my cousin borrowed my 870 and it got rained on, two months later he returned it. when i opened the case it was still wet and the gun all rusted up. i removed all the rust but on the reciever it ate away some or the black finish. what can i use to restore the finish? it's like the matte black on the newer ones.
rusty 870
- Thread starter trigga
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RevolvingGarbage
Member
You can have your cousin pay for a repark job, or at least that's what I would be doing.
If you cant do that, I would suggest a good sanding, then prime and paint with some automotive engine enamel. It stands up to heat and if applied correctly is very durable.
For example, here's my Pardner 12 gauge after painting it with Rust-Oleum 500 Degree engine enamel.
If you cant do that, I would suggest a good sanding, then prime and paint with some automotive engine enamel. It stands up to heat and if applied correctly is very durable.
For example, here's my Pardner 12 gauge after painting it with Rust-Oleum 500 Degree engine enamel.
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dogtown tom
Member
Duracoat
Krylon
Brownells Aluma-hyde
Krylon
Brownells Aluma-hyde
Old Shooter
Member
Boil your cousin down, rub the lard into the finish and polish it out with oooo steel wool.
Otherwise the engine enamel idea would work or check out some of the gun finishes such as Duracoat, they are supposed to be pretty good.
Good luck.
Even if the Duracoat is the way you go, I'd still boil your cousin down!
Otherwise the engine enamel idea would work or check out some of the gun finishes such as Duracoat, they are supposed to be pretty good.
Good luck.
Even if the Duracoat is the way you go, I'd still boil your cousin down!
Z-Michigan
Member
The original matte black finish is simple blueing on top of a bead blasted bare metal. It looks great if perfectly maintained, but is not durable. My wife's cousin had an identical experience with his Rem 870.
Personally I would decide the finish was no good for your use and use a new finish, any one of:
1) sand, prime, paint. By far the easiest and cheapest, will control rust, easy to touch up but not super durable.
2) get it phosphated (parkerized). This is somewhat involved and likely a gunsmith item. It would be considerably more durable though.
3) Get the whole thing nitrided. This is a specialized gunsmith item and more expensive still, but the resulting finish would be more corrosion resistant than chrome (or stainless steel), matte black, and very hard to boot.
If I it were my gun and mostly a hunting beater, I would go with paint.
Personally I would decide the finish was no good for your use and use a new finish, any one of:
1) sand, prime, paint. By far the easiest and cheapest, will control rust, easy to touch up but not super durable.
2) get it phosphated (parkerized). This is somewhat involved and likely a gunsmith item. It would be considerably more durable though.
3) Get the whole thing nitrided. This is a specialized gunsmith item and more expensive still, but the resulting finish would be more corrosion resistant than chrome (or stainless steel), matte black, and very hard to boot.
If I it were my gun and mostly a hunting beater, I would go with paint.
W.E.G.
Member
I would have stickers made with the cousin's picture on them.
That is precisely why I will not loan a gun to anyone.
I will take someone to the range and show him the fundamentals of firearms handling, safety, shooting, etc., using my firearms, while I'm standing beside him. But loaning a gun to a person??? Huh uh.
If a person is too cheap to buy his own firearm, I'm not in the business of handing him mine to go off somewhere and do whatever he wants with it. I doubt a person such as that is responsible enough to use my firearms.
I have no idea how many stories about abuse of loaned firearms, I know.
Just my way of doing things.
L.W.
brassdog
Member
That's just poor manners. Your "cousin" needs to be instructed in the proper manners of returning things in the same condition in which they were received.
I would be beating them with a switch!!! Your cousin needs to pay for the damage. Since it's your most used gun, I'd just do your own parkerizing followedby some type of enamel paint. Should do the trick without costing too much.
Again, beat your cousin!
I would be beating them with a switch!!! Your cousin needs to pay for the damage. Since it's your most used gun, I'd just do your own parkerizing followedby some type of enamel paint. Should do the trick without costing too much.
