Removing rust in bore

[Baldrick314]

I've been offered a rifle for free but the catch is it is corroded as all hell. Now the outside I'm confident I can work on but it looks like it has significant rust in the bore. The rifling is still clearly visible and we'll defined it's just covered over with rust.

Does anyone know any way of removing the rust? I've been told gumption and very fine steel wool, anyone heard/ used that before?

I'm not expecting it to be a serious shooter but I'd like to get it to a level where it's at least safe to fire or if that's not possible I'll make it look pretty and deactivate it for a wall hanger

[Tiiger]

How significant is significant?

Extensive surface rust but no pitting?

Any pitting? Much? Little?

Covered throughout or mostly at the breech?

[Baldrick314]

How significant is significant?

Extensive surface rust but no pitting?

Any pitting? Much? Little?

Covered throughout or mostly at the breech?

On the outside heavy surface rust very minimal pitting. I haven't had a very thorough look through the bore cos I have no access to a bore scope or similar but my impression is that it's covered throughout in rust but no pitting

[Warrigul]

If it is only a medium/light film of rust with minimal pitting then:

Bronze brush and plenty of oil and be prepared to work at it but don't go overboard. Often you just get the bulk out so it is safe to fire and just use it from there with a bit of extra brushing each time you clean it after use. Use a bit of well oiled steel wool wrapped around a suitable stick for the chamber.

Don't use bore paste or waste good bore solvent.

Clean well before firing.

Don't use solvent until you have shot it for the first time.

On the outside 0000 steel wool and oil.

I have resurrected a lot of old rifles and no two are the same but this is what I do.

[Baldrick314]

Thanks for the info Warrigul

Once I get it transferred into my name and pick it up I'll post some photos/ progress report

[Warrigul]

Thanks for the info Warrigul

Once I get it transferred into my name and pick it up I'll post some photos/ progress report

It doesn't hurt to block the end of the barrel and fill it with oil to soak for a few days prior to brushing.

[Korkt]

Don't use bore paste or waste good bore solvent.

Bit of 0000 steel wool and some turpentine has worked well for me.

[Harts]

How did it scrub up in the end Baldrick?

[Baldrick314]

How did it scrub up in the end Baldrick?

It's sitting at the gun dealer at the moment. Had to get it registered and just waiting on my PTA to come back. Before I took it in I managed to get a little polish on the bolt but it still needs a fair bit of work. I removed all the wood and everything covered by that was spotless so that's a positive.

As far as the bore, I chocked it up and filled with oil so when I get it back it will have been soaking for a couple weeks and I can give it a good scrubbing

[Harts]

As far as the bore, I chocked it up and filled with oil so when I get it back it will have been soaking for a couple weeks and I can give it a good scrubbing

I'll be interested to hear the results after a soak that long.

Whenever you read advice on soaking the barrel people are only patient enough to do it for a day or two so you never know what a good soak will fix.

[Warrigul]

I am of the opinion that a good soak not only helps lift the rust but more importantly helps the crud under the rust to dissolve which aids cleaning.

[Harts]

Hopefully Baldrick can post back in a few weeks time and we'll see what a good long soak brings

[Baldrick314]

Hopefully Baldrick can post back in a few weeks time and we'll see what a good long soak brings

It'd be better if I had a way of photographing the bore then we could see the actual change. They took the money for the PTA out of my account Friday so shouldn't be much more waiting

[Carter]

Were you soaking the throat and chamber as well or just the rifling?

A photo of that might tell the tale if it's being done, and would be easier to take well.

[Baldrick314]

Were you soaking the throat and chamber as well or just the rifling?

A photo of that might tell the tale if it's being done, and would be easier to take well.

