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Method of removing bore rust/pits ?

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Skychief

69 Cal.
Joined
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I have a 36 caliber that has a little pitting and rust in the bore. I have tried and tried to improve the bore with different solvents and patches and brushes to no avail. Please advise me with treatments that will work to remove this light rust/pitting.

Not to bias any replies, but, I am wondering if a steel wool (0000) workout might help. I have not tried it in any rifle and am not certain about how to go about it.

In any case, I look forward to any ideas you all will give as the rifle used to be a shooter, but now, is a patch-shredder! :surrender:
 
Wrap your 0000 steel wool around a bore brush and use WD40 for a lube. Put the bbl. in a vice and really go after it. Patch often and see what you get. Even if some pitting remains, it may shoot well.
 
I would try green "Scotchbrite"....it's a little more abrasive. Whether steel wool or "Scotchbrite is used, don't pull it out of the bbl until done stroking otherwise some "bellmouthing" can occur at the muzzle......Fred
 
ozark57 said:
Wrap your 0000 steel wool around a bore brush and use WD40 for a lube. Put the bbl. in a vice and really go after it. Patch often and see what you get. Even if some pitting remains, it may shoot well.

+1,, lubed steel wool, git it as best ya can, not much can be done with the pit's. Then commence a shootin'. Chances are good it'll shoot OK,, and git better after 50 or so shot's and several cleanings been done to the tube, just oil well after cleaning, Once rust get's ahold it'll start back up easier
 
While the methods mentioned above will work to some extent, there is a much easier and more effective way.

Degrease your rifles bore thoroughly. Remove the barrel, plug the nipple tightly with a toothpick and stand it in a corner. Go to your local grocery store and by a jar of plain old molasses. Dilute it with water, about 7 parts water to 1 part molasses, mix well.

Pour the diluted molasses into the barrel and let it stand a day or 2. Pour it out (but save it). Rinse, dry and inspect the bore. If rust is still present, pour the solution back in and let it sit for another day or so. Continue until all the rust is gone. When done, rinse well, dry and oil right away.

You think I'm pulling your leg?? Try putting a rusty bolt or scrap steel into a bowl with the solution and see for yourself.

Molasses is an excellent rust remover. Diluting it slows the process and makes it more controllable. It gets into every nook and cranny, unlike steel wool or brushes. It is cheap, non-hazardous and reusable.

Good luck.
 
IMHO, If it is pitted you are not going to get them out. Etched very lightly, you may steel wool it out or possibly lap it out, or eventually scotchbrite it out. But pits are rust holes where the metal is gone & they don't just blend in or come out. You can steel wool it til H freezes over, and if the bore is pitted, it will still be pitted.
You may get the rust out & get it smoothed up to shoot fine, but you are not going to get the pits out unless you have it rebored. Ed Rayl or Bobby Hoyt can both rebore it & do a nice job& reasonable, compared to rebarreling one.
 
Birddog6 said:
.......Ed Rayl or Bobby Hoyt can both rebore it & do a nice job& reasonable, compared to rebarreling one.

Could you supply some contact info please?

COD
 
Cabofdoom said:
Birddog6 said:
.......Ed Rayl or Bobby Hoyt can both rebore it & do a nice job& reasonable, compared to rebarreling one.

Could you supply some contact info please?

COD


Ed Rayl, P.O. Box 91, Gassaway WV 26624
304-364-8269

Bobby Hoyt 700 Fairfield Station Road Fairfield, Pennsylvania 17320
(717) 642-6696 BARREL
 
bull3540 said:
Give JB's bore paste a try.

Basically, that will polish a dull tarnished dingy bore to a bright bore. It would be like taking jewelers rouge to a piece of rusty railroad rail. It may polish the top of the metal, but it not aggressive enough to cut down the high areas to get all of the surface metal down to the bottom of the pits & that is what you have to do to remove pits. You have to remove all the surrounding metal down to the same level the bottom of the pit is That is allot of metal. :hmm:
 
Maybe that is why my stomach is so clear? I drink molassas in my milk the way the LOL drinks chocolate. When I was a kid (late fourties/early fifties) we could not afford chocolate but had gallons of molassas.It is I admitt an aquired taste.
 
Just give it a good cleaning, then shoot it. Shoot it a lot. Then shoot it some more, and enjoy. I've seen some nasty bores shoot some pretty good groups.
 
Good point. The molasses treatment will not remove pitting, but it will remove the rust down in the pits. Perhaps a polishing with JB bore polish after the molasses treatment might smooth things up a tad.

I used the molasses solution in a rusty Navy Arms 1863 musket that I acquired a while back. It had been sitting in a garage for 20 years and the bore was pretty rusty. About 7-8 days of the molasses treatment cleaned the bore down to bare metal. It still has pitting, but the rust is gone.
 
Birddog6 said:
You may get the rust out & get it smoothed up to shoot fine, but you are not going to get the pits out unless you have it rebored. Ed Rayl or Bobby Hoyt can both rebore it & do a nice job& reasonable, compared to rebarreling one.
Birddog,
I have always respected your valued opinions,
as I do on this issue.
Will the rebore process change cal to any degree or is just a matter of changing patch
thickness and or ball diamiter.(Like going from
.490 to .495 for a .50caliber.) Just wondering :hmm:
snake-eyes
 
bull3540 said:
Give JB's bore paste a try.

I LOVE JB's Bore Compound from my old centerfire benchrest wannabe days ... but it really doesn't remove metal 'per se', even though polishing is in effect, metal removal on the sub-microscopic level.

JB's is much finer than fine valve grinding compound and is a mixture of ground glass and extrememly mild abrasives [of a 'strength' less than the inherent covalent bonding strength of metal alloys] made of things like diatomaceous earth [see below]. It will blacken the cleaning patch with sub-optical microscopic metal particles as it polishes.

As others have stated, pits are pits, and whilst polishing, compounds, and other mechanical methods will remove rust ... 'add on' compounds for such holes are non-existent :wink: , at least for practical use in a gun barrel.

Via Wikipedia: Diatomaceous earth (pronounced /ˌdaɪ.ətɵˌmeɪʃəs ˈɜrθ/) also known as diatomite or kieselgur, is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from less than 1 micron to more than 1 millimeter, but typically 10 to 200 microns.[1] This powder has an abrasive feel, similar to pumice powder, and is very light, due to its high porosity. The typical chemical composition of oven dried diatomaceous earth is 80 to 90% silica, with 2 to 4% alumina (attributed mostly to clay minerals) and 0.5 to 2% iron oxide.[1]
 
Fire lapping is a very effective method for removing light pitting and rust from any firearm.
In modern firearms it is done with light loads of powder. The longer the time in bore the better. The grinding compounds are imbeded into a lead bullet and fired and cleaned until you get the right results. The kits come with 3 grades of compound to finish to a bright bore.
In a M/L you will put the compound into a tight weave patch. I use a cotton Duc from Walmart. The ball is patched and pushed down the bore. You do not fire this with powder. You must blow the ball out with a CO2 Ball Ejecter. This will keep the bore clean from powder fowling. This will also allow you to fire indoors if you have a good back stop. The Wheeler Fire Lapping Kit is sold by Midway Supply USA. Just follow the steps in the kit except you will use CO2 and not powder. Do not treat the ball only the patch. Always use a bore guide when starting the ball down the muzzle.
 
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