LMF still rusting

[martin9]

I put lmf rust brown on my barrel and let it sit a few days in my humid shop. It rusted up nicely so I rubbed it back with a new, green scotchbrite and then rinsed it thoroughly with ammonia. After that I rinsed it in water then put a heavy coat of fresh motor oil on it. I just grabbed it this evening and it's still rusting even with the oil still on it. Any tips for neutralizing the rust?

[martin9]

Gonna try the baking soda and torch drying on it tomorrow. I used ammonia since it was on hand and had heard it was a good neutralizer for the lmf

[Frank]

After the water rinse dry thoroughly with a torch and apply WD40. The water rinse is more of a scrub down with a sponge.

[martin9]

Will do! Thanks

[davebozell]

Ammonia does a nice job of neutralizing it without the mess of residual baking soda.

[Not English]

Martin,

I don't even try and neutralise the browning agent. I've used LMF before and have gotten very good results with it. I leave the barrel in a humid area, when showing signs of rust the next day, I lightly card the rust with 0000 steel wool and then apply more browning and repeat the carding on the same schedule.Keep going until you have an idea of the color and quality of the browning, I then oil it down pretty heavily with motor drain oil. The used motor oil contains lots of hydro-carbons and will give a more black color to the browning. It will continue to rust for a while. Just keep oiling. You can always knock it back with steel wool and oil if done lightly. This will give you a very durable dark fine grained brown finish, much thicker and more durable than a Plum Brown finish.

Dave

[Eric Krewson]

Been there done that, my last barrel kept rusting even after multiple ammonia baths, backing soda treatments and plenty of heat and motor oil. Everyone here told me the rusting would quit in time, it did about a month after I started the neutralizing process. This was just the barrel, I was able to completely submerge the other pats in ammonia for a day or so, this stopped the rusting dead in its tracks.

They came out really brown.

[martin9]

Yesterday I scrubbed it with baking soda and got it hot/dry with the torch then oiled it so I'll just keep an eye on it. I've carded most of it off and am happy with how it looks. I'm just looking for an aged and pitted look. I'll put a little cold blue on it when it stops rusting.

[smallpatch]

If you’re looking for aged and pitted, let the darn thing rust.  In a few days, sand it off.  Just the surface browning.  Then blue it.  Then rub it back with scotchbrite and oil.  I use Breakfree CLP.

[Curtis]

One of the best things I have found to stop the rusting process is a nice coat of boiled linseed oil after a good washing with dish soap.


Curtis

[martin9]

Baking soda, torch then WD40 worked it would appear. I left the barrel in my shop out of curiosity if the humidity would make it start rusting again and it hasn't. Looks nice IMO...when I get the gun built I'll then worry about cold blueing and rubbing that back to get the final color I want....I do like it as is though so may leave it.

[Craig Wilcox]

Martin, you may be able to save your cold blue solution - simply boil your browned parts for a few minutes.  That will change the chemistry of the surface.

[martin9]

I did the boiling/rust bluing on another rifle...a jaeger, and do like that finish although it's a little dark for what I'm wanting for this rifle.

This one I'm looking for a more grey finish. I'll post a pic of how it turned out in a bit. I was thinking about it today and it got 4 days of rusting the first run then 2 more as my first attempt to neutralize it didn't work. It's pretty pitted and a nice aged grey color.... looks pretty good to me.

[martin9]

This is what I wound up with...