Old guns been sitting need to clean? Rusty?

Grouse Man said:
CLP is BreakFree Clean/Lube/Protect, good stuff.

0000 steel wool, used gently, after letting the CLP work. Go circumferentially, not along the bore axis. Imagine you have an open wound with dirt in it and you have to clean it out with 0000 steel wool - be that gentle.

When you wipe on CLP after the cleaning, use enough to make it look 'wet' and shiny. h ttp://www.cabelas.com/product/Break-Free-Gun-Cleaners/709860.utsLet it sit and work away for a week. Rub down with a rag.

Oh, and BTW, those are nice quality rifles.
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Thank you. Excited to have them.
 
Sun said:
try some "neverdull" polishing agent. can be picked up from most home hardwares and works wonders.
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No. The stuff is good for a lot of things, but not this heavy rust.


Steel wool and oil, any oil, then a lot of elbow grease.

Gonna be some pits under that. It's not 'light', by any means.

Gonna be a Tammy-Fay make-up job to get those looking good without a complete re-work. Lots of filler and a heavy coat of paint. Otherwise, it's time to brush up and read about prep for rebluing.

Cheers
Trev
 
parrisw said:
Thank you. Excited to have them.
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While it is a shame they rusted, it is kind of cool that you can add your page in the history of those rifles by cleaning them up. You are by the ocean, I have seen rust blooms in weeks. It happens. You can likely clean them up nicely and hunt with them then pass them on for another page in the story.
There are lots of good options posted above. My opinion is start with the gentle methods first and work up.
It would be a shame to do more damage with a bench grinder.
 
willisjake said:
While it is a shame they rusted, it is kind of cool that you can add your page in the history of those rifles by cleaning them up. You are by the ocean, I have seen rust blooms in weeks. It happens. You can likely clean them up nicely and hunt with them then pass them on for another page in the story.
There are lots of good options posted above. My opinion is start with the gentle methods first and work up.
It would be a shame to do more damage with a bench grinder.
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Will not be using a bench grinder. I've picked up some steel wool and oil. Will start there.

Thank you everyone.
 
Cardamonfrost said:
Evap o Rust

Its great stuff.

YMMV.
C
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Evapo Rust is a great product, but do not use it here.
It will remove all the bluing.

If you take a spent brass rifle cartridge (30.06 .303 etc.) and flatten the end.
You can use it to scrape the heavy rust with out hurting the bluing around it.

Small brass brush if used sparingly helps too.

You will find that all methods as well the 0000 steel wool will work well without oil.

Put the oil to it when you are finished
 
"EVAPO-RUST® perfect for removing weapon finishes such as Bluing, Parkerizing, Zinc Phosphate, and Browning. Anodizing, powder coating, chrome, nickel, ion bonding, paint, and most other coatings will not be removed as long as they do not contain oxides. EVAPO-RUST® will not harm lead or solder points."
 
Got the 270 apart and cleaned and back together today, used 0000 steel wool and some G96 gun treatment. Came out nice, better then I had hoped!

IMG_1339.jpg


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This was the bad spot.
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Silverback said:
It looks way better now, good work
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Sure do!

The spots that were left can be camofaged a bit with a touch of cold bluing. It's not great stuff, but better than bare metal by a fair shot.

And to all the folks that suggested Evaporust, give yer thick heads a shake. Bluing IS rust. It'll remove it all and strip the gun to bare metal. Use it on your own first!

Cheers
Trev
 
looks way better now, and should last many more decades.
Another GREAT way to get rid of some thicker surface rust is to lube it, and gently scrape it of by going over it lightly with an old penny that is close to 100% copper. before 1980 is good. then wipe off and repeat. it is less prone to scratch the blueing than steel wool.

oh man i didnt see the video..... too late :p

I had to do about the same thing as you when i got a bunch of rifles from my grandfather. lots of work but it's worth it.
 
Plasticman said:
looks way better now, and should last many more decades.
Another GREAT way to get rid of some thicker surface rust is to lube it, and gently scrape it of by going over it lightly with an old penny that is close to 100% copper. before 1980 is good. then wipe off and repeat. it is less prone to scratch the blueing than steel wool.

oh man i didnt see the video..... too late :p

I had to do about the same thing as you when i got a bunch of rifles from my grandfather. lots of work but it's worth it.
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So worth it. Will try the penny trick on the next one. It looks a little worse.

Will
 
trevj said:
Sure do!

The spots that were left can be camofaged a bit with a touch of cold bluing. It's not great stuff, but better than bare metal by a fair shot.

And to all the folks that suggested Evaporust, give yer thick heads a shake. Bluing IS rust. It'll remove it all and strip the gun to bare metal. Use it on your own first!

Cheers
Trev
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Thank you. Yes no evaporust for guns. It's harsh stuff. You actually have to look close to see the spots. I'm happy!
 
Correct me if I am wrong here, but the op specifically mentioned the possibility of rebluing in their post. Cold blue is not reblue.

FWIW, if they were my fathers firearms handed down to me, I would have done just that - hence the Evaporust suggestion.

I'm glad the OP made his choices and is happy with the result.

C

trevj said:
Sure do!

The spots that were left can be camofaged a bit with a touch of cold bluing. It's not great stuff, but better than bare metal by a fair shot.

And to all the folks that suggested Evaporust, give yer thick heads a shake. Bluing IS rust. It'll remove it all and strip the gun to bare metal. Use it on your own first!

Cheers
Trev
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