Rusted bore, whats your favorite fix?

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Just recently I was given a rifle by an older lady whos husband had returned fromWW2 with it, as a wonderfull gesture and a remerembrance of her husband, my friend.
While in otherwise great condition externally, this poor old girl has a real rust thing in the tube.
Im certain some of you have had this before, just curious as what you did to get rid of it. Yea, I know, cleaning rod, brushes......any rust remover chemicals you tried successfully? I had even thought about bore lapping compound... thanx in advance.
 
This might be a great candidate for the gunsmithing subforum.

I've not used it in a bore, but you might try evapo-rust if you want to go that route.

I don't know what your capabilities are, or the type of rifle, but here's what I'd do (right or wrong, I'd try it this way).

Boil it, to convert any red rust possible to black rust. Evapo-rust on a swab, so it doesn't get on anywhere but the bore. Reassess after one pass.

Do you have any pictures?
 
Following to see what everybody uses.

One thought— brush & and scrub with JB Bore Paste
https://shop.brownells.com/gun-clea...mbedding-bore-cleaning-compound-prod1160.aspx

Evaporust is always an option to stabilize a rusty bore AFTER cleaning it thoroughly to remove as much rust as possible. Don’t get it on external blueing.

Or just oil the bore after using JB Bore Paste.

I would say mechanical cleaning is the best way to get rust out. It will take a while.
 
I would start cleaning it just like I normally would with patches, bore brushes and solvent. If the rust didn't come out I might put some EvapoRust on a bore mop and run it through. Just remember, EvapoRust will remove blueing!
 
US property marked Mk 4 # 1 Enfield.
Previously, on another barrel used WD 40 and several bore brushes, lots of time an ended up with a fair bore after the process, this one is way worse.
If It's even salvageable. Still see evidence of rifling just too much debris to get a clear picture of the extent.
Haven't heard of evaporust. I do like the JB bore paste, my be better than my lapping compound
 
I would do a normal mechanical cleaning with solvents first, try to assess after that, make sure I wasn't wasting time and throwing good money after bad on a barrel that's not salvageable.

If it looked like it cleaned up pretty well from that and no obstructions/occlusions/significant constrictions, I might just go put some rounds through it.

Otherwise, there are a number of commercial rust removal chemicals that work well, but most will attack the metal too, so you have to be careful using them on critical tolerance parts.
 
I have done a few things along these lines and will pass on a few stories on some of the projects from not long ago.

I bought a real nice Type 99 with all the stuff still on it. Like your friend it belonged to an old guy, and he had it sitting out by the fireplace for decades. The wood was REALLY dried out and the entire bore was full of dust bunnies and fairly rusty. On this one after I got a cleaning rod to run through it and most of the loose crap out of the bore I got two bore snakes one soaked to the gills with oil, the other with solvent. Ran the solvent snake into it and let it sit over night, then go back and clean normal. Took a day or two going back and forth between the oil and solvent always checking the bore, cleaned up nice.

The one I am working on now is not rusty but just filthy. It is a mosin that I bought in 2019 but never did anything with. Checked it out last weekend to make sure it would not hurt me, and found it to be fairly dirty....make that really dirty. I shot it a total of 5 times and took it back to the shop for cleaning. Lots of scrub lots of patches and no real result, patches come out black for a while, and the bore cam shows it just as cruddy as last time.

With this one I clamped the rifle in the vice, rotated it on her so her nose is pointing down. Then take the cap from a bottle of water and fill it with modeling clay. Stick that on the muzzle to plug it. Now pour the solvent of your choice down the breach and stop when the bore gets full. Let soak. This has worked real well for me in the past, I usually buy old guns and they are always dirty. After that you can pull the clay and dump the solvent, or capture it in another container, you can re use it a time or two IMHO.

That is what I did.
 
Truly there is simply no quick and easy solution. You can do the initial cleanup and mostly stop any more damage by thoroughly cleaning via the rod and solvent method......should you desire a really extensive cleanup/out then you are likely looking at some sort of lapping method....just depends on how extensive a repair you wish.

