• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Need advice on rusty barrel

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sergissimo

32 Cal
Joined
Sep 9, 2022
Messages
22
Reaction score
16
Location
Eastern Ontario, Canada
Hello Everyone!

I have found quite a few discussions here on how to remove rust. Vinegar and Evapo-rust seem to be the most popular solutions. However, I’d like to hear your opinion on my particular case.

The attached image shows the barrel’s current state. I don’t know if this can be considered too much rust, or not a lot, or something in between. But the whole insides of the barrel is rusty.

What would be the best approach here?

Thank you!

435B1FAC-9918-4B04-BEE7-67C6C3D68F50.jpeg
 
I can't find the "before" picture at the moment, but this was covered with heavy orange rust. This "agter" picture was taken less than an hour later, after boiling, rubbing with half of a wooden clothespi, then polishing lightly with 0000 steel wool and kerosene, then oiling.
20200727_185251.jpg
 
I agree, a rebore is likely the best route, but it never hurts to clean it up and see what it looks like. Evaporust works very well, but keep in mind that any chemical rust remover will also instantly remove bluing. If you care about the exterior finish, be very careful that you don't get it on the outside of the barrel.
 
Brownells has a method of using stainless steel wool wrapped around a bore brush soaked in Kroil. Scrub the bore thoroughly and clean out the mess. The method does not remove pitting, even so it typically makes for a very shootable barrel. I have done this to a used T/C barrel and found it to shoot as well as any other in my collection.

You can get the stainless steel wool at most hardware stores or Walmart for substantially less than Brownells asking price.

https://www.brownells.com/aspx/learn/learndetail.aspx?lid=12621
 
Save the components from the gun. Look for a new barrel that fits!! Send me the ruined barrel!! I have been needing one to try my hand at pipe hawks!! ;-)
 
Thanks very much for your input guys!

I think I'll start with less invasive approach first and then go chemicals. I'd rather try different methods instead of flushing the barrel right from the start. I will be posting results here. But first I need to get my equipment ready :) I'm basically a few days into muzzleloading. The barrel is from the gun I bough as a wall hanger so I can get my hand dirty and learn about the subject by doing. As for sending the barrel for re-bore or donating it, let's first see how it shows after cleaning.

Speaking of the barrel. I'm trying to identify it with not much success so far in this post:

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/need-help-identifying-this-smoothbore.151664/
P.S. It looks like tomato stake won over vinegar based on mentions at least :)
 
Looks like a smoothbore to me. Why not clean it, check for pits, if they aren't deep, shoot it.

No need to spend money on a rebore if it's still shootable.

Be careful with vinegar. If there is bluing left on the outside of the barrel and vinegar gets on it, you won't like the outcome. Speckled bluing removal. Made that mistake once when someone told me to try vinegar.
 
Used the "Brownell" method for many years on M/L's and unmentionables. I use an electric drill when I want to polish, sometimes small-grit emory cloth in a split rod. I only use one-piece rods b/c multiple - piece ones can become unscrewed, stuck, or broken.

Kroil is my friend for the first go-around, slop in on, let the first coat work, hit it again. Several times, valve-grinding paste. Pits in shotgun bores haven't been a real problem for me unless the barrel's damascus and thin. Understand, I'm only shooting shot loads, not ball, and not rifled bores. Might not be a problem for some, but damascus shotgun barrels are worrisome to me. If I can't screw it up, most anyone can clean up a smoothbore.
 
Why not boil it in water, a was suggested above by slidepicker. You said that you're new to muzzleloaders, so perhaps instead of going off and doing your own thing, listen to others. Start with the least invasive method -- the boiling water.

Evaporust works good, just not on springs. It will remove any finish. Have you asked a gunsmith? They are these legendary creatures that are actually TRAINED in things like this.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top