surface rust

[ilmonster]

At my local gun dealer, I saw a used 870 Classic Trap yesterday which looked to be in good shape, not shot much, but had what looked to be surface rust on the rear of the rib (thick part where it attached to barrel) and some small spots of surface rust on the side of the receiver. Is there any way to remove this without re-blueing the gun. Also, if I were to keep the gun with a light coat of oil, would that keep these small spots from getting worse?

 

[Dave McCracken]

Light oiling is a good idea, and rubbing with a piece of nylon stocking soaked in oil may take off very light rust. Otherwise, it's time for a reblue.

 

[Kingcreek]

You can touch up small spots after removing the rust. I've used the birchwood-casey pen (like a sharpie magic marker)

 

[SapperLeader]

Blue Wonder gun cleaner works great on surface rust. You put a little bit on, and rub lightly with 0000 steel wool, and it takes it right off without harming the bluing.

 

[enfield]

Here's a related followup question -- how do you remove surface rust from a color case hardened SAA frame? The color case hardening should be a lot more durable than bluing, right?

 

[ilmonster]

If the rust isn't too bad, what would you think about the $499 they're asking? I feel $400 -$450 would be more appropriate (I can buy a new one for $675ish). Thanks!

 

[Dave McCracken]

My TB with great wood and near new condition was about $400. There's a TC advertised at PGC for $575,LNIB.

Letter grades oft go for a bit more than Classics.

The rust affects cosmetics, not function. See if you can haggle down the price a bit.