Rust on Outside of Barrel

[bads1buell]

I got an unused barrel that is 30 years old and has never been fired or had any finish on it. The barrel does have a good bit of rust on the outside what would the best way to get rid of the rust?

 

[bob1961]

sounds like it's already been browned fer ya, just oil it now to stop it :v .............bob

 

[spitpatch]

That is most likely the look you want. Unless it is uneven.

 

[gmww]

Like the others wrote if it's got a lot of rust you might leave it as rust brown barrel. If it is in patches and uneven, I'd get some LMF browning solution and turn all rust brown. :grin:

 

[LFC]

You'll probably want to have a good look inside and see if it's rusty inside, too. First, make sure it's not loaded. (There can be surprises--even in kit guns! I had this happen myself with a barrel that was a little rusty, but was on a partially-assembled kit gun!)

A bore light can be helpful, but for checking the very back of the barrel, you're probably best off with just a very powerful flashlight, so you can see all the way back to the breechplug face.

If there is a lot of rust that you want to get rid of, especially rust inside the barrel or rust that is freezing a percussion nipple or a flintlock vent liner in place, you may be best off using electrolysis to remove the rust. I have done this once, and the barrel ended up looking next to new.
The great thing about this method is that it selectively targets rust, and doesn't involve sanding or polishing off large amounts of good gun metal.