r/canadaguns • u/Turtle_9009 • Jun 23 '26

Fix my gun Cleaning rusted guns

Have abunch of old guns that where stored in a unconditioned spaced that have rusted and im woundering the best way to get them cleaned up and back to usable.

13 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

22

u/Aromatic_Message8952 Jun 23 '26

If you just steel wool and oil you're not getting rid of the active rust.

Take the guns apart, remove any wood, and boil all the rusty parts and action in water that is at a rolling boil. Do this for 45 minutes.

The use steel wool and gently rub it off, is get a carding wheel, and card off the rust.

It's converts the unstable and corrosive Ferricoxide into Ferroferricoxide, which is stable. This how traditional rust bluing was done before caustic bluing became the norm.

This will stabilize the rust, and prevent further decay.

Source* I am a gunsmith.

1

u/Upstairs-Zebra8115 Jun 23 '26

If you have already used steel wool and oil, will boiling work on the remainder of the rust/pitting ?

10

u/Whispersfine Jun 23 '26

I would have someone assess the integrity of the gun first. Some might not be shoot worthy

2

u/Turtle_9009 Jun 23 '26

This will definitely be needed for some of them

7

u/Brandon_awarea Jun 23 '26

0000 steel wool and oil. For the bore I shoot it first to knock out as much crap as I can then use a brass brush

1

u/kristaporbrg Jun 23 '26

Get a few litter of diesel. Disassemble the gun. Take out the wooden parts and let the metal parts submerged in the diesel for 24 hours. Take the parts out, oil them and assemble the gun. I’ve done it for light rust.