Rust Spots

Hey All

I just came into possession of two beautiful shotguns - an early 1960s Italian 16 Guage single shot and a mid 1970s Double Barrell, also Italian.

The guns were stored in felt bags, and sat in an attic for at least 20 years. The bore of the barrel is fine, as is the wood in the stocks and all the intricate details of the deisgn. They fire like a dream, and are practically new in every way, except that as a result of their storage, both have some minor rusting on the exterior (3-5 1/4 inch spots on each)

My question is how do I best treat this? Should I sand the rust off and reblue? What should I use to sand. Should I keep it the way it is? Will the rust spread or eventually affected the integrity of the barrels? Are there chemical compounds I can use to remove the rust and try to resture these guns to their like new condition? Anything else I should know before embarkingon this project? ANy information resources you can guide me to?

[Romulus]

I would take them to a REPUTABLE smith and have him counsel, perhaps even perform the work...

Regardless, never ever SAND a gun's finish...even my el cheapos don't deserve that fate...

While you do further research, clean and lubricate...CLP the crap out of the two lovely pieces, that will prevent further spread of rust...

Good luck

[Ledbetter]

With a Springfield 03A3 that I bought. DON'T use sandpaper. It will take off the blueing.

What worked for me was a phosphor-bronze brush with CLP. The bronze brush should remove the rust without removing the blueing. It didn't take off ANY of the parkerizing on the 03A3 barrel.

Test on an inconspicuous place first. Good luck.

[Romulus]

Ledbetter, I second the bronze brush approach, it won't remove pitted rust but will remove any rust bloom without harming the blue. And proceed lightly.

But make sure that the brush is true phosphor bronze and NOT brass. With brass i've managed to knock down parkerizing to the point of near transparency (i.e. metal showing through...)

[4V50 Gary]

I generally use an older copper penny (pre-1982) and apply a bit of oil to the rust. The penny is rubbed along the rust and removes it.

[JRiggs]

I've also heard great things about the penny trick. If you don't feel comfortable meesing with them, the spots shoud never get any worse as long as the weapons are properly cared for from now on. If your already quite happy with the guns, it may not be worth messing with. If you do tackle it, follow the advice of the others. Do not sand, and use the least abrasive technique possible.