Remington 870 Rusting

beach_boy

beach_boy

Member
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
Location
Medicine Hat, AB
I first want to admit, that this post will most certainly show you guys how new I am to the whole gun scene. I realize that they were rookie mistakes, and I am now ready to let go of my pride and ask some experts.

I recently, about 1 month ago, purchased a new Remington 870 Express Synthetic. I had taken it out, in warm weather, three different times and had put about 125 rounds through it. On my last outing, I had decided that the safest place for me, at the time, to store my shotgun was my car trunk because I had the trigger locked, and the truck has an independent key to open it, plus I was not planning to drive my car for a number of days, as I am out at camp.

Anyways, 4 days pass, and I finally make a trip into town, without the gun, and purchase a lockable case. I get home, excited that I no longer need to hide the gun in my trunk, and no longer need to take the barrel off to store it. I open my case, and take the lid off the box of my shotgun ready to reassemble it and put it in its new home, but when I look over I begin to think, 'man I don't remember my gun being so red and brown.' Suddenly it dawned on me that my gun and barrel were rusted and I began surfing to figure out what to do.

I followed instructions from this site, as well as a number of others of how to deal with rust issues. It has rusted so badly that I had to take it down past the factory paint, and there are still signs of where the rust was. I have went out a few weeks ago and got gun oil and cleaning supplies, and it has prevented more damage, but I was wondering what you guys think I should do. Do you think that the store where I got it would take it back? Or should I suck up my pride and take it to them to get it reblued, and what not? Could I paint it and stop it from rusting or am I just wasting my time and money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,
Beach_boy
 
Last edited:
Start by getting it out of the trunk and into a proper lock up. Put a hasp and a pad lock on a closet.
"...where I got it would take it back?..." Not a chance.
Use 0000 steel wool and oil to remove the rust. A fine brass wire wheel in a bench grinder with a light touch is quicker, but the steel wool and oil will take off the rust. There is no paint. You'll have to have it re-blued or put on one of the aftermarket finishes.
 
Firstly, no, the store will not take it back (if they do let us know so we can all shop there). As for having to "take it down past the factory paint", uh, that wasn't paint. It was the guns finish (not sure if express' are parkerized or not) and it is now gone, BTW what were you using to take off the rust? Next time try 000 or 0000 steel wool. You have a couple of options on what to do to fix it:

1. Cold Blue - not a good option as most cold bluing sucks crap and it will take you quite a bit of work to make it look half decent.

2. Have it re-blued professionally - probably not worth it $$ - wise.

3. Arma-coat or Dura-coat it - this is the route I personally think you should go, from what you have said in your story.

BTW, never leave a non-stainless gun in a case or box or sock or anything while it is not in use. Temperature changes (even minor ones) can make a gun "sweat" when in a tightly confined space. You need to have airflow around it to keep condensation from forming and staying aroun long enough to cause problems. Either way, make sure you oil the hell out of it before you store it in a box or case.

Good luck.
 
If it is an 870 Express with the dull finish--they are prone to surface rust unless you take very good care of them and keep them well wiped down with a rust preventative..

44Bore
 
- Gun is indoors, locked, and stored away, so no problems there. It has been out of the car for sometime. It was only in there for those 4 days
- I used some steel wool to take off the rust, but probably used a little too much pressure, or didn't notice how many times I went over the gun
-
Pudelpointer said:
Arma-coat or Dura-coat
Click to expand...
- Where would one pick some of that up?

Questions:
Do the refinishing products cover up any of the spots leftover from the rust? I ask this because when I got rid of the rust, and took off the gun's finish (thanks for pointing that out, for some reason I was thinking powder coated), I am left with a more shiny version of a Remington 870. Or is my only option to use one of the refinishing products and paint it?

Thanks for all those who have responded,
Beach_boy
 
If you want to re-blue, you are better off to strip the whole gun using a blue and rust remover. That will take the metal to the "white", then refinish.

As for Arma/Duracoat, do a CGN search for each word; there has been a lot of threads discussing these products. As for do they cover up any pitting, you will probably find the answer in the relevant threads.

By the way, either refinish OR armacoat, not both.
 
