surface rust on stainless gun

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laktrash

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Looking to buy a older gun " AMT automag III 30" with some minor surface rust. It a stainless with rough finish can this be buffed or polished out by hand or dremel or would you have go through major project,
 
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Hit it with a fine steel wool and gun oil You might try a teflon pad and gun oil first.

Next time keep your stainless guns oiled...Stainless does not mean they will not rust.
 
It depends on what you mean by "rough finish". Does this area have a sand-blasted finish? I would try to get the rust off with a little oiled steel wool.

If this leaves a shiny spot in the sand-blast finish, you may be able to hide it by laying a bit of sandpaper over the spot and then tap with a brass hammer.
 
Sorry I edited my post this is not mine.I'm looking at possible purchase of one with surface rust. By rough its like a sandpaper texture.
 
Shame on somebody -- obviously not you -- for not paying close enough attention to the stainless steel on his firearm. Still, if you can get the gun for a good price because of it, the remedy is generally easy enough, so long as the rust in question is on the surface and not deeply imbedded; that would be a whole other kettle of corn flakes. It, too, could be remedied, but not as easily -- and definitely not with fine steel wool and gun oil.
 
Bronze brush, lots of oil. I'll bet it comes off. If it really bugs you, go get it bead blasted and, it will look like new.
 
Those Auto Mags all had a very rough blasted finish on them. You can use the rust to get a lower price I hope then I would have the gun Bead Blasted
 
Those Auto Mags all had a very rough blasted finish on them. You can use the rust to get a lower price I hope then I would have the gun Bead Blasted
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That is the proper fix. The finish needs to be blasted or you will have a shiny spot where you tried cleaning it up. Even some polished finishes will show buffing if not carefully.
 
If you are going to use steel wool on a stainless steel pistol, make certain to use stainless steel wool. If you use regular steel wool, you compound the problem many times over. \

There are ;many types of stainless steel with the ferritic (400 series) steels used in friearms. This series does not contain nickel and will rust. When people think of stainless steel, they generally think of the 18-8 series, or 300 series which is austenitic and contains both nickel and chromium. The austenitic alloys do not rust like the ferritic alloys..
 
Even a 300 series or 18-8 will get surface rust in a harsh environment if it's not passivated after machining. It picks up ferrite from the cutting tools and fixtures.
 
As stated the use of steel wool will give rust problems later on. Better to use an extremely fine grade of wet dry paper or bronze brush and oil. If it is in a very visible area better to have the weapon bead blasted again.
 
DO NOT ever get near a firearm with a Dremel tool.

If you are going to work over a firearm with steel wool, start with 0000 and work slowly. No need to remove surface rust by turning it into a shiny patch.
 
"DO NOT ever get near a firearm with a Dremel tool."

Someone should tell that to the gunsmiths in Houlten, Maine, who have been working on the recalled S&W-made PPKs. The Dremel tool seems be their weapon of choice when it comes to polishing the feed ramps after the hammer block mechanism has been replaced. Many of the results that we've seen have been less than pretty to behold.
 
So, did you decide to buy it? If not, you may want to test fire first to make sure it works. AMT went bankrupt, so I don't know how you would get it fixed if it turns out to be a Jam-O-Matic. I used to have an AMT 10/22 clone many years ago and wasn't impressed with the quality.

How much time and money the clean up takes will depend on how good you want it to look. I think sgt127's idea is the best:
Bronze brush, lots of oil. I'll bet it comes off.
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I would push hard with the bronze brush (or fine stainless steel brush) and use very short strokes. Try to get the bristles down to the rusty bottom of every little pit. You would probably need to follow up with copper solvent to get the bronze marks off.
 
There is no doubt that the Dremel is a weapon of desctruction in the hands of the ignorant. But it is still just a tool. A tool that when used in the right way at the right time can do the job better and faster than other tools. The "skill" comes in having the judgement to know when to reach for it or past it.

In this case I'd reach past it and pick up a brass bristled "toothbrush" and have at the spots with some oil as a lubricant. There is a very good chance that the rust specks are from a previous use of steel wool by someone and that the embedded particles were rusting. A brass brush and oil will kick them loose. If the spots are actually from some rusting of the stainless metal then a light media blasting to clean and restore the finish will turn things right again. Just keep it oiled from then on.
 
Still undecided leaning toward no until I see ftf. The guy says it was the lighting and doesn't have surface rust I posted the pics. The first pictures were borrowed from a automag on gunbroker. I dunno I don't one bad enough get burned. just a whim
 
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