As an example I swapped an elderly S&W revolver for a Remington model 14 pump gun of the same vintage in .32 R....... looks great externally but the rifle had a plethora of mechanical problems and the bore looked like the entrance to a long abandoned coal mine, crusty, to be kind about it...........Solved the first part fairly easily but that bore required days of soaking and the use of copper solvent as well as just about any other cleaning material I had lying about....Surprisingly the thing wound up in shootable condition and will hold teacup sized groups at a hundred................and when you are foolin' with that old stuff, ammo itself becomes an issue.......including the components thereto. Wound up finding brass at Graf's. Had to have a mould made by Arsenal, then too there is the difficulty in finding dies as well! What's remarkable in this case is that I at first thought I had a model 141..........not so, wound up being its predecessor a model 14 that'd been re barreled by Rem. in the early 40's.......then apparently shot and left uncleaned since ......................That old corrosive ammo ain't no joke. I'm still not done with the old timer and I will probably wind up casting an in bore lap to smooth things a lot more.............that crusty bore holds lead and debris beyond the point of acceptability.

Like I said, there isn't any quick and easy!
 
I don't know about Evaporust on a corroded bore, but it sure works on other stuff, I soaked a lot of rusty pistol magazines in it after The Incident... until I found what wet ceramic or pin tumbling would do for them.

Anecdote Alert:
Not applicable here, just for the novelty...
My Neighbor the Gunsmith bought or traded for a .38-40 lever action with rough bore. He recalled an article about refurbishing muzzleloaders and put it to work. After a good conventional clean, he cast a lead lap. He chiseled out a recess in the lap and set in a sharp piece of file hard steel. He very gradually "freshed out" the rifling grooves and then lapped the lands. This left him with a smooth but slightly oversize barrel. Not so oversize that an as cast bullet wouldn't take the rifling and shoot pretty well.
 
Only done a few rusty guns, but I do clean plenty of other rusty things: Start with solvent. I mean soak it overnight, or for a week. Rust itself can break off small bits, and often is associated with other dirty and grit that when forced out can cause damage. So, oil (or your favorite related metal cleaning solvent) for a while, then flush that, then start wiping, but first lightly. I might even first blow it out with shop air, then go undersized mop, undersized brush, and observe. Do those until no visible /things/ come out, then move to regular cleaning methods, inspect regularly, don't over-clean it, just go until reasonably shiny.

For many things I start by dipping in the rust converter, but not sure any of those would help for inside spaces like a bore.
 
I would not start with a rust converter product. Those change the rust back to hard metal and can make getting the material out of the bore a bigger chore. Soaking with a rust remover however seems better. Had a few really crusted barrels which have turned out dark but serviceable afterwards. Plug the barrel with a rubber stopper (silicone earplugs work too) then fill the barrel with plain old white vinegar. Leave it propped upright for a day or two. Pull the plug, then scrub with a brass brush. You want to rinse it out with water mixed with a little baking soda afterwards to neutralize any remaining vinegar. Give it a regular cleaning and oiling afterwards.
 
illinoisburt said:
I would not start with a rust converter product. Those change the rust back to hard metal and can make getting the material out of the bore a bigger chore. Soaking with a rust remover however seems better. Had a few really crusted barrels which have turned out dark but serviceable afterwards. Plug the barrel with a rubber stopper (silicone earplugs work too) then fill the barrel with plain old white vinegar. Leave it propped upright for a day or two. Pull the plug, then scrub with a brass brush. You want to rinse it out with water mixed with a little baking soda afterwards to neutralize any remaining vinegar. Give it a regular cleaning and oiling afterwards.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if vinegar could be used as I've used it in the past to clean up rusted tools. Thanks for the confirmation/instructions.
 
Normal cleaning methods. Not necessarily rust specific. Just what you have on hand. Maybe some windex if the rust was caused by corrosive ammo in the past.