Dura coat will cover up pitting that is not too extensive, but only to a point.I don't know if you want to buy the equipment and do this yourself. If you do the steel must be very clean.The other alternative is to have it hot blued by a professional.The 870 express is not parkerized, it's media blasted and then blued.Cold bluing is not as good as the first two choices,but it can be done to a satisfactory finnish.Oce a gun has rusted to the point of pitting it must be kept lubed and tended to.
 
beach_boy said:
I first want to admit, that this post will most certainly show you guys how new I am to the whole gun scene. I realize that they were rookie mistakes, and I am now ready to let go of my pride and ask some experts.

I recently, about 1 month ago, purchased a new Remington 870 Express Synthetic. I had taken it out, in warm weather, three different times and had put about 125 rounds through it. On my last outing, I had decided that the safest place for me, at the time, to store my shotgun was my car trunk because I had the trigger locked, and the truck has an independent key to open it, plus I was not planning to drive my car for a number of days, as I am out at camp.

Anyways, 4 days pass, and I finally make a trip into town, without the gun, and purchase a lockable case. I get home, excited that I no longer need to hide the gun in my trunk, and no longer need to take the barrel off to store it. I open my case, and take the lid off the box of my shotgun ready to reassemble it and put it in its new home, but when I look over I begin to think, 'man I don't remember my gun being so red and brown.' Suddenly it dawned on me that my gun and barrel were rusted and I began surfing to figure out what to do.

I followed instructions from this site, as well as a number of others of how to deal with rust issues. It has rusted so badly that I had to take it down past the factory paint, and there are still signs of where the rust was. I have went out a few weeks ago and got gun oil and cleaning supplies, and it has prevented more damage, but I was wondering what you guys think I should do. Do you think that the store where I got it would take it back? Or should I suck up my pride and take it to them to get it reblued, and what not? Could I paint it and stop it from rusting or am I just wasting my time and money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,
Beach_boy
Click to expand...

Many years ago i did the same thing with my first shotgun, a new winchester mod 1200 bought at Macleods Hardware for the princely sum of $79.95. I was 16 in those pre-FAC/PAL days and the investment was a major portion of the money i had saved from pumping gas at a summer job.

I left the gun a soft case in the trunk of my '63 Valiant and was sickened when i pulled it out a couple days later and found it rusting.

I used oil and steel wool on it and it came back almost as good as new. Very minor pitting on the barrel that i touched up with cold blue. I never did re-finish it and it still sees service regularly in duck blinds.
 
It is well known that the higher the polish on the metal surface, the more resistant that surface will be to rusting. Bluing does not provide as much corrosion protection as people think.

Do yourself a favour and find yourself a nice used Wingmaster 870. I just sold one that was over 30 years old for under $400 and it still looks like a million bucks. If you can't get a hunting gun wet without rusting (or even not wet without rusting), its a pretty useless hunting gun IMO.

516439654_e1b04b47c0_o.jpg
 
I have had new 870 Express with surface rust right out of the box,They are prone to surface rust.Mind you I have one of the first Express that came into Canada and it is just like new.
As for the rust on your gun depending on how much rust there is I would live with it for now and have it parkerized when needed.

Good Luck
 
Same thing happened to my super express! I opened my case and saw an orange gun! I flipped out. I took it all apart, and cleaned it, and now every couple weeks I check on it, and make sure it has a nice fresh coating of oil. It looks like new again, but it's the one gun in my collection that I constantly need to worry about....
 
I bought a Garda surplus rem870 that had a pretty worn out finish last year. Didn't want to invest much in it so I sandblasted it and used a can of clear coat for car wheels that I bought at Cambodian Tire for 10$.

It's nothing fancy but works really well and it hasn't rusted at all even though I don't take very good care of it. Plus I kinda like the glossy bare metal finish :)
 
WaltherP38 said:
I bought a Garda surplus rem870 that had a pretty worn out finish last year. Didn't want to invest much in it so I sandblasted it and used a can of clear coat for car wheels that I bought at Cambodian Tire for 10$.

It's nothing fancy but works really well and it hasn't rusted at all even though I don't take very good care of it. Plus I kinda like the glossy bare metal finish :)
Click to expand...

id like to see a picture of that. sounds interesting
 
gth said:
Yep, the finish on the express sucks balls. Paint it with something unless you want to store it submerged in oil.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree with this statement. I have two 870 Expresses and I have had no rust problems with them. After coming in from outside with them, I will let them air dry and warm up to room temperature if it's cold weather out. I will then wipe them down with a clean cloth before putting them away. Neither one of them has seen any oil. All it takes is a little common sense to avoid rust problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom