Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Best way to clean rust in barrel?

I have a Browning 71 I bought almost two years ago, in great shape.

Pulled it out today and there is a rust spot in the last inch of barrel that covers about half of the side of that one inch. The rest of the barrel looks great.


What is the best way to clean it. All I've ever used is Hoppe's #9 and it's not working very well. I need to use something that will clean it all out so I can see what the damage really is. What's best?

Thanks in advance!

I'd try JB Bore Paste to see if that gets the job done.
If that doesn't do it, try wrapping some 0000 steel wool around a patch and work the area with it loaded with Hoppe's.
I always like working from the least intrusive method first, then move to the more intrusive things if the job doesn't get done. If 0000 doesn't do it, go to 000 steel wool. I wouldn't go past 000 though.

Don

Thanks Don!

Corrosion cannot ever be remedied except thru removal, the advice you are getting here will clean it up a bit with a bore scope or even a good magnifying glass you can always see it. When a barrel is rusted it is pretty much scrap because as you fire a round the pitting will fill with copper which is very difficult to remove completely and then the process just continues. It is always better to prevent it in the first place.

Is it in the bore or outside? If outside, take an older penny that is copper and rub the rust away with it.I have also used bronze wool and oil. Bronze wool is less abrasive than steel wool.

Boss Hoss you're preaching to the choir.

I got my first rifle in 1968 and because of my dad who was career army and an avid hunter I learned early to take care of your firearms. This is the first time I've ever had rust in a bore or anywhere else for that matter and it still makes me mad that it happened.

wiktor I will get some bronze wool and use that first.

It must have happened when you were out of state. Guns don't rust in Montana.

Met a guy once in hunting camp with a shortened Browning auto. His bad habit of resting the gun on the muzzle cost him the last inch of his barrel. When he fired with mud in the end the muzzle split, sending the front sight into the next county.

So if your problem is in the last inch, consider a cut and recrown. BTW, I just realized that all the muzzle end problems (3) I know about have been Brownings, coincidence?

gmack, that is a mystery to me too. I'm in Fairfield 34 miles west of Great Falls. With constant wind, an average rainfall of only 16 inches a year and humidity levels at times close to the Mojave desert how the heck did this happen?

I've thought about a cut and recrown already if worse comes to worse.

If it is just mild surface rust, there may not be enough damage to really affect anything. In that case a quick pass with 0000 steel wool and/or just some JB paste will restore the bore to good condition.

If the metal is pitted, rust will tend to continue to eat into the metal unless it is removed completely and neutralized, but it is best to approach the situation conservatively, as you can quickly run into a situation where the cure is worse than the disease.

There are several industrial products that will remove and neutralize rust. I hesitate to suggest them here, because they are aggressive and perhaps best left to an experienced hand. However, I believe the RIG company may still have a rust remover on the market that is intended for firearms.

After that, applying a little cold blue to the area will add protection to the damaged metal.

You can always have the barrel shortened, but that would be an extreme option, unless you want a shorter barrel. Many rifles of older vintage with very rough and rusted bores still shoot well. Even with more than a little rust in the bore, the rifle may still shoot to its capability.

Keep it well oiled between range sessions and it should be fine going into the future.

TC

Mr. Henry McAnn:
I'm starting with the understanding that the rust is on the inside, but either way this might work.
I have a rather �out there� thought on barrel rust, that up this point I have not tried for internal rust, but��..
If anyone who has experience with this would comment, I�d be obliged.
I do some rust bluing. I�m not sure which formula of bluing agent/acid we use, IIRC, perhaps a Roy Dunlap formula? Would have to look it up, we mix it every decade or so�.
When rust bluing, the metal is caused to aggressively oxidize by applying the bluing agent/acid mixture.
We stop the process by buffing off the excess oxidization and boiling the metal in pure or distilled water for 10 minutes.
The process is repeated 6-10 times, until the metal stops turning darker with successive applications.
The last time we boil it, we add lye, to stop any further oxidization. I�m not exactly sure of the chemical reaction, but it seems to work.
Now I know you would need a tank to do a whole barreled action, but�� and here is the $2.00 question.
Might it work to suspend say, the last 6� of the barrel in a coffee can and boil it?
I�m sure it sounds like a strange idea, but if it was mine, I think I might try it. I do not believe it would hurt anything.
Hope that helped, and perhaps gave you a laugh as well.
Dwayne

There is a product called Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner that works better than anything else I've used for cleaning up military surplus rifle bores. It will remove the rust completely from the pits and pores along with any copper or powder fouling.

Thanks for the continued responses...and yes it's inside the bore to clarify any misunderstanding.

Dan, Blue Wonder sounds good!

I'm with BC30cal on boiling, .....like him, I rust blue, ....my understanding is that the boiling "Converts" active rust to a passive state......and a proper rust blued finish is TOUGH.

BC30cal, how hard would it be to talk you outta' that formula that you're using? ....if it's from Dunlap, ....he probably got it from A.O. Niedner

Don't get all freaked out, 'til youve shot it, at any rate....rust assumes 900% of the actual parent steel, dimensionally.....and some minute pitting may be able to be lived with, Henry.

GTC

Henry,

I second Dan's suggestion of Blue Wonder.

As some have suggested, it may very well shoot just fine even with pitting. I have some very old (19th century) rifles that shoot very well despite the bore looking like hell.

Another possibility aside from cutting back and recrowning is just have somebody bore out the last inch or so, leaving the crown inside the barrel about an inch or so. This would also get around moving sights.

I am also from Montana (Townsend) and can't understand how it happened either. I hardly ever even oil bores between range sessions! It sounds like really bad luck of some sort....

JB

Mr. crossfireoops:
No problem on sharing the formula. Roger that on the tough finish, we figure it can�t rust much more, because you�ve rusted it to infinity already, right?
Called a friend and got the exact specifics on it. It was given to us by another good friend who passed away some time ago. It works great, but I must be clear that I have no direct knowledge of its pedigree; just a decreasing memory��.It was some old time gunsmith�s that he�d found.
Do you want me to post it here or someplace else?
Thanks
Dwayne

Thanks once more to all that have shared their knowledge...Mr. JB being from Townsend you understand wind!

How water got into just the last inch of the barrel and no where else I have no idea. I've never had the gun out in any kind of moisture! My only guess is the ghost of some anti-gun nut did this foul deed!

I think most rust is probably due to bringing a cold gun into a warm house.

I slapped a new takeoff barrel on my Savage 30'06 a couple years ago because it rusted in the bore. Still shot ok, but it was pitted, so it would foul very quickly. The outside of the barrel looked great, as did the top half of the receiver. When I yanked the gun out of the stock, the bottom half of the receiver was pure rust, and some pine needles fell out, LOL.

Teach me not to pull the action out and oil the whole thing.

Any solution other than cut and recrown is only temporary.

Once rust sets in it's like cancer. It may go in remission but it'll be back.

$bob$