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Old August 25, 2011, 07:08 AM   #28
natman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 24, 2008
Posts: 2,604
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If you want to delude yourself that dry rust is somehow less abrasive than rust suspended in oil, go ahead.
The point is that they're both about the same in terms of abrasiveness. The difference is that the oil keeps the rust in place unless you make a concerted effort to flush the surface and the steel wool clean while if it's done without oil, the rust falls away and is easily dusted off rather than rubbed around on the surface.
I disagree with both points - that oiled rust is as abrasive as dry rust and that dry rust magically vanishes.

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I once tried to see if I could damage bluing on a scrap barrel by rubbing it with 0000 and oil. And, yes, it was rusty. I finally managed to get the bluing to fade slightly - after 10 minutes of white knuckle rubbing.
That's pretty impressive and I can see how that would strengthen your opinion of the technique. I never had that much luck using oil. If I wasn't very careful it was pretty easy to get the finish to fade with even careful rubbing.
What's impressed me more is the hundreds - literally hundreds - of guns I've removed rust from with 0000 steel wool and oil without damaging the bluing on a single one. Back in the 80's when you could still get a long gun cash and carry in California, I would buy a cheap beater almost every weekend and fix it up during the week. Since then I've worked for years in a gunshop and you wouldn't believe how rusty some of the gems people put on consignment are. I've removed enough rust off guns to build a small Fiat without once damaging the bluing on any of them.

So given that I disagree with the facts of your premise and since it runs counter to 25+ years of first hand experience, I hope you can appreciate my skepticism.

Peace.
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