From: viking@iastate.edu (Dan Sorenson)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: Rust control
Date: 13 Aug 92 15:23:43 GMT
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA


 towle@vssteg.enet.dec.com (Clark Towle Gunsmith) writes:

# googs@gilligan.webo.dg.com (Joe Gugliemino) writes...

# Steel wool, 000X or 0000X will do it without damaging the remaining blue.
#Don't use anything like Naval Jelly or anything like that or you'll remove 
#the blue for sure.

	I clean my Ruger Old Army black powder by dipping it in nearly
boiling water for a few minutes.  Once an emergency came up, and I left
it in there for a few hours.  At a subsequent gun show, a gent was selling
his magic potion that cleaned anything.  I handed him my gun, complete with
tarnishes, and he removed all of it without harming the nickel plate or
the bluing.  The product?  Wenol.  It's a non-abrasive cleaner, and I now
recommend it highly.  The high humidity of Iowa in summer means rust, and
I find it removed rust and not bluing on all my guns.  Perhaps there is
something similar you might get?  E-mail me for product information if
you are unable to find it.

##Once I do clean them up, how do I keep the rust from returning?  I've
##thought of applying silicone, oil, or WD40.

#  Oil, like motor oil or plain gun oil (any kind) or WD40 is not recommended.
#The Moderator is correct in that WD40 can remove blueing.

	The real reason I posted!  I use WD-40 on my Remington model 48
12ga autoloader as both a lubricant and as an anti-moisture measure, and
it seems to work fairly well at both functions.  The main reason I
started using it was that even gun oil became too viscous at -20F to
allow the action to cycle reliably, and WD-40 was a cheap and easy
solution.  I'm not saying Dry-Slide won't work better, but none of the
bluing has been removed from my guns due to WD-40, and I figure an
opposing view is in order.  After over 20K shells, it still works fine.
It also makes a good aternative to Hoppe's #9 solvent when you can't
get it.  For that matter, so does diesel fiel or kerosene.  All give me
a shiny barrel and clean action, but no harm to my blueing.

[MODERATOR:  Well, a couple people have written to testify on behalf of
WD-40.  I could swear I have seen the effects on bluing in the past, but
I don't have a specific example in mind now to support this.  So for what
its worth, and being curious about this, I started a simple experiment in
the basement last night, and will report if I find anything interesting:
I am restoring a couple old bayonets, and, since I need to take the old
blue off with some of the crud before rebluing, I dipped half of the them
in WD-40 and am letting them sit out for a while. At regular intervals,
up until I get bored on the effort at least, I will clean a little of it
off and see if there is any obvious effect.  My hope is that the advice
I gave before is true, since I always prefer the lazy man's way out, and
I'd love to avoid dusting up the house with rouge as inevitably happens
when I polish a piece down with the bench grinder.]

##Should I consider rebluing?  What does that do to the value of the gun?
##I've already damaged them by letting them rust, but I don't want to hurt
##them more than I have to.  What are the pros and cons?  Are there other
##options? 
# Steel wool should do the trick. Reblueing devalues a gun unless its a 
#clunker to begin with, so if the items in question have any collector status, 
#don't reblue them.

	If the items have any collector status, you shouldn't have fired
them in the first place.  If you fire a gun, then my opinion is that
you should not be worried about collector status in the first place.
I've fired my Winchester Canadian Centennial in .30-30 because it's a
shame not to do so, not because it might be worth something someday.
Just as a Shelby Cobra ought not to be driven so it might bring a
higher price at the car show, a gun that is to be a collectors item
should not be fired.  If you own guns to shoot them, forget the
menial price differential and shoot the thing.  That's what owning
a gun is about, isn't it?

<Dan Sorenson, DoD #1066 |"There'll be angels on Ariels in leather>
<z1dan@exnet.iastate.edu | and chrome, Ridin' down from heaven    >
<viking@iastate.edu      | just to carry me home." -- R. Thompson >
< ISU thinks I need more education, which they provide for a fee. >