doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com TINY rust spots on blueing

Hi, folks. I'm a new member here with a question on a topic that's probably anything but new on this board. I've got a Spanish SxS that's in really good condition other than having some very small spots of surface rust along the length of both bbls. None of the spots is larger than a millimeter or so in width and they're distributed roughly about an inch apart on average. I've a tried a search of the archive here but haven't had much luck finding an answer. The blueing is very dark and looks highly polished.

If possible, I'd like to treat each spot with as little disturbance to the surrounding blueing as possible. From various other sites and sources, I've seen a number of suggestions on how to get rid of the rust--0000 steel wool with oil, bronze wool w/oil, a clean rag w/oil and even rubbing with the graphite lead on a pencil.

First of all, is it possible to remove such small spots without affecting the surrounding blueing very much?

Secondly, what would you guys suggest to remove the rust? I'm a little bit leary of hitting it with metal products like steel wool, etc. A few yrs ago I was looking at a fairly nice Kettner in a small gunshop and was on the verge of buying it, when the owner decided he'd remove some small rust spots on the bbl blueing by scrubbing them with a bronze bore brush and Hoppe's #9. Despite my objections, he insisted that he wouldn't damage the barrel finish by using this method. A few minutes later he wiped the solvent of to find that the nice old gray-blue finish had turned to shiny black blotches where he had done his scrubbing. Now, that treatment may have just exposed the original blueing but, needless to say, I decided to pass on the gun. Anyway, since then I've been kinda antsy about introducing a blued finish to any metal product. What would you guys suggest?

Finally, how do I restore the blueing once the rust is gone? I've heard pros and cons on using Oxpho-Blu (sp?) and other cold blue solutions. Also, assuming I do use the OB, since the spots are so tiny, I thought it might be best to use the OB paste in order to limit the area treated to the spots themselves. Seems to me that the solution would be more apt to run and spread over a lager area. Does that sound reasonable?

After checking out the Shotgun World site (where an archive search turned up opinions that are all over the place), I decided to try this site. I'm fairly certain that the level of expertise here is a good deal higher, given all the pricey guns that are typically discussed here. Anyway, any help on this will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Steel wool is capable of removing blueing. I find that brass brushes can cut the rust without hurting the surrounding blueing. Then all you need to do is carefully touch up the metal that starts to shine when the rust is removed. Keep in mind that if the rust has pitted the metal sufficiently almost anything you do will make it look worse than just leaving it there and keeping it oiled.

Don't know what your rust spotting looks like, but I have had good luck getting rid of rust spotting with 0000 steel wool and WD-40. I never put any kind of solvent on the blued parts of my guns...Geo

A gentle application of oil with super-fine steel wool should stop the decay without noticeable effect to the blue. TT

If this were mine I get some Flitzs and gently wipe down the barrels with this product using cotton balls. I done this numerous times to remove light surface rusting leaving no evidence it was ever there.
Jim

A #2 lead pencil will remove the rust without damaging the bluing. Wipe off the lead residue, then wipe with oily cloth.

It sounds like it is just a tiny bit of cosmetic rust. I wouldn't really worry about it that much and I certainly wouldn't rub the bluing off with steel wool or anything else and make it look worse. If the remedies these gentlemen give- work without damaging the bluing, then I might try it. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. It won't make the gun shoot any differently. And welcome to the board. It is nice to hear from you.

Try this old English metal polishing method.First coat the barrels with 3 in 1 oil.Take a stick of white board chalk [As used by a school teacher] use the chalk to scrub the barrels this very mild abrasive will lift the rust without damaging the barrel finish.This method can also be used to improve the appearance of damascus barrels that show evidence of secondary surface rust.

For some rust spots, I have sucessfully used a single edge razor blade. First coat the spotted area with light oil. Let it soak a bit. Then at each spot , make sure it is well oiled, then take the razor blade and "shave" off the corrosion, keeping the flat side of the blade as parallel to the barrel surface as you can and still get a "shaving cut". On tougher spots one might do the process in two or more applications. The lubricant allows the blade to slide on the bluing without harming it.

I have used a copper penny in the same way described.
Bob Jurewicz