The oil was mostly in the barrel and maybe a little in the front area of the chamber. I'll take a couple shots of that area when I get it back anyway because it may give an indication of the condition of the barrel

[Harts]

Whatever you can manage mate, I'd still appreciate a photo

[Baldrick314]

Quick update. Got my PTA back but won't be able to pick the rifle up for about a fortnight. Hoping for the 20th but could be a couple days after. Stay tuned

[RealNick]

Stay tuned

[Baldrick314]

Got the rifle back yesterday but didn't get to work on it till this afternoon. It's a Chinese Mosin Nagant carbine. Please excuse the photos, I'm a horrible photographer but hopefully I captured enough for you guys to get the idea.

This is the rifle as it came to me



Close up to show rust on magazine/ action


Chamber after soaking in oil but before cleaning


Bore after soaking but before cleaning


Muzzle after soaking, before cleaning

At this point I ran a few patches through the bore. There was no discernible change so I ran an oily brush through, still no change. Then I ran a brush soaked in hoppes number 9 and let it soak for about 10 minutes then patched out.




Bore after cleaning with hoppes.


Muzzle after cleaning with hoppes.

The chamber end came up really well but the muzzle end still needs some work. I can feel when I'm patching it out that the first 2 thirds of the barrel runs smooth and then the patch gets caught up and feels like it's tearing. The crown also looks a little shot so I don't think it's gonna shoot very well but we'll see.

I also started cleaning up the bolt


Before cleaning


After

I started off with sandpaper and fine steel wool but it wore out too quick due to the pitting and how rough the surface of the bolt is so I started using a bench mounted wire wheel which produced good results.

I'll switch back to steel wool for the final polish. I'm debating at the moment whether to try to remove all the pitting or not because it would remove quite a lot of material from the bolt body to smooth it out.

[Supporter]

Geez what a state that was in before you started.

Massive turn around, good work.

[wayward]

How you feeling about it being safe to fire after that?

[Vati]

Where was it stored before you got it

What a mess.

[sarki]

The chamber looks like the last guy was using it to shovel mud

[Baldrick314]

How you feeling about it being safe to fire after that?

I haven't seen anything to think it will be unsafe to fire. I'm not expecting any kind of accuracy from it though.

Where was it stored before you got it

What a mess.

The story I got is it's been in a roof for the last 30 years. Looks more like the bottom of the sea to me

[tom604]

thats a big job, i will keep an eye on this thread, very interesting

[Wes]

Where was it stored before you got it

What a mess.

Maybe it was the guys "swimming rifle"

[Yelp]

thats a big job, i will keep an eye on this thread, very interesting

No kidding.

Nice turn-around so far though

GW Baldrick

[Baldrick314]

Got a heap of work done today. I started by stripping the rifle down into it's smallest parts. I noticed there was a heap of gunk in the trigger mechanism so I pulled that out for a clean.


Before cleaning. Note also the rust on the trigger.

I cleaned all the crap out with a brush soaked in shellite and then applied Birchwood Casey Blue and Rust Remover to the trigger which was badly affected with rust. After letting it sit for a couple minutes I gave it a scrub with fine steel wool dampened with shellite then repeated the whole process.


Trigger cleaned up. Rust still apparent but greatly minimised. Rust Remover only applied to lower section of trigger

Next I took the barrelled action and cleaned off all the surface rust with a wire wheel. Over the next few days I'll apply Blue and Rust Remover to tidy up the rust I couldn't get to with the wheel and remove the remainder of the old blue.




Finally I tried the Blue and Rust Remover on the magazine.


Side I didn't touch.


Side I cleaned up. Note again there is still rust but a lot has been removed.

The Blue and Rust Remover works well but is time consuming. It's based on Phosphoric Acid and is a carcinogen so you have to be careful not to breath it in and avoid skin contact.

I've been thinking of running the Blue and Rust Remover down the bore to work on some of the stubborn rust in there. Any thoughts?

[anthillinside]

WOW What a difference, hard work pays off.

Looks like the Blue and Rust remover is doing the job but not etching the steal so it shouldn't hurt the bore.
I see there is some pretty deep pitting on the trigger guard, lets hope it's not that deep in the bore.
In any case the rust has got to go.

Good luck

[RDobber]

Very impressive restoration mate.

You're working miracles on that thing.