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I am inquiring as to the best way to remove small spots of rust on blued firearms. I'd like to sell a few guns and one has a small spot of rust near the slide and dust cover junction. This is a blued 1911. What can I do remove or minimize the spot without actually stripping it and polishing and reblueing ?? Looking for a technique other than just applying WD-40 and wiping.

Plastic scrub pad with a little oil on it or some 4/0 steel wool.Rick.

Rubbing with Flitz polish on a rag will remove light rust without damaging the blue.When the rust is gone cold blue on the bare metal left behind.

Jesse,
Plastic scrub pads come in 2 varieties, with and without abrasive. The ones with abrasive will scratch the finish on the metal. The one without will probably not be effective. 4/0 steel wool is the most abrasive grade available. What will work best is 0000 steel wool (finest grade) and WD-40, Hoppes #9 or any light oil.

Actually, a better method is to obtain some bronze wool... Steel wool, even at 0000 will take off bluing. Bronze wool will not. You can get this stuff at most any marine store.

#4 is course. #4/0 is a common way of writing #0000 to avoid confusion.
Break free and #4/0 will removove the surface rust. Cold blue will provide a touch up.
Be sure to oil after using cold blue to prevent additional rust.

Reading from coarsest to finest, steel wool comes in grades 4/0, 3/0, 2/0, 1/0, 0, 00, 000 and 0000. Using 0000 and a lubricant won't scratch blue under normal circumstances. The idea is to avoid having to repair the finish as it is very difficult to blend cold blue in with the original blue.

Quarterchoke, just checked my package of 4/0 or 0000 steel wool. According to the package the finest is 0000 or 4/0. It goes from 4/0, 3/0, 2/0, 1/0, 1, 2, 3, 4, finest to coarsest.Rick.

AVERAGE FIBER WIDTH 5 POUND REELS- 30# case
GRADE DESCRIPTION MILLIMETERS INCHES Item Number
0000 Super Fine 25 microns (0.025mm) 0.001" (1 mils) 105040
000 Extra Fine 35 microns (0.035mm) 0.0015" (1.5 mils) 105041
00 Very Fine 40 microns (0.04mm) 0.0018" (1.75 mils) 105042
0 Fine 50 microns (0.05mm) 0.002" (2 mils) 105043
1 Medium 60 microns (0.06mm) 0.0025" (2.5 mils) 105044
2 Medium Coarse 75 microns (0.075mm) 0.003" (3 mils) 105045
3 Coarse 90 microns (0.09mm) 0.0035" (3.5 mils) 105046
4 Extra Coarse 100 microns (0.10mm) 0.004" (4 mils) 105049
or http://www.briwaxwoodcare.com/stelwool.htm
4/0, 3/0, 2/0 are often used for 0000, 000, and 00 respectively to prevent confusion.

We've had good luck with the amway scrub buds. They're a stainless steel version of steel wool and work remarkably well.