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36 TC barrel cleanup help

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I just bought a 36 cal Thompson Center percussion rifle with a 4X15 Lyman long brass scope. It has some rust spots on the outside of the barrel and I'd like to know the best way to remove this rust without having to reblue it, or isn't that a possible? I was thinking very fine sand paper or steel wool, but I've never don't anything like this before and don't want to learn the hard way. I did start cleaning the bore and it feels like there's a bit of rust in it, but not too bad. I don't see any Cherokee or Seneca label on it.
Any ideas what it's worth?
 
If the rust is not too deep, try the lead of an ordinary pencil. Rub the rust spot until it feels smooth and wipe with a clean rag. If the rust is heavier than the pencil lead will remove, try a piece of brass. I made a tool especially for it out of an old brass rod that I flattened on one end like a screwdriver. You can flatten an old empty brass cartridge and use it the same way. Scrape the rusty area with the brass then wipe with a rag. I touch up the area with the pencil lead and buff it in with a rag. After you are satisfied with the results, wipe a light coating of oil on it to protect it. A little trick a WW2 vet showed me when I was a kid.
 
Do not use steel wool or sandpaper to remove the spots.

A heavy piece of denim or burlap with a little oil on it plus some hard rubbing will remove most if not all of the rust.
 
If you examine the rust spots closely with a good magnifying glass, you will see little " flowers" of rust, rising out of a much smaller "spots".

To remove these flowers of rust, I first cover the entire barrel with a good motor oil, to protect the non-rusty areas of the barrel and finish from being scratched by the iron oxide( rust). Then use a coarse cloth- a tack rag works, but so does a burlap sack, canvas, etc.--- dipped in the motor oil, to LIGHTLY rub the rust, on spot or area at a time. The Flower breaks off at the surface of the metal. You want to clean the rag, or use a new one, so you don't load the rag up with iron oxide crystals, which will scratch the finish. I have used 4 0 Steel wool, soaked in motor oil to burnish off rust on a barrel, but I know what a LIGHT stroke means. Not everyone does. I also know how to use coarse cloths to accomplish the same thing. This comes with experience.

Just make sure you don't ever remove the motor oil from the barrel, until you are confident that ALL the rust spots have been removed, and you are now ready to clean the barrel of all the oil. I use alcohol to thin, and remove the oil, wiping it on with a cloth that absorbs the oils, too. Cleaning patches, or flannel shirts, do well for this task.

What you will have left will be LIttle spots in the metal- holes- that look like someone had a fine needle they poked into the barrel--- where there were much larger "flowers" of rust. You job just got smaller.

Blued barrels are reblued, but I heat the barrel up with my propane torch FIRST, and apply the bluing compounds while the barrel is very hot- about 350 degrees. Browned barrels can be touched up similarly using browning solutions on a heated barrel. When I finish with the acid solutions, I first rinse them thoroughly, then use alcohol to remove any oil residue that may have gotten on the metal. Then I heat the barrel up Again, and spray it with a good oil- like WD30, or Rem Oil, so that the oil burns off, like steam, and leaves a much darker color to the finish. I let the oil on the surface stay there while the barrel cools to air temperature, and leave it like that for 24 hours. The delay seems to help make the finish darker, and more even. The heating of the barrel seems to burn part of the oil, adding some carbon in the pores of the steel barrel.

Now with use, and cleaning, both a blued barrel, and a browned barrel will get lighter in color. That is just the nature of the beast. But, generally, if you heat the barrel before applying the solutions to blue or brown the barrel, the finish will last for more than 10 years of strong use. If you apply the acids to a cold barrel( ie. " cold blue") I find that the finish is rubbing off within a year or so, from using the gun.
 
Take some fine steel wool and oil and gently rub the rust spots. It'll break up and remove the rust without damaging the finish. Most of the time, you can't even tell where the rust was afterwards. You can do the same thing in the bore if you need to.
 
I have never hurt the bluing with 0000 steel wool and oil.Removes rust well as long as it is on the surface.Works in the bore also.
 
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