Again, beat your cousin!
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I doubt the OP was looking for an immature, tough-guy response like this, doesn't seem very high-road to me.
trigga - My 870 has that same finish and I rusted a barrel that was stored improperly. I just keep it lubed up good and chalk it off as "lesson learned"...
brassdog
Member
Nothing "tough guy" about it. Just bad manners to let any tool suffer ill maintenance that isn't yours to begin with.
I'll be the first to say chalk it up as a lesson learned. The OP cousin still needs to learn responsibility. How the OP chooses to do so is their business.
This is the #1 reason why I won't lend tools to people.
I'll be the first to say chalk it up as a lesson learned. The OP cousin still needs to learn responsibility. How the OP chooses to do so is their business.
This is the #1 reason why I won't lend tools to people.
Z-Michigan
Member
For those who don't know, the recent Remington 870's are extremely susceptible to rusting. My wife's cousin who had his rust? He's a mechanic who knows how to care for stuff. He put his away dry, but apparently not bone dry. He knows how to take care of tools, and he was unpleasantly surprised.
If I owned a Rem 870 I would either paint it before it rusts, or I would carefully use a top-notch protectant like Corrosion-X or Boeshield T-9 at all times.
If I owned a Rem 870 I would either paint it before it rusts, or I would carefully use a top-notch protectant like Corrosion-X or Boeshield T-9 at all times.
Gord
Member
For those who don't know, the rusting problem (if you can call it that) can be solved by simply wiping the gun down with petroleum jelly or a few other things. Being a mechanic does not qualify you to properly care for a firearm any more than being a gunsmith gives you the expertise to work on diesel engines.
I do own a Rem 870. I rescued it from a pawn shop with light surface rust. The rust wiped right off, and then I wiped on some Vaseline/petroleum jelly as recommended here. Over the past 2+ years, it's been hauled out in the rain and snow many times and even put away damp a few times, just to see how rust-resistant it is. I've not had a speck of rust and I don't even have to oil the thing - hell, it's more low-maintenance than my blued guns are.
I do own a Rem 870. I rescued it from a pawn shop with light surface rust. The rust wiped right off, and then I wiped on some Vaseline/petroleum jelly as recommended here. Over the past 2+ years, it's been hauled out in the rain and snow many times and even put away damp a few times, just to see how rust-resistant it is. I've not had a speck of rust and I don't even have to oil the thing - hell, it's more low-maintenance than my blued guns are.
Driftertank
Member
Sandblast + duracoat. Go all-new for a matching finish.
Snarlingiron
Member
I have been using this stuff for many years on all my guns. It is great for the metal and the wood. It's not expensive, and as you can see, works great on furniture too! I have 2 870 express's, and a total of 36 firearms. Nary a spec of rust on any of them. They get used too!!
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
I do from time to time loan my guns, but the people I loan them to would never consider for one second returning one of them to me in anything other than the condition in which they received it. If something happened beyond their control I know without doubt that they would replace it or pay for it.
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
I do from time to time loan my guns, but the people I loan them to would never consider for one second returning one of them to me in anything other than the condition in which they received it. If something happened beyond their control I know without doubt that they would replace it or pay for it.
DaleCooper51
Member
+1 Snarlington
Howards Feed n Wax is awesome stuff. I use it on both the wood and metal on all my guns.
jimmyraythomason
Member
Do not sandblast! Use glassbead or walnut hulls as a medium.
jimmyraythomason
Member
Matte finish is as durable(against wear in normal use) as high polish bluing. High polish bluing is more resistant to rust however.
Terrible.
I and my Brother have both experinced this kind of disrespect towards our kindness and our firearms.
My case-I lent one of my Remington 700's in .270 caliber for one of my companies V.P's to use on a week long deer hunt.
It too was Matte finished like your 870 Express and they rust and scratch way to easy for my liking.
But mine was 5 years old with zero rust or scratches,until I got it back.
