gun cleaning

Good evening, I am new to muzzleloading and black-powder shooting. This past summer I acquired a Springfield Model 1861 and have not had a chance to properly dedicate time to it's maintenance on account of academics. Nor have I begun to assess whether it is wise to shoot, or whether it will...

Let me preface this by saying that I’m an idiot and new to this. I left my musket with someone for around a week, and it rusted a lot. While cleaning the rust, there is black discoloration, seemingly raised on the gunmetal, that won’t come off. Am I stuck with this? Thank you for humoring me.

With so much discussion these days on lubes & chemical cleaning agents, some people must be wondering how people ever managed without them in the 18th century & how so many guns survived! Well they managed just fine ;) Keith.