Rust in bore = ruined rifle?

[RavenVT100]

I left a rifle in the safe for two days after shooting, because I did not have time to clean it.

Apparently, humidity has leaked into the safe. I pulled it out, and to my horror, little rust spots all down the bore and on the crown.

I immediately cleaned everything but there is some pitting now.

This rifle shot 1/2 MOA, it does not have a chromed bore, and I am extremely upset.

Can I expect anything out of this or is it basically the end of the line?

 

[siskiyou3]

How bad is it? You try to put any steel wool to it?

 

[RavenVT100]

It doesn't seem to be bad at all; it came right off after cleaning... I don't want to put steel wool on the crown though.

 

[kcmarine]

Eh, if it's been two days, I don't think you have much to worry about. It hasn't had too much time to work. Just clean it out immediately.

 

[RavenVT100]

But the crown is pitted

 

[aspade]

Recrowning is not a big deal at all. But go see how it shoots before worrying about that.

 

[hexidismal]

Agreed. Clean it well, shoot it, and clean it again before you get over excited about a problem that may or may not exist. As the previous poster mentions, a recrowning isn't the biggest deal in the world if it needs to be done. Humidity or not though, I would think a good rust preventative could have stopped that. What confuses me though is your mention of pitting.. Ive seen plenty of guns with pitting, but in 2 days ? Rust yes, pitting... no ? I very much doubt that your rifle is in any way 'ruined', from a couple days of rust spots.

 

[RavenVT100]

Agreed. Clean it well, shoot it, and clean it again before you get over excited about a problem that may or may not exist. As the previous poster mentions, a recrowning isn't the biggest deal in the world if it needs to be done. Humidity or not though, I would think a good rust preventative could have stopped that. What confuses me though is your mention of pitting.. Ive seen plenty of guns with pitting, but in 2 days ? Rust yes, pitting... no ? I very much doubt that your rifle is in any way 'ruined', from a couple days of rust spots.

Hmm. You might be right, but there's definitely an alteration to the crown that was caused by this. I've cleaned the rifle thoroughly, and when I shine a light down the bore, it's no longer a mirror at least near the crown--there's little spots which would signify pitting, I would think.

I run breakfree through the bore every day after I shoot, rifle or pistol. I was in a hurry and secured everything in the safe without doing it. Part of the reason I'm so aggreived is due to the fact that I really should have known better.

 

[hexidismal]

Heck, I wouldn't be too hard on yourself Raven. Rust is a strange thing, and sometimes it seems to just pop up on a fluke when you don't think it should. Two days sure isn't much, and I'm sure under normal circumstances you'd easily get away with that and a lot more. Maybe your hands just had a little extra something on them that day.. since it's the bore and crown only though.. maybe it had something to do with the ammo ? You'd think if it was just the moisture, you'd have some spots wherever your hands were last and not so much in a bore. Like I said, rust is strange. Still though I wouldn't worry too hard, but I CAN totally understand how easy it is to do just that. That's sure something that's never pleasant to see.

 

[Tomcat47]

You could possibly have stains in the metal as opposed to detrimental pitting.
A non chrome bore can have small stains from the incident.

I would do as some have reccomended and keep it clean and check it out at the range.

You need something smal to feel if there is actual pitting. 2 days does not seem long enough to cause irreversible damage.

 

[RavenVT100]

Heck, I wouldn't be too hard on yourself Raven. Rust is a strange thing, and sometimes it seems to just pop up on a fluke when you don't think it should. Two days sure isn't much, and I'm sure under normal circumstances you'd easily get away with that and a lot more. Maybe your hands just had a little extra something on them that day.. since it's the bore and crown only though.. maybe it had something to do with the ammo ? You'd think if it was just the moisture, you'd have some spots wherever your hands were last and not so much in a bore. Like I said, rust is strange. Still though I wouldn't worry too hard, but I CAN totally understand how easy it is to do just that. That's sure something that's never pleasant to see.

Agreed. I think it was just a perfect storm scenario...silica packs were about at saturation, combined with humidity in the safe, etc.

I try to hold myself to a high standard and I pride myself on taking proper care of my equipment. When stuff like this happens, it's unsettling.

You could possibly have stains in the metal as opposed to detrimental pitting.
A non chrome bore can have small stains from the incident.

I would do as some have reccomended and keep it clean and check it out at the range.

You need something smal to feel if there is actual pitting. 2 days does not seem long enough to cause irreversible damage.

I'm going to take it out tomorrow after work. There is definitely a very slight notch in the crown where the rust was, but whether or not it's going to affect anything will be borne out then--and for all I know, it was there before and I never noticed.

 

[JNewell]

Absolutely shoot it before you fiddle with it. More guns get fouled up by attempts to "fix" things that aren't really wrong than the other way around.

 

[Mikhail]

By all means, shoot it. Apparently, you haven't messed around much with old milsurp rifles, half the fun is trying to clean a "sewer pipe" bore and seeing just how well they can still shoot! I agree with JNewell about not fiddling with until you need to.

 

[huntinstuff]

Raven, your gun has had it....send it up to Canada (I'll pay the postage)....we shoot rusty guns up here exclusively......lol

Seriously, I know it p*sses a guy off, but other than a bit of cosmetic, your gun should be just fine. We've all been there.

 

[Cosmoline]

If there's no pitting, no harm done.

 

[rangerruck]

you oughta see some of the mosin's that you get, looks like hershey bars down the bore, and they can still shoot, just make sure everything else, including the crown is allright.

 

[aaronrkelly]

What kind of rifle are we talking about here????

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

Clean it and see how it turns out. If the bore is still messed up, try using the Tubb's final finish system. The bullets have a mild abrasive coating that might help to smooth out some of the pitting. Like people above have said, recrowning isn't a huge deal, but see how it shoots before you get all worked up.

 

[esmith]

I found two of my fathers .22s in my attic that had rust all over them with a little in the bore. I asked him about them and he said they were up there for about 20-30 years. After using some penetrant most of the rust was gone and the bore looked pretty good. I later shot 1.5 to 2 inch groups at 50 yards.

 

[Sunray]

"...But the crown is pitted..." It takes longer than two days for pitting to happen. Even with the worst steel made.

 

[WinchesterAA]

a ball of lead at high velocity is all the cleaning you need for such an occasion.

 

[RavenVT100]

It takes longer than two days for pitting to happen. Even with the worst steel made.

Then the only explanation is that it's been this way all along.

I tested it. It seems to open up a little after it's been fouled (or maybe that's me, getting fatigued), but the first four shots fit in an area that I can cover with a dime at 100 yds. That's good, I think.

 

[kcmarine]

I tested it. It seems to open up a little after it's been fouled (or maybe that's me, getting fatigued), but the first four shots fit in an area that I can cover with a dime at 100 yds. That's good, I think.

You think? YOU THINK? THAT'S EXCELLENT.

Good shooting.

 

[hqmhqm]

Absolutely shoot it before you fiddle with it. More guns get fouled up by attempts to "fix" things that aren't really wrong than the other way around.

That is so so so true.

 

[RavenVT100]

You think? YOU THINK? THAT'S EXCELLENT.

Good shooting.

Thanks.

You guys are right about "fixing it till it breaks." In this case all that was wrong was it needed a good cleaning. Ran a brass brush through about 20 times from the breech, got all the fouling out and most of the copper. Probably going to try Sweet's 7.62 because the shooter's choice copper solvent doesn't seem to work that great. It turns blue but the copper never goes away completely.