my step dad has given me his old model 54 sears 30-30, he can no longer hunt with his age and health. he told me only 3 boxes of ammo has been through it since he got it new many years ago. he only used wd40 on it all the years he had it and it jelled inside the magazine tube and action as he hasn't used it in several years. i got the jelled stuff out and it had surface rust on the outside magazine tube and just a little on the barrel but tube was the worst. i used flitz and a soft cloth followed by oil and 0000 steel wool. now i can run my fingers over the tube and everything is smooth but i can still see rust where it was. is there anythng i can use to remove this rust? is it as good as it can get without removing bluing? to close my eyes and run my finger it feels glassy smooth but rust can still be seen if you look. i don't want to reblue, the few spots of barrel rust are gone and left shiny spots and i'm good with that, just can't figure the tube out. thanks for any help.
removing smooth rust?
- Thread starter old fart
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Try Kroil and Blue Wonder gun cleaner combo using a big 45 metal cleaning pad http://www.big45metalcleaner.com/ or bronze/copper wool (Choreboy scrubbing pad brand with pure copper only here--not copper plated steel pads). Go gently and take your time.
The discoloration may not be rust either depending on the composition of the magazine tube material, it could simply be wd 40 gunk built up as a hard wax or the infamous "patina".
The discoloration may not be rust either depending on the composition of the magazine tube material, it could simply be wd 40 gunk built up as a hard wax or the infamous "patina".
Jim Watson
Member
Discoloration might be preferable to naked steel.
Don't overclean.
Got pictures?
Don't overclean.
Got pictures?
troy fairweather
Member
atf and 0000 steel wool if its heavy use a copper pot scrubber.
entropy
Member
I use a fine oil (3in1, Kroil, et. al.) and my fingernails. All you need for light surface rust. It sounds like what you are describing is the minute pitting left over. The only way to remove that involves rebluing, and it isn't worth doing it (financially) on that gun. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you emotionally.
i just don't want it to get no worse, i want to keep it as he had it and not reblue. thanks
entropy
Member
Keep it oiled.
I have my grandfather's wards western world .22 bolt action rifle, as the story goes, he and his two brothers went in together to buy it in the mid 30's. He also used either 3in1 or WD40. No blue left on the gun, I got the varnish off years ago. It has a brown patina...very smooth, but definitely a surface rust. I keep it lightly oiled and have never had a problem with it continuing to rust. The brown patina seems to act like bluing, which I think is how they used to treat guns prior to the advent of bluing, someone can correct me but I think the process was called browning.
Riomouse911
Member
In mega-simple (non-professional) terms, bluing is merely a controlled process using various chemicals (And heat) that reacts with steel and forms a black oxide rather than red oxide. It helps protect steel a bit, but even blued steel needs to be coated lightly in oil or other water-displacing solution to keep from forming red oxide rust from water in the air, etc.
"Browning" is like cold bluing, where chemicals are put onto the non-heated steel to form a brown-colored rust rather than black (blue). You are right, it is an older style of steel finishing that works about the same as cold bluing. Neither browning nor cold bluing work as well as hot bluing to prevent rust on steel.
"Browning" is like cold bluing, where chemicals are put onto the non-heated steel to form a brown-colored rust rather than black (blue). You are right, it is an older style of steel finishing that works about the same as cold bluing. Neither browning nor cold bluing work as well as hot bluing to prevent rust on steel.
A long forgotten property of Hoppes #9 is it's rust dissolving properties. Soak a fairly coarse piece of cloth (burlap works well) in Hoppes original #9 and briskly rub the affected metal, repeat till rust is dissolved. Wipe clean with a clean, soft cloth and apply a thin film of high quality rust inhibiting oil. Has worked great for ages.
They changed the formula a while back due to toxicity and it doesn't work as good as it used to.
Currently, Kroil works a bit better as it is a better penetrating oil and gets underneath the corrosion which makes it easier to remove. Soaking in ATF works as well but takes longer.
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I'd shy away from steel wool. We used that to polish metal. Steel wool will not only abrade the red rust, but also the bluing. I'd rather use a real copper penny and coconut oil (basic ingredient of Frog's Lube). Then clean up any copper marks with a cotton cloth dipped in Hoppe's.
Scooter22
Member
Get a Big .45 pad as boom boom gave the link to. They are excellent on removing rust without hurting the blueing. The steel wool available these days is crap Chinese stuff that is brittle and sharp for it's grade. It breaks and scratches. I don't use it anymore on metal or wood. Get the B45 pad and 3M synthetic pads for wood.
Mn Fats
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Your going to have to have it reblued. I've had a couple blued guns that had spots of rust that were taken care of with diluted mother's mag and a cloth. Any abrasion is no good for bluing, although mine turned out.
If your seeing "shiny spots" you went past the VERY fine layer of bluing and hit steel. Either leave it as is and keep it oiled or have it reblued.
Mn Fats
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doubleh
Member
You will probably think I'm nutz but here goes. Write it off. I read about this method of removing small, light rust spots many years ago and thought the same thing until I tried it. You simply take a #2 lead pencil and write on the spot like you are coloring it. It's slow but it does work and doesn't bother bluing.
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