Bore rust removal

[oldtravler61]

Was given two rifle barrels. One with minor rust, other one a little worse off. They are both 13/16 an 42 inches long. 40-45 cal respectively. How much does minor pitting affect accuracy? Your input much appreciated. Mike

[jerrywh]

 The pitting will not effect the accuracy very much unless it is bad enough to cut the patches. With minor pitting I am usually able to lap the bore enough to smooth out the roughness. At some point a rusted barrel becomes nonredeemable. The best way I know to get the rust out is to fill the bore with 10% phosphoric acid for about a half an hour. An hour or 2  probably wouldn't do it any harm. Don't leave it over night or more than an hour or 2
  Phosphoric acid will remove the rust but the pitting is permanent.

[Elnathan]

Another solution to removing rust is PB penetrating oil followed by JB bore paste on a patch wrapped around a bore brush.

[Ky-Flinter]

I've been using a product called Evaporust to remove rust.  For barrels, plug the touch hole or nipple and pour it full.  Minor surface rust will be gone in an hour or 2.  Heavier rust takes longer.  No elbow grease required.  If the surface had more than just surface rust, it will turn dark grey, but the rust will be gone.  A Scotchbrite pad will remove the grey coloration.  Nothing will remove (fill?) pits resulting from severe rusting.

As jerrywh said, pitting probably won't affect accuracy unless it's severe, but after the first shot, the   barrel will get successively harder to load.  I assume due to the pits holding fouling.

-Ron

[JCKelly]

Coca Cola is 5% phosphoric acid.
Antique dealers in the east used to use it to clean up old cast iron

I'm not saying that 5% is better than 10% phosphoric, but Coca Cola sure is available. I have the very vague recollection that the sugar does something good, don't get diet Coke.

[oldtravler61]

Thanks everyone will give it a go.     Mike

[bob in the woods]

"Coke" was my secret barrel browning/aging agent for years.

[Daryl]

Local BA gas station (Dorchester Ontario) used to use the 6 1/2 ounce bottled COKE for carburator cleaning. They noted the NEW 10 ounce bottled COKE did not do as good a job. 
The 6 1/2 ounce bottled COKE was even stronger tasting.  The act of putting the same stuff into the larger container - (right up to a quart), changed the flavour and 'effectiveness' as a cleaning agent.  That was around 1960 - it is not as good today as it was "back then", of course, due to chemical changes.

[kutter]

You can use a tablespoon of muriadic acid (hydrochloric) to a quart of water (room temp).

I use it to remove bluing (hot salt and rust blue), rust on parts & heat scale from annealing and hard soldering.

I don't plug bores or chambers when I use it. It works in bores to remove rust too.
(Get all the oil out of the bore first as acid soln's won't cut through oil to do their job very efficiently.)
Use at room temp. Don't be tempted to use heat,,even gentle heat to push the activity along as you WILL get pitting when heat is introduced.

The longest any parts sit in the stuff is about 2hrs,,that's when heat scale is being removed. Still no pitting to the metal.
Bluing is removed in a matter of minutes. Rust can take longer depending on the severity. But 30min will usually do it.
Steel comes out grey when removing blue. Comes out w/a jet black coating that wipes right off w/your fingers when taking the heat scale off.
I brighten them up on a worn wire wheel (old carding wheel) w/a little oil. Steel wool or scotchbrite or any lite abrasive would do as well.

Keep an eye on the parts and don't leave them soaking for hours on end or overnite. They can and will eventually pit with this  or any acid no matter how weak.
But I've used this for 35 or 40 years w/no problems and keep a tupperware pitcher off the stuff capped ready for use. It lasts for years before you have to replace the contents unless you contaminate it  perhaps and neutralize the acid in it somehow..

I've used phosphoric acid in the past but in the form of common over the counter rust removers like Naval Jelly and others.
They work but seem to loose their power quickly.
EvapoRust already mentioned has good feedback but I've never personally used it.

[M. E. Pering]

Personally, I would just shoot it out, unless you are using these barrels for sale.  If they are for resale, I would use naval jelly to get the rust out.  You can find it at any decent hardware store.  I have used it before with excellent results.

About 20 years ago, I lived on a farm like a hermit.  I heated my home with wood, I shot all of my own meat, and any vegetables I had I grew myself.  I got to town about once every 2 months to pick up staple like flour and sugar.  It was an interesting 3 years.  But the gun I used for hunting at the time was a wreck, long before I started seriously making them.  My meat was mostly rabbit, with shots at 40-50 yards.  Now this gun was worn out... It had not been well cared for, and had all sort of pitting and when you got the ball down to the powder charge, it got a tiny bit lose.  Somebody hadn't cleaned it properly, and the corrosion near the breach had eaten away the steel.  But the inside of the barrel looked terrible.

Now you would think this old kit gun, which a good friend had loaned me, would shoot terribly.  Lots of pits, and obviously dangerous to even attempt shooting.  But it wasn't.  It was a .45 and I worked out a load at 40 grains for a best load for light game.  I hunted with that shot-out barrel for 3 years, and in my best run, shot 33 rabbits with head shots in a row.  That was over a period of several months.  I took hundreds of rabbits with that gun,. and it was totally shot out. 

Now if I was able to take head shots, actually eye shots, at 40+ yards with a crappy old shot-out rusted, pitted barrel, then anybody should be able to.  I still have the gun here, since my friend who loaned it to me wants me to refit it with a barrel, but he can't afford it yet.  But it is a great shooter, just unfortunately it is to dangerous to shoot now.   The gun really isn't worth it to re-barrel, but it is sentimental to him, since it belonged to his now deceased father.

Matt

[SingleMalt]

A friend used Steel White from Brownells.  In fact, he kept it in a section of PVC pipe vertically attached to his bench so it was always ready.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/pre-finish-surface-prep/steel-white-prod1084.aspx

[oldtravler61]

Thanks everyone for the replies an help. Mike

[AeroE]

JB Bore Paste on a patch will remove rust from a bore and polish it to a near mirror shine quickly with no drama.

Use a couple of patches until the rust no longer shows, then clean the polish out with Hoppe's or whatever light solvent or oil is handy.  Don't continue running JB through the bore expecting the patch to stop coming out black, it won't, ever.

[oldtravler61]

Would like to thank Ky-flinter an AeroE an everyone for there help. Went an bought the Ever-rust an the JB bore paste. Absolutely amazed at how well they both worked. Only regret is that I didn't take a before picture. The barrels look brand new!!! Excellent stuff. Thanks again Ron an AeroE much appreciated. Mike