Rust in M1 Garand bore

[monotonous_iterancy]

The Problem -

Lately I've been noticing something in my M1 Garand bore. When I shine a light in my safe, doing a spot check, I saw an orange stripe at the end of it. I didn't think much of it, figuring that it might be copper in the rifling, and I left it for a while.

Today I got it out and decided to investigate further. I think that my worst fears are being confirmed. I'm fairly certain it's rust. I don't know how far it goes, but I know it's near the muzzle. The stripes I've seen are in between the rifling, along with some other spots.

How did this happen?

I think it's due to a careless mistake I made. A long time ago I oiled all my rifle barrels with a patch soaked in Breakfree Collector, one after another, with the same patch.

However, I also swabbed my mosin-nagant, which came out almost entirely spotless. But, it might be possible that some leftover corrosive salts tainted the patch and left the situation I'm dealing with.

What I'm doing now -

I've been wiping it with Hoppes 9 soaked patches, which came out dirty at first, and alternating with a bore brush I dipped in solvent, and finishing with a dry patch in a cyclic fashion. I've actually gotten a fair amount of copper out, but what looks like rust spots remain so far. On the other hand, I haven't gotten any reddish patches out like I'd expect. I did however, remove a significant concentration of cosmoline that was piled up a few inches in on my first pass.


I'm probably going to run out and buy some copper-removing solvent, but in the meantime, I have a few questions.

1. Am I doing the right thing? What should I do?

2. If this is rust in the bore, am I screwed? Will it ruin my gun?

 

[1KPerDay]

1. sure; 1a. what you're doing
2. no 2a., no

 

[rcmodel]

1. Yes. Get some copper solvent.

2. Do Not use a bronze bore brush with copper solvent or you will never get done getting green patches out. The copper solvent is eating the bronze bore brush.

3. Just apply with a cotton patch and wait the amount of time called for on the directions.

4. I doubt it's rust. Pretty sure it's copper fouling.
But regardless of that, you are not screwed, and it didn't ruin your gun.

rc

 

[torqem]

a rust-ruined bore is normally quite obviously pitted, especially if the problem is near the muzzle. Sometimes, just a bit of "darkness" will show in the borescope, but it's nearly always near the chamber, not the muzzle.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

2. Do Not use a bronze bore brush with copper solvent or you will never get done getting green patches out. The copper solvent is eating the bronze bore brush.

All I have is a bronze brush. That makes another product on my list.

 

[dfariswheel]

I'll take an alternative view:
DO use a bronze bore brush with solvent.
Bronze bore brushes work far better then synthetic brushes.

Brush the bore with solvent 8 to 10 passes through the bore, then run two patches soaked with solvent through.
Read the solvent label for safe soak times and let the bore soak that time.

After soaking, run a clean patch soaked with solvent straight through and out the end in one smooth pass.
Inspect the patch for green or blue stains, which indicate copper fouling in the bore.

If you find any, allow so soak a little longer and run another clean soaked patch.
Continue until you get a patch with no stains.

 

[bainter1212]

Rust is possible.....I have gotten that same feeling a couple of times.
Until you get a chance to solve the issue, run a few patches with some grease through the bore and get that bore nice and greasy. That will stop the rust and also temporarily arrest whatever may have caused it. Then when you are ready you can begin cleaning.

If the bore is badly rusted, naval jelly will get rid of it quick. If you use that stuff use gloves and eye protection and keep it off the rifle's finish.

Good luck.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

Well, I'm done cleaning for the night. I think I did get some very small, mild rust spots, but I'm not sure what thoset visible streaks are. If it's copper, then multiple soakings with copper solvent and regular Hoppes 9 didn't get it out. If it's rust, then multiple passes with the brush didn't really do anything.

Quite the quandary isn't it?

 

[ford8nr]

I did however, remove a significant concentration of cosmoline that was piled up a few inches in on my first pass

Have YOU shot this gun? How do you have copper fouling AND cosmoline in the same barrel...unless it's OLD fouling. First thing that should have been done is a break down and complete cleaning.

I bought a Mosin years back that ended up with rust in the barrel. It was only a $80 rifle so I carefully used Blue and Rust remover on patches and it actually cleaned up REAL NICE.

 

[Laphroaig]

This sounds like a problem where JB Bore Paste might do some good.

Laphroaig

 

[nathan]

Yes, the JB bore paste does wonders on such barrel. A tub goes a long ways.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

Have YOU shot this gun? How do you have copper fouling AND cosmoline in the same barrel...unless it's OLD fouling. First thing that should have been done is a break down and complete cleaning.

Yeah, I've shot it once. I wiped out the barrel beforehand. It shot fine. Then I cleaned it, oiled it, and haven't shot it since. I don't know how that cosmoline piled up there. Either it was already in there, or it leeched in from somewhere else.

 

[Orlando]

You can have a spotless bore and run a few enblocs through it and you will have copper fouling again. Persoanlly I wouldnt worry about t
If you are truly concerned about removing copper fouling use a good copper remover, no brush needed as you remove it chemically not mechanically

Clean bore with Hoppes etc first to remove carbon fouling then run several wet patches of Shooters Choice Copper Remover throughthe bore. Let set 5 minutes then run dry patches , if it is copper fouling the patches will come out blue.
IMO Shooters Choice Copper Remover is the best and easiest to use product made