Rusty bore rehab?

I've acquired a rifle that was somewhat abused. With the bore light I do not see any significant rust deep in the barrel. With the bore light, or just the right amount of outside light there is visible rust in the last two inches of barrel towards the muzzle. I have used some 0000 steel wool and removed some of it. Patches show orange for a while and eventually look clean, but a few days later the orange returns. This is a 54 caliber caplock that has fast ROT so will be used with heavy conicals. What is your experience and/or opinion? Will it shoot accurately? Any hope for this rifle? Remedies?
Thanks

I wouldn't worry too much about that short area near the muzzle if the rest is good. I use JB bore paste to finish up a pitted or rusty barrel.

Some shoot good even with no treatment while others don't respond. Try it and see.

Only shooting will tell. Everyones definition of rust and accuracy is different. You should be able to get reasonable accuracy with it but how accurate are you talking? Lap the bore some to smooth it out and shoot it. Oil it real good too especially where the rust was showing.

Hope? Wont know till you try it :idunno:

Remedy? If it was mine I'd mix up a concoction of 8 parts water and one part molasses (from the feed store) and plug the nipple and fill up the barrel and let it set 2-3 days. Then pour out the concoction, clean as usual then get a STIFF nylon brush and brush away. Maybe follow up with steel wool. The you've got a barrel about as good as its gonna get left. Give it a try and let us know.

Sparkitoff said:

but a few days later the orange returns.

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You have active rust. It needs to be removed and the bare metal passivated.

What are you cleaning with? what are you protecting with?

I have never had to use the molasses trick on a gun barrel yet but would. I was metal detecting in the woods near an old rail road bed used for logging in my hunting area, found an old lock. THICK RUST.

Heard about the molasses trick and did it (twice) and the lock is now rust free and has remained so, can even make out some letters. IT WILL FADE BLUING.... I was advised by my sweet wife to move my gun stuff off the table and did so BUT I left a spare cylinder for my ROA. It was promptly boxed and put outside with "stuff". Long story short 2-3 years later I found it heavily rusted. 3 days in the solution and NO RUST but faded bluing notably but not severely. I'll take it for a spare. No way I could have got the rust out of the nooks and crannys as did the molasses.

So like Clyde said its active, I would think based on my results the molasses will kill it like bleach kills mold :idunno:

For the curious, molasses and water removes rust with a process known as Chelating.

What's going on in the actual process will make most peoples heads (including mine) ache but it has to do with metallic ion's bonding with non-metallic ions.

Put in layman's terms, the oxygen in the rust is removed from the iron oxide leaving the iron behind.

The process is not fast and can take up to a week or more so if you try this method don't be in a hurry.

Coke works too but it won't stop at the rust. It will keep removing metal too.

Coke contains phosphoric acid.....Molasses contains sulfur(dioxide)
Both phosphoric acid and sulfur are found in naval jelly.....

I would like to try my hand at freshing out a bore on one of these really pitted barrels with enough lands showing to make a cutting tool track.
One of the guys on the Lewis and Clark trip did a reported remarkable job on a rifle when they were in winter camp in Oregon, I read in their journal.
He broke up a file, stoned a cutting saw, set it into a loading rod and shimmed the cutter height with paper. He cut the grooves deeper with the saw on the loading stick, cut or reamed the land tops and lapped the re-cut bore smooth.
It reportedly shot as good as new when he got it finished.
It was common practice in the old days as barrels were expensive.

M.D. said:

I would like to try my hand at freshing out a bore on one of these really pitted barrels with enough lands showing to make a cutting tool track.
.

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Me too.....

Here ya go. http://www.flintriflesmith.com/ToolsandTechniques/freshening.htm

That is how I make hand lapping slugs but never thought to do the same for a freshing out project.
Thanks, great article!

If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

I don't have any bores that need it and I do have a rifling machine and lapping rods already made up so it would be pretty easy for me to get set up for it.
I'll look around for a derelict old barrel and give it a try one of these days with pictures to share.
Actually it looks pretty easy and must have been if it was done successfully in the field with the Lewis and Clark trip.

It may have worked on the barrels of the time, but today's modern barrels are made of harder steel. I'm not so sure that it will work on them.

I am quitie sure it will work on modern steel with scrap cutters but one would probably need a rifling machine to do a good job with a hook cutter.

Zonie said:

For the curious, molasses and water removes rust with a process known as Chelating.

What's going on in the actual process will make most peoples heads (including mine) ache but it has to do with metallic ion's bonding with non-metallic ions.

Put in layman's terms, the oxygen in the rust is removed from the iron oxide leaving the iron behind.

The process is not fast and can take up to a week or more so if you try this method don't be in a hurry.

Click to expand...

Chelating is also useable for detoxing lead poison.

Chelation Therapy https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/what-is-chelation-therapy#1



William Alexander

Thank you all for the tips. The rust is gone.

what method did you use?

Yes, please do tell us the method you used.