Need advice in cleaning guns

[seansco]

I have some older guns (rifles, bolt shotguns, 22 revolvers) that I inherited from my father. They were never in pristine shape and 10 years sitting in a gun cabinet has not helped. They are all in working condition other than a couple need some site work. They all have surface rust on the outside but the inside of the barrels look good and parts more freely.

I would like to clean these guns up (remove as much rust as is possible) and protect them without getting crazy. Most of these are not worth more than $150 in good shape (other than my 30-30) but I am not going to display them on the wall I am going to use them. Although I have had these guns for a while I am pretty much a newbie to gun maintenance and etc. I need to know how to take care of these now and when TSHTF.

What does everyone recommend for:
1) Cleaning them up.
2) Protecting them from more rust (wax, oil, etc.)
3) Cleaning, protecting, maintaining supplies (store bought and after SHTF)

Thanks

 

[rcmodel]

Use "Super Fine" 0000 grade steel wool & oil to remove the rust.
You can get the steel wool at any hardware store.
It will not harm the remaining bluing.

You can use Lemon Oil Furnature Polish & a rag, or the super fine steel wool in hard cases, to clean the stocks.

There is a product called Birchwood-Casey R.I.G. (Rust Inhibitor Grease) that is used to protect fine firearms collections all over the world.
It is much superior to any gun oil for long-term protection.

Use it on a RIG-RAG to wipe down the gun every time you handle it and you will stop further rust dead in its tracks.
http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/RIG/...1-d36e55c6ca1e

Any good gun grade solvent and oil can be used.
I like Rem-Oil, CLP, and Hoppes #9 bore cleaning solvent.

rc

 

[mbopp]

For SHTF try Ed's Red, a home-brew bore cleaning mixture. Basically it's equal parts of acetone, kerosene, paint thinner, and automatic transmission fluid.

http://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsmjd/tech/eds_red.htm

 

[bubba in ca]

Hoppes no. 9 is a good general purpose cleaner for the bores. One trick on old guns is to clean with hoppes until it seems clean, then wet the bore one more time (you hope) and leave over night to see what else pops up. If any of your ores are exceptionally crudded up with lead, copper, or plastic, you can then look for specialty cleaners.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I've cleaned up many rusty guns using 0000 steel wool and oil for the outside. After that, I usually oil them down heavily and let 'em sit for a few days wiping them down every day or so. I soak the actions in Ed's Red when possible.

 

[EMC45]

RCModel beat me to it once again!

 

[Jake in TX]

If you are too aggressive with steel wool, you will start removing any blue that might be left. See if your local hardware store has any bronze wool, and use it with oil on the rust. I've had very good luck with this combination.

Jake in TX

 

[Hammilton]

I had a bronze brush I used for this purpose. After our house flooded last fall I grabbed my guns and got them out of there in the middle of the night. One of the cases got a little wet apparently and when we finally got settled somewhere drier, I found that my 11-87 had rust on it. Not bad rust, but I have never had any rust appear on any gun I've ever owned, which really irritated me. Brushed it off and applied oil galore for a few days and now it looks good, but there are a few bits that need to be reblued.

 

[SASS50566]

You might consider contacting a gunsmith and if you tell him you have several guns he might cut a deal on cleaning and inspecting them for problems. He might also be able to tell you if any of them have any value other than sentimental.

 

[dho3]

All good advise, just go easy with the steel wool as Jake said. Let the oil soak for awhile before starting. An alternative is to go with very high grit sandpaper like micro-mesh and start with 2400 and see which way you need to go. It is very gently on metal that has no rust. It will depend on how much rust is on the gun you are working on. As far as rust inhibitors, any of the synthetic motor oils or automatic transmission fluid will prevent rusting for quite some time as well as being excellent lubricants with a small amount going a long way. Lubriplate, a company that manufactures many different forms of lubricants, a lot of them for the food industry, makes some that are almost perfect for firearms and also excellent rust inhibitors (hence the fact that they are used on machinery in the food industry where there is a lot of water and salt.) Here is a link to gunsmith Grant Cunningham's website library article on lubrication www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html. Good luck and have fun.