How do I get rid of rust in barrel?

[TheFatman]

I recently bought back a 54 cal. Hawken rifle I made in the late 70's. It was a Sharon River kit and I sold it to a friend in a moment of madness. After he swore he cleaned it a month before, I found that a few inches of rust was at the bottom of the barrel. I gave him a nipple tube as well, the kind you screw into the nipple thread and run hot water through it, using the ramrod as a plunger. At first I thought it was loaded and when I ran a bullet puller down the barrel, a tablespoon of rust came out. I think maybe he cleaned it with hot water but forgot to run dry patches down the hole. It is not a solid plug as the bullet puller bottomed out.
I would appreciate some advice as I don't know how to proceed. Is there some way to dissolve the rust with some chemical, perhaps WD40, or a wire brush or both? Any thoughts? I will answer any questions if I can. Thank you kindly!

 

[Matt85]

depending how bad the rust is, i would soak the barrel in CLP or WD40. then scrub with a tightly fitted patch. personally i would plug the nipple fill the barrel with WD40 or CLP and let it soak over a day or two (let it really soak in).

you could also use a bore cleaner like IOSSO or something similer to scrub the barrel with.

-matt

 

[Greg Blackburn]

Someone on here got me interested in "Evapo Rust" and Lowe's sells that. I am yet to try it. It murders bluing so be advised.

Greg

 

[Bill Hall]

This might be one of those rare times you would want to remove the breechplug. If all that crud is in the breech area of the barrel, removing the breechplug would allow you to better see the extent of the damage to the bore, and also allow a visual check of condition of the male and female breechplug threads. Once the plug is out, you can scrub with a wire brush and your favorite rust remover, and actually see when it's all gone. You may get halfway through and decide it's not worth it, especially if the breech threads are bad.

I don't know anything about your breechplug, but I'll bet it's removable. Might take some more questions here pertaining to wrenches and rust dissolvers and such, if you decide to go that route. Your call, good luck. Bill

 

[ebiggs1]

"...a tablespoon of rust came out. ..."

This is not good! That is a lot. :shocked2: Way too much for just surface rust. You need a qualified gunsmith to tell you it is OK.

 

[S.Kenton]

That sounds like your going to have some pretty good pitting in the bore.. I would soak it in WD-40. Then run an undersized brass brush wrapped with 0000 steel wool.. use a bore guide and run the brush in and out and up and down ALOT. Then you can tell what kind of bore you have. ALSO I would have a gunsmith remove the breech plug and clean accordingly.
My guess is your probably going to have to buy another barrel for it. Sounds like alot of rust to try and scrub out.

 

[Dphar]

I recently bought back a 54 cal. Hawken rifle I made in the late 70's. It was a Sharon River kit and I sold it to a friend in a moment of madness. After he swore he cleaned it a month before, I found that a few inches of rust was at the bottom of the barrel. I gave him a nipple tube as well, the kind you screw into the nipple thread and run hot water through it, using the ramrod as a plunger. At first I thought it was loaded and when I ran a bullet puller down the barrel, a tablespoon of rust came out. I think maybe he cleaned it with hot water but forgot to run dry patches down the hole. It is not a solid plug as the bullet puller bottomed out.
I would appreciate some advice as I don't know how to proceed. Is there some way to dissolve the rust with some chemical, perhaps WD40, or a wire brush or both? Any thoughts? I will answer any questions if I can. Thank you kindly!

If that much rust came out of it it will need to be rebarreled or at least recut. Pitted barrels foul horribly and are REALLY hard to clean.
Hope the breech is not riddled with "crawdad holes" that have eaten deeply into the metal if so that is toast as well. Especially if its been used with a substitute powder with potassium perchlorate as an oxidizer.
First step is pulling the breech plug so you can see just how bad it really is.
I suppose then plugging the bore and pouring it full of Naval Jelly for 20 minutes then washing with warm water might allow you to see bare metal.

Dan

 

[larry wv]

Pull the breech plug. If you don't you will wonder how strong it is till you do. Larry

 

[TheFatman]

Thank you all for your response. My friend said he'd shot and cleaned it out just a month prior. I can't believe it could rust that badly, as I said, it was not a solid plug of rust, however I don't intend taking chances. I will remove the breach plug and check it out. It's just that I remember how tight I screwed that in!

 

[drboompa]

on milsurps, I use a homemade electonic barrel cleaner. works pretty good. How would it do with a BP barrel?????

 

[George T.]

I have never found anything better than PB-Blaster. Auto Zone carries it. Just give it time to work. You will find that the scale softens in a couple of days! Good Luck! Geo. T.

 

[GeekEGuy]

I'll just chime in and say are you sure its rust?

I've seen some barrels that someone used way too much lube (bore-butter type stuff) and swab a VERY hot barrel with it. The lube just sort of melts, drains to the bottom and cruds up. It can look a lot like rust.

Just don't want you to go through all the trouble of the breech removal if it's unnecessary.

Maybe give it a good cleaning and then take a look in there again. :hmm: