Pitted barrel bottom

[buickmarti]

Picked up an old .36 rifle a couple weeks ago.
Where the wood has touched the barrel on the bottom it is pitted.
Took it to an old gunsmith guy I know and he stated as long as I don't get stupid It is very safe to shoot.
What can I put on it to keep it from getting worse over time?
The gun is now show piece. Half tempted to wire brush everything below the wood line and paint it with an oil base paint below the wood line.

 

[oldwood]

Have seen rust there under the wood line also. Carefully wire brushed it a bit and waxed the under barrel w/ furrnature paste wax and buffed w/rag..........oldwood

 

[billraby]

Pitting looks bad but it won't hurt anything. You have to remove the rust that is already there first to stop it from getting any worse.

 

[mooman76]

Keep it well oiled. As long as you keep oxygen away from it, oil wax or whatever it keep it from getting worse.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I like Spray On antirust spray for barrel protection on hidden parts it is like a really thin cosmoline. It leaves a thin waxy film that protects against rust. It is available at most industrial supplys.

 

[rafterob]

I like to wax the underside of barrels that are not removed for cleaning on a regular basis.

 

[stewart.leach]

A Colorado builder I know would heat the barrel with hair dryer, then rub on bees' wax as part of final assembly. I've followed suit and have had no corrosion problems.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Bees wax was the original bedding compound. I have found it on rifles over 150 years old used to fill inletting gaps.

 

[oldwood]

In the 18th and, 19th century ,bees wax was a standard sealant for lots of things on the frontier. Powder horn plugs , especially. Most anything with a crack in it that needed to be water proofed. A cake of it took up little space , and weighed little , in a hunters kit. Also , at least two of my fellow m/l gunsmiths related to me they had used a gunstock finish written up in old notes . It was simply pine tar, (turpentine) ,and bees wax. Both had used it and had found the finish needed to be reapplied as the weather dictated. .......oldwood