Best way to clean rust from old Martini action

[alemonkey]

I have an 1890 Martini-Henry action that I'm going to build into a custom rifle. The action has some surface rust and minor pitting. The internals also have surface rust and a ton of gunk. Before shipping it off to the gunsmith I'd like to clean it up. What would you guys recommend? I plan on having it rust blued eventually, so I don't care about losing patina.

I've thought about using electrolysis, but would that possibly damage the metal? I have a friend who owns a blast cabinet, so bead blasting might be an option also. Or, is there anything I could soak it in?

 

[Shimitup]

Rub it down with fine steel wool (000 at least) and WD40 or light oil, it will take off the rust and won't alter the finish noticeably if at all.

 

[ranger335v]

I did some hot blueing back in the mid 60s. Found the only way I could quickly and harmlessly remove rust, down to the bottom of any pits, was to chemically dissolve it away with a short soak in a 1:1 mix of muratic acid and water. The acid is a concrete cleaner, Lowes has it by the gallon and one should be more than enough. (Mix by adding acid to the water, not the other way around.) The finished and cleaned results were easily hot blued with no later rust rising on the metal.

Use the acid outside, with plenty of ventalation and don't let the fumes reach any other ferrous metal or it WILL cause rust on them! Use it in a steel, glass or plastic container, NOT aluminum.

Degrease the metal as well as you can. Cover it completely with the acid mix and stir it a little maybe every ten minutes for a half hour or so. While longer soaks won't harm the steel it can etch the surface slightly, but not as much as blast cleaning would do. And blasting may not get to the bottom of the rust as the acid surely will!

When the visible rust has turned completely black, remove the action, flush it with running water a few minutes and then soak it a few more minutes in a solution of baking soda and water (actually, a carbonated soft drink will do!) to kill the remaining acid. Remove, dry and spay it with any light oil to prevent flash rusting of the super clean bare metal as you remove the residue.

Remove the black rust residue with a light wire brush on a grinding tool. When clean, re-oil it and store in a very dry place until it gets to the gunsmith who will finish the job.

Use rubber gardening gloves and cheap safety/eye goggles to keep the acid off you. Have a garden hose and a gallon or so of baking soda solution handy to immediately flush/kill any spills while you work with it. Dilute the acid bath with lots of water and pour it where it will not kill any grass or flowers; it's really not very harmful after it's diluted.

Understand that muratic acid is not terribly strong but it's usually limited to professonal use. Breathing the fumes can damage your lungs and burn the surface of your eyes so treat it with respect. But it WILL do what you want, completely, if you are a careful worker. If not, stay away from it!

 

[Shadow 7D]

Navel jelly, or bead blast if you have it, other wise, elbow grease.

 

[rcmodel]

If you have a friendly car repair guy, have him throw it in the carb cleaner tank for a while.

I use a fine wire wheel on a buffer to clean up old WInchester actions.

A light Bead blasting is also very good.

rc

 

[Oyeboten]

Images?



If rust is in areas not accessible to hand rubbing...then one recourse is to de-grease and remove the rust in one operation via a liesured immersion in hot or at least warm Caustic Soda...for which, the poor-man's version is regular 'Draino'...and, a covered Plastic or Enamel Bucket on a Heating Pad.

Do not use a Galvanized Bucket.


This will remove all old grease, oil, and rust...

 

[alemonkey]

I don't have any images, but some of the rust is not easily accessible with steel wool or other manual methods. That's why I'm thinking a chemical cleaner would be best.

 

[tjj]

I read some articles on electrolysis rust removal and it said it does not harm bare metal at all. You need a battery charger or power supply and a lye solution. I didn't ever get around to trying it though. I understand it's a slow process.

 

[alemonkey]

I've used electrolysis to clean the inside of a nasty bore, so that's why I was thinking of using it to possibly clean the action. I don't mind if it takes a while, just want to make sure it wouldn't harm anything.

 

[Shadow 7D]

The electrolysis can remove alloy metals from barrels, saw a post where someone whet through the chemistry involve, but you need a specific current and then the proper electrolyte, otherwise your doing a sped up acid etching, can really eat metal. That is why the commercial setups cost a bit, $50?