I have a bunch of old handguns that have been sitting around a long time and they are covered with rust, what do you use to get the rust off your gun?
Rust Removal on guns? Hello all Ron L here = SERESURPLUS Your question is one fraught with a lot of issues? If the rust on the guns you have is a light, what I like to call "Feather rust" it usually wipes off with your fingers, your job will be easy, I recommend useing cheeze cloth soaked with any light machine oild and wipe the surface rust coat off till you can see the nice deep blue under that thinn coat? Now, for most guns that have been allowed to rust, it's past that stage, remember Rust is simply red, and Blue is simple Blue rust? If the rust on the pistold has pitted the surface or gotten in deep, you have a lot of work ahead of you! At times you can use the same method I just described but use like 6 zero steel wool soaked with oil and get the rust to come up, it might and probably will degrade the blue color some, but that can't be avoided? If the rust is deep and pitted, you will have to remove all the old blueing (Not a feat for a beginner) and re-blue the gun! If they are older, collector guns, that will destroy thier collector value! I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but the best way to aviod all this mess is to keep them up and not let them get that way? In most cases, they are given to us, leant to others or someone in your family does this to ya? In some cases we do it ourselves? In each case, look to how bad, how deep and if pitting of the metal is present, if so, you have a mess on your hand, a "Smith" worthy of that title can bring them back up to near what they were unless pitted and destroyed, but it will not be cheap, it will not be easy, nor will it be quick!
Kroil www.kanolabs.com the best rust desolver on the market. Not sold in stores byt used commercially by everybody from GM FORD to plumbers and gunsmiths. NOTHING like it !
Lubricant : Use what they use in the SAND WORLD....the best of the best, beat everybody else in Federal Govt/Military tests : MILITEC ! We use on guns, machineguns, in our compressors, mills and lathes... it rocks ! www.militec1.com best stuff on the market.PERIOD !
Preventing Gun Rust Hey, there's a great product called ZCORR that prevents firearm rust and corrosion for up to 20 years! (if you've already got rust on your gun, you're on your own). Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who wants to avoid this mess of having to clean rust off a gun.
Use the oil of your choice and rub vigorously with 0000 steel wool. If it removes the bluing then the rust was past that (deeper) anyway.
I had a horrible mishap in my gun safe a few months ago. As I was pulling something out, I knocked over one of those DriZAir pellet bowls I had on the top shelf. The liquid inside is some sort of acid, apparently, and got everywhere. 1) It doesn't soak up in paper towels. 2) It doesn't dry on its own, but actually gets worse when it's allowed to sit. 3) It rusts guns. My shotty has never been the same since. I now use these: Hydrosorbent Silica Gel Desicant 40 Gram (Protects 3 Cubic Feet) Aluminum Canister - MidwayUSA
You fellows are gonna think I'm nuts, but for over 30 years I've used sawdust as a dessicant. Stick a cake pan filled with sawdust in the oven at 300 F for half an hour, and then put it in a paper lunch sack and stick the sack in your safe or guncase. Repeat every few weeks.
Best product I tried is Evapo-rust (but not used on guns) Evapo-Rust rust remover description page From the link...pay attention to the part that it also removes bluing, parkerizing, zinc phosphate and browning!!! "-------- How Evapo-rust affects coatings EVAPO-RUST is highly recommended by the NRA gunsmithing school and is utilized by FBI, CIA, NATO and other law enforcement and forensics agencies. EVAPO-RUST is perfect for removing oxide weapon finishes such as Bluing, Parkerizing, Zinc Phosphate, and Browning. Anodizing, Cobalt Tungsten Carbide, Powder Coating, Chrome, Nickel, Paint, and most other coatings will not be removed as long as they do not contain oxides. EVAPO-RUST will not harm lead or solder points." ========================== I believe HarborFreight carry it for $19.99 a gallon. You can also find it at Lowe's and Home Depot. Another known product is Rustoff. It works faster but note that it is an acid and I won't recommend it.
That advertisement is immediately confusing for this old fart, mainly because anodizing involves oxidizing. So does browning. So does bluing.
Anodizing does not really involve oxidizing. It involves opening aluminum pores, dyeing the opened pores, and sealing them. Aluminum self-oxidizes to aluminum oxide. Kroil or WD 40 are much better than heavier oils when used with very fine steel wool to remove rust. Militec will not remove rust. Evapo-Rust, Naval Jelly, etc, will REMOVE bluing. Don't use these on guns!
Anodizing is oxidizing of aluminum. Through the electrochemical process an oxide layer is formed on the surface of the aluminum....there are 2 types of anodizing: Barrier Type and Cellular Type. The Cellular type is what you are referring to. This oxide layer has pores which dye is added and after added, cooled so that the pores can seal the color in.
This is why I've been searching for a lubricant you can get by the quart, rather than the ounce. Anybody do better than Mobil 1 Synthetic?
The oven cleaner EZ OFF will take of anodization, ive done it once before. Its pretty caustic but it works. Spray the part with a good amount and let it set for about 5 minutes. Wash it off with water and repeat until the anodization is gone
