how to get bad rust out of a barrel?

[scottprice]

my buddy was given a Traditions Deerhunter by a guy...it was rusted bad, had wet powder and a ball stuck in it, and a broken ramrod. He got a new ramrod and I fixed everything else besides the rust insid the barrel.

whats the best way to get that out? i took a wire brush to it and that got the bigger stuff. But when i run patches down they comes out a bit shredded and covered in rust....

an advice?

 

[MercerLake]

:v Navel Jelly will remove the rust, but leave a pickled surface. Electrolysis will also remove all the rust and leave the barrel shiny. However, either method will not remove the pits. The pits will collect fowling everytime you shoot and require scrupulous cleaning. A pitted bore is not necessarily ruined for shooting but if the lands are pitted severely to where the patches are tearing it is likely ruined as it may not be accurate. :shake:

 

[MeatStick]

What about having it bored to a smoothbore?

 

[750k2]

Could always try fire lapping - nothing to lose

 

[jerrywh]

you can get the rust out but the pits are permanent.

 

[nkbj]

If the pitting isn't too terrible...
Naval Jelly followed by lapping.
When lapping have a layer of scotchbright compressed under the compound coated patch.

If it's really bad, smoothbore to as small a bore diameter as will clean up. I have a Deerhunter and would prefer mine a handy smoothie.

 

[Problem Child]

I've bought a few rifles dirt cheap with pitted bores.I've worked with them hours and hours and decided it ain't worth it.I've tried steel wool,Scotchbrite,Molasses...everything.Although the rifles still shoot pretty good,you can clean and oil them all you want and you will still have a pitted bore that will easily rust again.
If you're buddy is set on keeping the rifle,I would advise putting the money on a a new barrel instead of cleaning supplies.

 

[Cascade Pete]

Can of Coke and a brass brush. Fill the barrel with Coke(the drinking kind) and let set for about 20 minutes. Pour it out, brush heavily, and then patch and clean. Should take out the rust, pits are another story. Naval Jelly is very destructive, and while it will take the white out of rice, it will eat the snot out of everything..I do not recommend it for firearms...tractors and plows, yes..firearms..no!!!

 

[Birddog6]

You can get the rust out lots of ways, but it will always rust again cause if it is rusted that bad, as it is pitted as well. You can firelap, polish, scotchbrite, JBBore paste, etc. til H freezes over & you are not going to lap out any serious pits....

If you have a pit .010 deep, that means you have to lap out .010 on the entire surface area of the bore to remove that pit. :shocked2: Forget it.. :shake: not gonna happen.......

Buy a new or better barrel or bore it out is the only way to get the pits out. Save yourself lots of wasted effort.

Keith Lisle

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Can of Coke and a brass brush. Fill the barrel with Coke(the drinking kind) and let set for about 20 minutes. Pour it out, brush heavily, and then patch and clean. Should take out the rust, pits are another story. Naval Jelly is very destructive, and while it will take the white out of rice, it will eat the snot out of everything..I do not recommend it for firearms...tractors and plows, yes..firearms..no!!!

Have to "second" this idea and suggestion. Coca-Cola has been reported to dissolve a human tooth that was submersed overnight, but it's much much easier on the metal than NJ.

I'd Suggest you do this method...., and I'd use some 3M "Green Scrubbie" to finish it up. For final inspection, then get a small spent shell casing in the .38, 9mm, or .223 Remington family. Put a drop of glue on the spent primer, and glue a piece of tin foil, shinny side up, to the bottom of the casing.

When this is done you have a small diameter reflector, with some weight, that you can drop down the bore, and using a cheap LED flashlight, the light reflected back will allow you a decent visual inspection of the bore. You can make one out of a small piece of dowel, but it has less mass and I like the weight so that when you point the barrel at the ground the reflector drops out with ease.

LD

 

[Stumpkiller]

The one great liberating thing about a rusty and pitted barrel is that you don't have much fear of ruining it. I have and have had breechloaders that still shoot great with nasty barrels - but with cloth patches and blackpowder it's a different story. Personally, I would scrub it with JB Paste on a 3M green "Scrunge" pad to get as much lead out as possible and then wrap a bore brush (the m/l variety with the wire fed through the base and not just swaged) with #0000 steel wool so that it is a very tight fit and work the bore with that, changing the steel wool occasionally, until it doesn't tear patches.

You have little to lose.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have salvaged several badly rusted rifles by lapping the bores. All you need is some 10/32 all thread, a short wooden dowel rod, a way of melting lead, and some valve grinding coumpound and lapping coumpound available at any auto parts store. And a lot of time.. Center the all tread in one end of the dowel Fit the dowel rod to the bore either by sanding or building up with tape, push the dowel into the bore about three inches, pour lead around the all thread about one or two inches long. Let cool a few seconds and then pull out. Remove the dowel rod and you have a lead slug for lapping. Put a small amount of the grinding coumpound on the slug and fasten the slug to a disposable ramrod ( the coumpound will embed into the rod ) And start lapping away. It will take several hundred strokes but it can be done. Repeat with a new slug and finer coumpound. Then wash out the bore excedingly well and it should be better. Not all rifles can be salvaged but many can. :idunno:

 

[ssettle]

personally I'd hang it on the wall and not bother with it. Traditions is the cheapest made rifle out their and are basiclly junk. Thats just how I see them.

 

[boar]

Well I bought a .50 Tradition Hawken at the flea market for 75.00, it had a rusty bore that I cleaned up and killed two deer with it with it. One shot kills. I also killed a wild pig with it. The bore was the worst one I have cleaned up to date. But was worth the time and trouble. Dilly

 

[1sgt]

Did you get that wild boar in Ohio??

 

[F.G. Ford]

Oven cleaner will remove rust very well, however you must protect your "blued " barrel finish.
The oven cleaner may cause harm to the blued finish, if left unattended.
The oven cleaner also cleans your saw blades of resin and gum as well.
Best regards
Old Ford

 

[boar]

No I got it in Jackson Michigan at Ted Nu gents ranch. My grandson Silent sniper set it up for me. There was 5 hunters on the trip. We had a good time. Dilly

 

[RedFeather]

One thing's for sure, be careful of the chemicals you work with. Once picked up a Ithica Hawken with a dark bore and, not knowing any better, used a wire brush, steel wool wrapped around it and Hoppes No. 9. I must have worked that barrel, with a brass muzzle protector, for over an hour. Wasn't wearing gloves and the Hoppes got on the web of my left hand where I was hold it. Thought nothing of it until, next day, it was kind of sore and blistered. Took several years for the skin to keep from drying out in the winter. It's a pair of good, non-permeable gloves for me from now on.

(Never did know how that Hawken shot. It had other issues besides the bore.)

 

[mr.flintlock]

There is a product called Evap O Rust that will clean the rust from the bore. Plug the nipple up and stand the rifle muzzle up and fill the bore with it and let it sand over night. Next day pour it out, run a bronze or brass brush down the bore and back out(no scrubbing) then flush it out with water and every speck of rust will be gone. One caution though, it will remove bluing. I bought some of it a while back and have never seen anything like it.