Rust removing tips?

[shooter43]

I was recently given my great grandfather's single shot 12 gauge. Works great but its pretty worn with some rust. Any ideas or methods to remove it? Also, the stock has some wear too. I was thinking of sanding it and using some type of wood finish to restore it?

[BigD_in_FL]

Rust removal, use a good oil, Hoppe's, 3-n-1, or whatever with a scrubbie - should remove the rust if it isn't too deep.

Stock refinishing will start with a good light sanding to remove any existing finishes. IF it needs any staining, use a good gun-oriented one, followed by Tru-oil, or similar gun finishing oil - even a good triple-boiled linseed can work

[Bill DeShivs]

DON'T use a "scrubbie!" Most of them are abrasive, and will remove bluing.
Use 0000 steel wool, or bronze wool.

[jrothWA]

then use brass /bronze wool to remove.

Try using "Scott's Liquid Gold" wood cleaner on stock first.

Then decide if removal/refinishing is needed.

If to strip, use one cup of "Spic-n_Span cleaner is hptest water you can get from tap and use scrub brush to remove to bare wood.

[BigD_in_FL]

Disagree, a scrubbie is NOT metal, it is nylon or polyester and will not remove bluing like steel wool - you do not use it with a heavy hand, you use oil and rub lightly. Metal on metal will remove bluing, not plastic on metal

[TxGun]

I'd go with 0000 steel or bronze wool (bronze preferred) soaked continually in Hoppe's #9 or a light oil, and rub lightly.

Go real slow on the stock. Most people get too aggressive, too early, and remove too much wood. And, of course, once you do that....

jrothWA's suggestion is a good one.

Always better to do too little than too much.

[Bill DeShivs]

I don't know what you are calling a scrubbie, but I'm talking about kitchen Scotch brite pads. They are plastic and VERY abrasive.

[BigD_in_FL]

I also use those but on places like the breech face, because they WILL get it off right now. For the bluing, I am talking about those kitchen things that look like a steel wool scouring pad, but they are plastic mesh

[drcook]

Scotch Brite comes in a variety of colors, according to the intended purpose.

Blue - non (or super mildly abrasive), sold for kitchen usage, will not mar the finish on shiny stainless steel cooking utensils

Green - abrasive, sold for some kitchen work, but primarily was used for metal finishing, will hurt stainless kitchen utensils as well as non-stick finishes, WILL hurt the finish of a gun

Here are some charts showing different grades/colors and their equivalents. Notice some of the charts don't show Blue or some of the newer pads that have been introduced.

http://academic.evergreen.edu/projec...ric/finish.pdf

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...6EVs6E666666--

In my experience don't use scotch brite around lettering, such as on a barrel. Do to its flexible nature, it can cut the corners off the lettering. You are better off using paper strips in a shoe shine motion, making sure you keep the paper tight and flat or using paper on sanding blocks of one type of another.

[PetahW]

.

Use none of the above, including your ideas about sanding the stock.

The best way to remove rust w/o effecting any remaining metal finish is to use Big 45 Frontier metal cleaner:
http://www.big45metalcleaner.com/

If there's NO original metal finish (aka: all rust), rust can be removed via an electrolyic method, running an electrical current through an alkaline solution:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch/rust.htm

If the stock wood's sanded, most likely egdes will get rounded and/or enough wood removed to lower it below the outer surfaces of the receiver, etc.

A better solution is to use some Formby's Furniture Remover (Home Cheapo or a good hardware store), following the can directions (apply the liquid & wipe off the old finish with a new pad of 0000 steel wool).

The wood can then later be stained (optional) & finished with any of the myriad stock finishes (TruOil, LinSpeed, etc)



.

[hogdogs]

As a person from the building maint. trade, I procured dozens of scotch brite "centers" that we have to pop out of the floor buffers and grinders...

I have some BLACK scotch brite... IT IS AGGRESSIVE!!! I used it to take the "spun" grooves out of a real chineses wok I bought the wifey before I seasoned it... It would easily take off all the bluing and most of the roll stamping in NO TIME!!!!

Brent

[BigD_in_FL]

IT IS AGGRESSIVE!!! I used it to take the "spun" grooves out of a real chineses wok

THAT was a mistake - those grooves are there on purpose -to help hold food up the sides out of the hot oil in the bottom as something cook at different speeds........

I agree that "Scotchbrites" are aggressive, the ones I was talking about are soft kitchen plastic you can use on a teflon pan - if they won't scratch the teflon off, they won't take the bluing off, but with some oil and gentle pressure, light surface rust can be removed

[hogdogs]

I thought they may have a purpose but didn't like how they would slowly feed me bamboo as they grind my bamboo utensils...

I thought about breaking out the torch, hammer and anvil and giving it the old hammered finish

brent

[BigD_in_FL]

A truly handmade wok is made just that way, with all of the little indentations from the hammer made to act like that.

Back on topic - I use the green rough ones on the breech face on My Browning when it got left in a damp case for a few days, little oil and rust is gone, but I would not use it on anywhere that was blue, unless it was so bad, it was going to get reblued anyway

[shooter43]

Thanks for all the advice. I will try that 0000 steel wool and oil trick. Where could i buy the steel wool with that number? Does Walmart carry it?

[BigD_in_FL]

They should as will Lowe's or Home Depot in the paint section

[SoilworK777]

a real Chinese wok

Given your anti-affinity for Chinese made shotguns, I'd have thought you would have gone for a good ole' American made wok...

[hogdogs]

I couldn't find one american made with no coating on steel and a round bottom....

And they basically invented the things so I went to my real chinese market and he opened a burlap sack of them... some little 6 year old kid probably made it at $.06 an hour....

But I digress...
I didn't know that 0000 or any ought in steel wool was safe on bluing, I thought it had to be a yellow metal...

Brent

[ClydeFrog]

There are some great tips to restore your shotgun. Id add that you may want a gunsmith to look it over to make sure it's safe to fire/use before you take it hunting or target shooting.

In the late 1990s, I brought my cousin's used rusted out Remington 1100 12ga shotgun back to life with a lot of Ballistol. It was like a TV infomercial, .

The 1100 went from junked out to LNIB condition.

Id get a bore-light & go over the barrel real good too.

Clyde