Derust and refinishing

[KsSkaEnthusiast]

I just acquired an older Chinese sks that has a decent bit of rust. It is to the point where it has pitted some spots on the outside of the barrel, and the stock retainer piece that is attached to said barrel. I have done a function check and the internals are for the most part good apart from the magazine also has rust. The gun performs flawlessly but how should I go about derusting and refinishing to prevent more rust from forming?

 

[troy fairweather]

Make a pipe or box to hang the parts in, then steam it for 20 minutes.

 

[7mmsavage]

Make a pipe or box to hang the parts in, then steam it for 20 minutes.

Hey Troy, I’m curious about your answer cause I have a fairly rough SKS myself.

What is accomplished by the steaming, does it just kill the rust or does the rust darken to look more like the original bluing? What do you do with the parts after steaming?

Thanks

 

[troy fairweather]

Hey Troy, I’m curious about your answer cause I have a fairly rough SKS myself.

What is accomplished by the steaming, does it just kill the rust or does the rust darken to look more like the original bluing? What do you do with the parts after steaming?

Thanks

It will convert rust to a black oxide, rub with some fine steel wool to remove the black velvet.

 

[herrwalther]

BC blue and rust remover will strip off the bluing as well as rust spots. Use with 0000 (ultra fine) steel wool. Make sure to wear gloves and be in a well ventilated work area. This stuff is quite toxic. Works best if you are doing a complete refinish with hot or cold bluing. For the pitting, use a dropper to add the remover directly to the pit and buff it out. If the pitting is particularly deep you may have to move up to sandpaper 600 or 1200 grit to smooth out the metal.

https://www.amazon.com/Birchwood-Casey®-Blue-Rust-Remover/dp/B000LC9VKW

 

[GBExpat]

It will convert rust to a black oxide ...

Sounds like you are creating Fe3O4 (black rust of iron, a.k.a, magnetite) to fend off future Fe2O3 (red rust of iron). Yes?

From our point of view, the primary difference (other than color) is that, unlike Fe2O3, Fe3O4 does not occupy more volume than the original "iron" and, therefore, produces no pitting.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

I just acquired an older Chinese sks that has a decent bit of rust. It is to the point where it has pitted some spots on the outside of the barrel, and the stock retainer piece that is attached to said barrel. I have done a function check and the internals are for the most part good apart from the magazine also has rust. The gun performs flawlessly but how should I go about derusting and refinishing to prevent more rust from forming?

Being a "battle rifle", I'd bead blast all the metal and then Dura-Coat that rifle.

 

[wiscoaster]

I second herrwalter's method; that's what I'd do (and have done to other long guns). You will of course need to completely disassemble, clean, derust, and then reblue which means lots of elbow grease, but I think you'll be happy with the results and the feeling of having done it yourself.