Remington Sportsman 58 Semi-Auto Advice

[imachine]

Is there an acceptable amount of surface rust in the gas piston tube and or barrel for safe and reliable shooting?

I took the old 12 gauge Remington Sportsman 58 shotgun out of storage and sadly there is minor pitting near the end of the barrel (last 2") and very slight surface rust spotting in the gas piston tube. I gave the gun a good cleaning (brakeleen for the non-blued parts, WD-40 for the rest, then a thin film of Remoil when it was all done - no oil in the gas tube of course).

Do I need to hone and polish the inside gas piston tube? Anything I should do with the rust in the barrel? Or should I head to the range and shoot to my hearts content?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lodi]

Do I need to hone and polish the inside gas piston tube?

No, no honing on piston assemblies. It's not necessarily dangerous, but you'll just ruin the parts.

If the piston is pitted it might not work, but it's not a safety issue. If the barrel is pitted, usually not a concern unless deeply pitted.

If the rust is "normal", rust that is commonly seen, then you should be good to go shooting. Just do a real good clean first. For the bore, a bit of 0000 steel wool on an old bore brush works well, use a fair amount of oil.

 

[imachine]

Thanks Lodi.

The piston tube is surface rust, and the piston itself is a bit pitted, as is the piston ring (which I smoothed ever so slightly with fine sandpaper). What I am worried about is causing wear by using the gun as it is - especially if it was preventable.

The piston was actually siezed at first (in the tube), but I freed it with a little WD40 and then degreased it with Brakeleen.

Good recommendation with the barrel, I'll do that.