Shoot for groups to see if anything further needs doing.
 
By far the worst rusted gun I have tried to clean was an old Winchester in 32-40. My then neighbor called me night before deer hunting, said he decided to go and was borrowing his FIL rifle. Could I clean it before tomorrow morning? It had been stored in a basement closet in a old case for years. I could not even operate the lever to open it up. Hosed it down with penetrating oil then sprayed some down the barrel till it was full. A few hours later I got the action to operate and low and behold there was a live round in the chamber. I finally told him not to shoot it and borrowed him a different gun for hunting. When I had time I brushed out the bore and cleaned it up as much as possible the bore still looked like a gravel pit. I gave it back and told him to never try and shoot it.
 
J-B Bore Compound , smeared on a brass brush wrapped with 0000 steel wool ...
Run that brush from stem to stern . When it gets loose ... another 0000 steel wool wrap and more J-B Bore Compound . Keep working it untill the bore is shiney and clean .
J-B Bore Compound is a mild abrasive paste for barrel cleaning ... the steel wool and brass brush helps the cleaning process go along faster ... it still takes a lot of elbow grease !
Gary
 
Remington1911 said:
I have done a few things along these lines and will pass on a few stories on some of the projects from not long ago.

I bought a real nice Type 99 with all the stuff still on it. Like your friend it belonged to an old guy, and he had it sitting out by the fireplace for decades. The wood was REALLY dried out and the entire bore was full of dust bunnies and fairly rusty. On this one after I got a cleaning rod to run through it and most of the loose crap out of the bore I got two bore snakes one soaked to the gills with oil, the other with solvent. Ran the solvent snake into it and let it sit over night, then go back and clean normal. Took a day or two going back and forth between the oil and solvent always checking the bore, cleaned up nice.

The one I am working on now is not rusty but just filthy. It is a mosin that I bought in 2019 but never did anything with. Checked it out last weekend to make sure it would not hurt me, and found it to be fairly dirty....make that really dirty. I shot it a total of 5 times and took it back to the shop for cleaning. Lots of scrub lots of patches and no real result, patches come out black for a while, and the bore cam shows it just as cruddy as last time.

With this one I clamped the rifle in the vice, rotated it on her so her nose is pointing down. Then take the cap from a bottle of water and fill it with modeling clay. Stick that on the muzzle to plug it. Now pour the solvent of your choice down the breach and stop when the bore gets full. Let soak. This has worked real well for me in the past, I usually buy old guns and they are always dirty. After that you can pull the clay and dump the solvent, or capture it in another container, you can re use it a time or two IMHO.

That is what I did.
Click to expand...
I do something similar.
But I use a foam ear plug. Or I put a empty brass in the finger of a solvent proof glove and push it into the chamber until it seals.
Solvent overnight. Clean like normal. Then CLR soak for 10 minutes. Flush with hot water. Clean like normal. Repeat until no copper comes out.
Then I move to a polishing compound.
Use extreme caution to not get CLR on exterior of the gun.
 
Thanks for all the great ideas folks. With a penetrant, solvent, lot of brush followed by the JB bore paste with steel wool ( thanx gw percle ) on brush is getting it. Full with PB blaster ( thanx hd biker ) its overnighting in the shop. Will resume tomorrow.
 
caribou said:
Boiling water and a scrub. Repeat until the water is clear, let dry (it takes seconds in a HOT barrel) and do a routine solvent scrub, and protective oil in the end.
some people will shoot a couple rounds and then clean.
If you have time the vinegar really works.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Thats going to be my next method, then maybe some Sweets 7.62 wash, rinse, repeat. Making some headway but still have a way to go.
Thanks again to everybody for their take on rust removal
 
Have bought a couple old mil-surp rifles with rusty and pitted bores.
I just clean them extremely well, I like the foaming bore cleaner. Then bronze brush in a drill, run patches thru until clean and shoot them.
 
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