Worse the Sob spilled some sort of mixed drink all over it and the old Redfield scope I had mounted on it.
And it rained two of those days and the clod didn't have the common sense to wipe it down back in camp.
Fortunately he actually bought it from me that next deer season as he needed to "use" it again as he still was to damn cheap to buy his own.
And I sold it to him for $425.00 sans scope.
I only paid $325.00 for it back when I bought so I at least got some private laughter and satisfaction there
My brother foolishly lent his old High Standard Flite King 20 gauge to a "friend" to use on a dove hunt.
The idiot was crossing a small creek and some how plunged the barrel into the mud.
You can guess what happened next.
His full choke barrel was blown assunder and now is a cut down cylinder.
Dont lend out your guns boys.
Frankly as cheap as those Express 870's sell for I would just sell your old one and buy a new one and move on.
and forever more remember the lesson you learned.
Rust on guns is sickening to me.
I and my Brother have both experinced this kind of disrespect towards our kindness and our firearms.
My case-I lent one of my Remington 700's in .270 caliber for one of my companies V.P's to use on a week long deer hunt.
It too was Matte finished like your 870 Express and they rust and scratch way to easy for my liking.
But mine was 5 years old with zero rust or scratches,until I got it back.
Worse the Sob spilled some sort of mixed drink all over it and the old Redfield scope I had mounted on it.
And it rained two of those days and the clod didn't have the common sense to wipe it down back in camp.
Fortunately he actually bought it from me that next deer season as he needed to "use" it again as he still was to damn cheap to buy his own.
And I sold it to him for $425.00 sans scope.
I only paid $325.00 for it back when I bought so I at least got some private laughter and satisfaction there
My brother foolishly lent his old High Standard Flite King 20 gauge to a "friend" to use on a dove hunt.
The idiot was crossing a small creek and some how plunged the barrel into the mud.
You can guess what happened next.
His full choke barrel was blown assunder and now is a cut down cylinder.
Dont lend out your guns boys.
Frankly as cheap as those Express 870's sell for I would just sell your old one and buy a new one and move on.
and forever more remember the lesson you learned.
Rust on guns is sickening to me.
jimmyraythomason
Member
+++++++++1!
Bullfrog Lubricant and Rust Blocker, Kroil, etc. Soak, then wipe off the rust with a rag. Repeat if necessary. Then keep it covered in Rem Oil, or one of the above.
The 870 Express rusts when you so much as look at it the wrong way. But the rust comes off, too.
That said, I would make it a point to really screw over your cousin somehow, like maybe leave him in the woods on a camping trip hundreds of miles from home, and just drive off.
Also, clean your floor! That's disgusting!
The 870 Express rusts when you so much as look at it the wrong way. But the rust comes off, too.
That said, I would make it a point to really screw over your cousin somehow, like maybe leave him in the woods on a camping trip hundreds of miles from home, and just drive off.
Also, clean your floor! That's disgusting!
PILMAN
Member
+1 on the enamel paint, I have it on my VZ58 and it's been in a humid area for 3 months now due to having to store it somewhere for the time being and haven't noticed any rust on it.
Higgy
Member
I use 120 mesh aluminum oxide, which is recommended by KG. Blow it at 40-45 psi and the fishing is very fine. This setup will not obliterate barrel roll-marking or stamoing. Its a lot better than glass beads, which fracture too soon and get dusty. In my experience, walnut shell is just too gentle.
Sometimes the finish warrants a different method like shot-peening or ceramic beading.
jimmyraythomason
Member
I agree that glasbead tends to dust heavily but still gives me the finish I want. I blast at no less than 80psi with no damage to edges or stampings. Walnut hulls @ 80psi will do a good job but as you say is too gentle to be fast. Take your time with it and it will look good(provided the metal isn't in poor shape to begin with). Poorer metal conditions can cause the need for more drastic procedures but not sandblasting with sand or carborundum grit(save that for car frames).
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