more, but can do nothing to replace the volume that was lost when the parent material formed red rust in the first place.
You may find that you will want to disassemble much further, since there is likely similar corruption underneath that sight body, within the hinge ears, on the cross pin, etc.
 
I use evaporust to clean up small rusty parts. If it's nothing too major of an eyesore piece, I'll file or sand it a bit to blend the pitting, then cold blue.
 
You can remove the blueing with vinegar. It actually works well. Either soak the part or wrap it in a vinegar saturated rag. Brush the part during application and repeat if needed rinsing well with water...

Use potent vinegar not the balsamic stuff ;)
 
After watching the c&arsenal video I have personally gone from the evaporust / harsh mechanical removal of rust to boiling the guns in distilled water then using a carding brush to clean off the grime with surprising results. I did this with an old french berthier artillery carbine that was in rough shape and after boiling and carding looks almost new minus the hundred years of finish wear.
 
A second thought for the OP - depending what you are trying to accomplish - for example, "to make it look better", for small parts like sights, safeties, triggers, sears, etc., you most always have the opportunity to simply buy that part, in better shape than what you have, and replace it. Some parts on some guns are serial numbered, or have specific maker or proof stamps, so that may become an issue. Changing out parts may or may not affect the value of the rifle - can make it worth more or worth less - depends on the buyer, and what they are looking for. Ex-military guns often went through re-builds or overhauls in their service lifetimes, and, from my experience, these re-builders did not fuss too much about having "all matching" numbers or makers marks.
I have gone through about a dozen P14 and M1917's in the last year, sportered by someone at home, by BSA in England, and full military configuration, and none were completely "all matching markings", as they would have when they left the factory. I did buy a full stocked M1917 advertised as "numbers matching", which is an interesting phrase to use for an M1917, because there is only one number on an American issued M1917 - the serial number on the receiver. Any numbers on the bolt or other places were added by someone other than the American military - most commonly by the British or Canadian military. Of course, that rifle had Winchester, Eddystone and Remington marked parts on that Eddystone receiver (including an "HS" - High Standard marked WWII barrel). I was quite pleased with the transaction - good pictures from the buyer really helped - I paid for what I expected and, in fact, did receive.
Always keep in mind, for the time being, anyways, that your sportered No. 1 Lee Enfield can be completely replaced with a perfectly usable one, in the range of $200 shipped.
 
Thanks all for your replies. My intention is just to stop the rust from progressing further. The rifle is in military configuration and all the major components are matching numbers so I’m not really inclined to swap the sight out. There doesn’t appear to be any corrosion anywhere else besides the rest sight except a bit of surface rust on the inside of the magazine. You guys have given me some solid suggestions and I think I should be able to strip the rust out of the pits and just keep it greasy to stop further issues. Thanks again.
 
The sight isn’t serialized as far as I can tell so if it dies of cancer I suppose I could just replace it. I’m not fussed about the metal being screwed up - I just want to stop the rot.
 
So, it appears that rust is the result of the iron (Fe) atoms in the parent material combining with oxygen (O) to create rust - Fe2O3. Water, on unprotected iron/steel, draws a bit of CO2 from the air and becomes slightly acidic - i.e. weak carbonic acid. The carbonic acid frees up some Fe atoms from the metal, which combine with the O in air and in the water, a few electrons wander off and the atoms reform as Fe2O3 - rust aka iron oxide. So, "smothering" the metal surface in layer of oil, which prevents the water and air from reaching the surface, stops the rusting process. I do not think that rust can continue to form under a clean oiled surface. For certain, rust can continue to form under an oiled surface if the acid is under the oil - hence, oiling a bore after firing with corrosive primers, without first removing the salts left behind, does not preserve the bore.
 
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