Removing tarnishing/light rust from shotgun receiver?

[hod]

What’s the best way to go about this?

I’ve been searching away and there’s conflicting answers, ranging from just gun oil and a rag/elbow grease, to using fine steel wool or bronze brushes, or brasso type polish. 

[saddler]

Depends if it is just surface or deeper
I've had good results with 0000 grade wool and a decent light oil (not WD40) - or try Kroil or Eds Red on a cloth, if you can source the former or make the latter?

 

[DUNKS]

23 minutes ago, saddler said:

Depends if it is just surface or deeper
I've had good results with 0000 grade wool and a decent light oil (not WD40) - or try Kroil or Eds Red on a cloth, if you can source the former or make the latter?

 

Excellent advice. But dont try to do it in one go if it's not too deep it should slowly improve

[JohnfromUK]

Key thing is to start gently - i.e. no harsh abrasive. 

Wirewool is soft iron, and usually relatively safe of harder steels, but it will risk any finishes - depending on how hard they are.  I think the very fine wirewool and light oil - as above is a good idea, but if it is very light I would try first with just the oil and a rag as the starting point.

 

[hod]

Thanks - I’ve had a go with oil and a rag for a good while. Small improvement. I’ve ordered some 0000 wire wool so will have a shot with that and more oil. It’s a cheap rizzini I picked up for Pigeon bashing, but it’s not a bad looking thing and I like taking care of my stuff generally too. 

[saddler]

FORGOT

I was also told this trick by an older shooter when I joined the club
You need an OLD real copper coin - not the modern stuff as it is not copper

With a slight coating of oil, use the edge of the coin to brush off the rust
I was told that the reason it works is the copper is harder than the rust but softer than the gun metal
Have had some very good results using this
But again, NOT with modern "copper" coins as they are only copper washed

[GingerCat]

A long time ago I read a book about airguns. I think I was about 13 and the book about 30 years old then, if not older. I'm 41 now so its knocking on. That said he recommended mixing chalk dust with 3 in 1 oil and rubbing it. I had a slightly old rusty pistol and it worked a treat with a rag. 

Now days I tend to use any gun oil and a bit of a rub with a scouring pad or lighter. Be gentle as you can't put the blueing back. 

[JTaylor91]

Cape cod cloths.

[powler]

9 hours ago, saddler said:

FORGOT

I was also told this trick by an older shooter when I joined the club
You need an OLD real copper coin - not the modern stuff as it is not copper

With a slight coating of oil, use the edge of the coin to brush off the rust
I was told that the reason it works is the copper is harder than the rust but softer than the gun metal
Have had some very good results using this
But again, NOT with modern "copper" coins as they are only copper washed

You can get copper wool, not sure if there are different grades, we used to use it for cleaning die tops on blown film extrusion machines. Not sure if this would be of use?

 

[Ian willetts]

Washing up pad with the white scouring pad use scour side with gun oil give it a rub it’s worked for me

[ditchman]

12 hours ago, saddler said:

Depends if it is just surface or deeper
I've had good results with 0000 grade wool and a decent light oil (not WD40) - or try Kroil or Eds Red on a cloth, if you can source the former or make the latter?

 

what grade do you rekon are Brillo pads.......may be better than buying a whole pack of wire wool ?

[vmaxphil]

Make sure you clean out the action thoroughly wire wool will go everywhere 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, soft washing pad and gun oil, 

[Gunman]

It will all depend on the type of gun ,the finish and the amount of rust.

Without more detail any answer is a guess and you could end up making it worse .

Once again I ask poster's to be more precise and give as much detail as possible .

[saddler]

2 hours ago, ditchman said:

what grade do you rekon are Brillo pads.......may be better than buying a whole pack of wire wool ?

Not sure - but I bet some government think tank has spent £2M to measure all sorts of items to see what they can be put into secondary use as 

Wire wool is a very handy thing to have around....clean car windscreens, light fires using a 9V battery, scrub the tide marks off small childrens necks, etc.

[paulinlincs]

13 minutes ago, saddler said:

Not sure - but I bet some government think tank has spent £2M to measure all sorts of items to see what they can be put into secondary use as 

Wire wool is a very handy thing to have around....clean car windscreens, light fires using a 9V battery, scrub the tide marks off small childrens necks, etc.

😂🤣

[Rimfireboy]

Put some oil on a penny and gently rub the penny over the rust with the tip of your finger. The penny will remove light rust without marking the blueing. Try this before using abrasives, sounds daft, but it works. I’ve used this method myself.

[Rimfireboy]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjZ64H5rO7uAhVVZxUIHRjwDPsQwqsBMAF6BAgFEAg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DP2VwlgV5OS8&usg=AOvVaw1twX8Ti-EfUWEE_dueZMgx

[Modafinale]

https://youtu.be/l4ym7MPOCRo 

try this 

[Agriv8]

I would use a non scratch non  marking the pan scrub ( usually white ) and a the browning legia spray let the scrub do the work minimal pressure.

A fair few of us semi auto users are using these to clean carbon from gas ports and mag tubes. In industrial terms scotchbrite pads have been used for years to remove surface contamination but remove minimal metal

I would also use very fine wire wool again with an oil and decent diy shop should have it for polishing wood / cleaning

ps not recommended for blueing going rusty. 
 

pps if you have surface rust on action faces you can se I Would be dropping the stock off and having a nosey in there and if nesseary getting opinion of trusted gunsmith!

agriv8

 

 

[hod]

23 hours ago, Gunman said:

It will all depend on the type of gun ,the finish and the amount of rust.

Without more detail any answer is a guess and you could end up making it worse .

Once again I ask poster's to be more precise and give as much detail as possible .

A valid point! I did take a couple of photos but e light was poor and it really didn’t show up clearly the issue. Haven’t managed to get the gun out again since (the joys of homeschool and working) but will do so.

Appreciate all the suggestions- as can be seen from this short thread, there’s no one straightforward answer.

A good point about taking the stock off, as presumably the gun’s been wet or stored slightly damp... however for the price I paid it’s not really worth having a gunsmith look at it. 

[hod]

Took the gun out last night and had a go with the newly arrived steel wool. Gentle but continued rubbing, with plenty of oil, seems to have done the trick and not damaged the finish in any obvious way. Phone ran out of battery so no photos, but looks several times better.

I’m not sure I’d want to try the same on a more expensive gun, in case it don’t work out, but all good on this occasion. Thanks all.