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zimm

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Hello all!

I recently inherited a Remington .270 Model 700 from a family member and it is rusted pretty good. I hate to see it in such bad shape as these guns were always well taken care of until my grandfather was hospitalized..

So I would LOVE some advice on how to/what to use to clean it up!!

The gun had been stored in soft case for about a year and a half in his storage unit until he gave the gun to me. My guns have never come any where close to how this one looks, so I'm not sure how to approach this. The nearest gunsmith is over 4 hours away from me so it'd be a while until I could take it there, but being my grandfather's gun I want to get it cleaned up!

I am open and appreciative on all/any tips you could give! Thanks in advance!
 
Regular brown vinegar works wonders on rust. Hopefully the rust hasn't had a chance to dig in
yet, and it's mostly on the surface?
 
Very (finest) fine (0000) steel wool and any good oil (including light motor oil)
gently wipe/rub/wipe down the surfaces that are blued to remove surface rust.

Deeply pitted areas -- let soak* with penetrating oil/Kroil overnight and steel wool it again as above.


* on weird surface shapes, Kroil-soak a gun patch and either press into and/or lightly rubber-band it into place
 
Regular brown vinegar works wonders on rust. Hopefully the rust hasn't had a chance to dig in
yet, and it's mostly on the surface?

Any acid will do including coca cola but you do have to neutralize the acid and it can etch and damage bluing. The stronger the acid, the more precautions and the quicker it will remove rust and start in on stuff you don't want it too. Bluing remover is generally acid based.

In my own opinion, use a light penetrating type oil and apply it to an area, find some bronze wool, get a bunch of paper towels and gently, gently remove the rust scale. Wipe often as the particles of rust can scratch/etch the bluing and then reapply oil as needed to keep it wet. Blue Wonder makes a rust removal that is in gel form that works pretty well especially combined with Kroil but ordinary light penetrating oil will get you there. DO not get in a hurry--it is easy to add to the damage if you are in a hurry. This also works: http://www.big45.com/ which is the Big 45 Frontier metal cleaner which is a bit more efficient than bronze wool or copper scouring wool aka Choreboy. Make sure to use plenty of oil to float the rust particles off of the surface and wipe it down with a clean paper towel to remove those removed particles.

Stay away from scotchbrite pads as these have abrasives that will damage your bluing and etch the metal unless you want bare metal.

Depending on the degree of rust and how high a polish the remaining bluing is such as an old rifle with little bluing left, I have used 0000 steel wool.

BTW, The smaller the rust scale, the harder to remove. Fine grained rust usually requires fairly drastic action to remove such as applying naval jelly (follow the instructions exactly or you can damage the item worse), grinding/sanding/polishing with a high grit etc., or electrolysis.

One thing that no technique will solve is that if the metal has been attacked long enough, you may have pitting remaining after you remove the rust. Then you have choices to make.

Oh, one last thing, sometimes small patches of rust can be removed with a pencil/rubber eraser without the oil. Just don't get too vigorous or spread the rust particles so that a blued part gets scratched.
 
Hornady suggested Naval Jelly, available at your hardware store, for rust appearing on their reloading gear.
 
Naval Jelly is so good....that it also removes all bluing.




But.....
If things are so far gone that you are going to re-blue anyway, use EvapoRust instead of naval jelly (as NJ also etches the metal itself if you're not careful/)
 
For very light rust, I've found super fine 0000 steel wool will polish it off just fine. Go slow and don't go to town with it, let the abrasive do the work. If it's deeper, you can still take it off with more aggressive abrasives, but you will inevitably take off some of the finish/base metal depending on damage depth.

If it is ultralight, a solvent like Eezox or a penetrating oil like WD-40 (not a great choice, but it works if you clean it off and properly protect afterwards) or Kroil works fine. Actually, I love Eezox as a final protectant as well - I haven't found anything that protects blue as well as it does.

If you're ambitious and the rust is that bad, maybe you could look into DIY blueing? It's not easy from what I've read, but definitely doable.
 
Corrosion X marine grade is what I would recommend. Spray it all over the rust areas let it soak for a day or two wipe off using 0000 steel wool and if it is heavy rust use a 2000 and 4000 grit sandpaper
 
Don't use vinegar. It can remove blueing. Most 4/0 steel wool these days is Chinese crap that will scratch and imbed little metal splinted in your fingers. Without pics I don't know how bad the rust is. Is it only surface or has it started to pit? Get a Big 45 pad. These remove rust and will not scratch or remove blue. Best thing ever and way safer than SW. Plus they last. I've used them to save many old rusty rifles I've picked up. Good luck.
It's cheapest to just order from the maker. http://www.big45.com/
 
zimm

I have found Flitz Metal Polish to be very effective at removing light rust and does not remove or damage the bluing. Apply it sparingly with a clean cotton cloth and do not get overly aggressive with your efforts. I think Walmart carries it nowadays.
 
I like those guys and 4/0 steel wool has been used forever. I used to use it. But the quality of SW compared to the USA made stuff compared to today is crap. The old stuff was very soft and you would have to really scrub on the metal to do damage. The ravage stuff you buy today is very brittle and sharp even at the 4/0 rating. Don't use it.
 
If the rust is very light scrub it with graphite in a carpenters pencil, wipe with dry soft cloth. This will not harm blueing. Pictures would be very helpful.
STW
 
Very Fine steel wool 0000 and good gun oil. Do not rub too hard or you will remove the bluing. Get as much surface rust off as you can and keep a heavy coat of oil on it till you decide want you want done
 
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Hornady suggested Naval Jelly, available at your hardware store, for rust appearing on their reloading gear.
Hornady's dies aren't blued. As noted, Naval Jelly will remove the rust and the blue along with it.

Gentle rubbing with 0000 (four zero) steel wool and light oil will do the trick.
 
I have an 1816 Springfield musket that has quite of bit or red rust and scale. I'm planning on soaking it for a number of days in a mixture of ATF and kerosene and then attack it with 4/0 and/or bronze wool. (I also have some nickel wool around here somewhere) There is no bluing to worry about as this model was finished bright (or browned). Pits are going to be there and I don't know how much of the scale I can get rid of, but I will have to live with it. I'm going to soak the barrel (all 44 inches including the tang) in a PVC tube. The small parts will go thru my sonic cleaner.
Hopefully the improvement will be positive.....
 
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