[CrabClaw]

Despite 18 years of preaching and despite a very responsible (majority of time) 18 year old son, my son "accidentally" left his Rem 742 in his gun case:smack: and you know th rest of the story. I found a light, sandpaper like texture of rust on the receiver and barrel. I rubbed it well with gun cleaner and oil -Is there any technique that can be done to help- help short of rebluing?

 

[d2]

You can try the cold blue. What I do is put Hoppes #9 on it let it set a little bit, then take some 000 steel wool and get the rust off befor the pits get worse. Thse pits are what makes the buffing befor it's blued worse than normal...d2

 

[John Stiles]

For every coat of blue you apply to a gun, it should be rinsed in cold water, and lightly buffed with the finest steel wool, like d2 said. The steel wool will not remove the blue, but rust will, so you will most likely hafta add bluing after you buff away the rust. If you don't do it now, it will rust again and again everytime it is used. But a well polished and blued piece, will resist rust very well.

 

[flintknapper]

Try a little Dupont #7 chrome polish on a clean cotton rag, and lightly rub a part that isn't too obvious to test whether or not it will take the blue off....it usually doesn't, but test first!

If it doesn't take the blue, lightly buff the rusty areas. Dupont #7 has SOMETHING in it that is specially formulated to take rust "blooms" off of chrome bumpers, and it takes light rust stains and pits off of most everything else, too. When the rust stains are gone, go back and buff the whole gun with a fresh clean rag, and don't forget to oil the whooopy out of it.

I worked at a machine shop once that used gallons of the stuff to buff light rust off of tooling and steel parts. Try it but test first.

 

[josh4666]

a little rust does not hurt makes it better that way when in the wood it does not reflect light as bad a shiny gun shiny is not good for hunting:smack: : use steal wool and gun oil don't worry about the blue gone it will not shine as bad.ray: ray: ray:

 

[CrabClaw]

Thanks to all of you guys for the help.

 

[John Stiles]

Blueing is actually akin to rust...the old guns were "browned" which is like what josh4666 is talkin bout!:thumb:

 

[flintknapper]

Blueing is actually akin to rust...the old guns were "browned" which is like what josh4666 is talkin bout!:thumb:

And you should see some of the "brown jobs" out there. The browning on my flintlock is a dark, smooth, shiny finish. A lot of the older ones were very non-reflective and came in many different flavors of brown. If you want you're muzzleloader to have an authentic old style camo job, brown all the metal, they look cool!

 

[John Stiles]

And you should see some of the "brown jobs" out there. The browning on my flintlock is a dark, smooth, shiny finish. A lot of the older ones were very non-reflective and came in many different flavors of brown. If you want you're muzzleloader to have an authentic old style camo job, brown all the metal, they look cool!

:head:brown bess?:razz:

 

[d2]

John is right, bluing is just a controlled form of rust. I have seen some hand tools come out of the ground wth rust scale all over 'em. You knock off the rust and there is a nice blue job(considering) underneath...d2

 

[flintknapper]

John is right, bluing is just a controlled form of rust. I have seen some hand tools come out of the ground wth rust scale all over 'em. You knock off the rust and there is a nice blue job(considering) underneath...d2

We have this pitchfork we stick into a pile of mulch out behind the barn here at the museum. Every morning somebody sticks that thing into the pile, every evening somebody puts it back into the barn.

The tines on this thing have taken on a beautiful blue tint that is shiny, hard, and seemingly permanent. The rest of the fork is rusting, but the tines are as blued as they can be, through a natural process I wish I could figure out how to duplicate. Those tines haven't rusted in the ten years I've been watching them....(!)

 

[John Stiles]

Certain tree bark/sap will also do an amazing job of bluing steel!:wink:

 

[CrabClaw]

Try a little Dupont #7 chrome polish on a clean cotton rag, and lightly rub a part that isn't too obvious to test whether or not it will take the blue off....it usually doesn't, but test first!

If it doesn't take the blue, lightly buff the rusty areas. Dupont #7 has SOMETHING in it that is specially formulated to take rust "blooms" off of chrome bumpers, and it takes light rust stains and pits off of most everything else, too. When the rust stains are gone, go back and buff the whole gun with a fresh clean rag, and don't forget to oil the whooopy out of it.

I worked at a machine shop once that used gallons of the stuff to buff light rust off of tooling and steel parts. Try it but test first.

I just wanted to thank you for your advice. I couldn't find any of the Dupont#7, but I did find some NANO-POLISH by Eagle One and followed your advice using some 0000 steel wool. I'm telling you it fixed me up really well. I can hardly tell there was ever a problem. The rust was removed with no noticeable ill effects to the gun blue. I just wanted to say thanks and pass on the info-cause I'm sure I'm not the lone ranger with this type of problem:thumb:

 

[10pointman]

I have a shotgun handed down from my Grandpa that has been "Browned".
It"s pretty neat looking.Very different look.Kind of like an antique look.

 

[flintknapper]

Crabclaw, I'm glad it worked for you! That's a goodie from my auto parts store past, I've used a lot of Dupont No. 7, but very little on cars...

Track of the Wolf offers lots of browning supplies. Danny Cawood in Berryville reputedly has his own recipie for browning, and his guns look GOOD. I suppose you could look up the old timer's recipies and go to town, but the stuff from track of the wolf works very well.