Surface rust on my uberti 1873 rifle

[stuck_in_73]

I've noticed I have a tad but of surface rust on my uberti 73 rifle on top of the tang. So I used some rem oil and wiped it down and sprayed a good amount if rem oil on the rifle and put it away. Does anyone else have any surface rust on their guns? And if so how do you rid of it?

Thanks

Jeff

[wildman1]

Use a little Bore Butter instead of oil it stays put a little better. wM1

[Short Knife Johnson]

I agree, Bore Butter does a nice job as a rust preventative.  Just a heads up to prevent a heart attack.  It does turn brown over time, so when wiped off, it will look like rust gunk.  20 years later, I still get that panic moment.

[stuck_in_73]

Where do you buy bore butter? Is it a product on the shelf?

[Short Knife Johnson]

Any decent sporting goods store should have it.  Comes in tubes.  Marketed by Thompson-Center.

[Shotgun Franklin]

If you want to remove the rust put oil on some 000 steel wool and buff the spot gently. It will not do anything about pits but will take surface rust off.

[Blair]

If you all don't mind my opinion...

The conservators at Colonial Williamsburg preferred to display Original firearms "DRY". No oil or waxes. These collect dust and moisture. Just keep the Original arms on display well dusted.

Keep in mind, this was for display to the public only.
Arms set in storage were to be well cleaned, placed in bags, socks or other type containers to protect them from the elements for that area.

Modern firearms used in regular competition will suffer from a certain amount of surface rusting. This is a normal prossess of developing a natural Patina on the firearm from normal usage.
Keeping these arms well oiled/waxed between use is a good idea.
My best,
Blair

[stuck_in_73]

If you want to remove the rust put oil on some 000 steel wool and buff the spot gently. It will not do anything about pits but will take surface rust off.

Franklin I did try that before I read your post. It did take off the surface rust. However, I didn't get after it to hard because the case color will come off. I had my gun cabinet in the basement but moved it upstairs yesterday. I did have a dehumidifier running but I guess it did not suffice enough to keep the moisture out.  Needless to say after I scrubbed the surface rust off I doused and drowned the gun with RemOil. To be honest my butt puckered after I got the 73 out of the case and seen the rust. Lol. It's a $1200 gun for Gosh sakes!!! Anyways, bore butter was mentioned above but does Ballistol work as a protectant against rust?

[Mike]

If you got rust on the rist of the gun, it was caused by hadling and if the gun was wiped with a lightly oiled cloth when put away this will help.
Gun nedd looking at regularly to make sure they are not rusting.

[Abilene]

... Anyways, bore butter was mentioned above but does Ballistol work as a protectant against rust?

Ballistol is what I use to wipe down my guns after shooting (BP or smokeless) and cleaning.  Have not had a rust problem.  However, I have seen some posts in the past on some CAS forum (possibly by John Boy, not sure) in which he tested several products on pieces of bare metal and found that the ballistol-treated pieces rusted before some of the others.  I don't know how well that would apply to the types of metal on our guns, but is something to think about.

[JSpencerman]

Hi pards. Just back from 150th Cedar Creek Reenactment. Best ever. I use 1200 to 1400 grit autobody sanding paper on my 1862 springfield and 1853 enfields repros... Lightly going over the parts. Followed up with mothers wheel polish and a light buffing with cotton buffing pad. Do not over do it, pards. Lightly means lightly. I then use a gun cloth to store until the next event. Works for me, but the choice is yours. 

[Grenadier]

I've had excellent results with Ballistol for guns that I shoot regularly. For firearms that are no accessed often, I use a wax to prevent rusting.

[Oregon Bill]

I keep bronze wool on hand for removing rust spots. I have heard very good things about Renaissance Wax as a long-term preservative, but have not used it yet myself.

[mehavey]

While I've been known to leave my [smokeless] cast-bullet long guns uncleaned during a season,
it's because the bullet lube is 50/50 Beeswax/ALOX** ... not Beeswax/Olive Oil [aka "BORE BUTTER"]

Get/Use a good metal preservative deliberately designed as such -- aka BreakFree, Weapon Shield,
RemOil, Mobile-1 Synthetic, etc., and gently wipe with 0000 steel wool. [Bona Fides: a combined
baker's dozen BP weapons. ]


**(Autobody undercoating)

[treebeard]

I found while living in very humid gulf coast areas that BreakfreeCLP was excellent in preventing rust over fairly long periods.
It worked well when storing BP muzzle and breech loaders. While working as a gun smith an older fellow showed me that
That a product called steel wool sponge used with a generous amount of a good oil was excellent at removing surface rust
While leaving remaining bluing intact. I believe this can be had in bronze also. This product can be purchased at Brownells and
At gun shows where supply vendors have set up. I have good luck with oils heavier than Rem Oil and usually use BreakfreeCLP.
I had a number of customers surprised at how well this method worked. I would like to try the previously mentioned Mobil1
As I keep hearing good things about it.

[Don Kenna]

In my experience as a longtime black powder cartridge rifle shooter, the key is to use a product specifically formulated as a rust preventive.  While I currently live in a pretty dry climate (Montana), I spent many years in the much more humid eastern Oklahoma. 

The best I have so far found for the purpose is Birchwood Casey's "Sheath," now marketed as "Barricade."  I also use it as a final bore protectant.  When I've done my part, it has never failed me.  Within a short time after application, it dries to an almost imperceptible film.  Every other rust preventive I've used pretty much required that the bore be wiped before firing.  When using "Sheath"/"Barricade," I don't bother to wipe the bore before shooting.  Although I don't like to do so, circumstances on a couple of occasions have forced me to shoot a first round in a match from a cold bore earlier treated with "Sheath," and I detected no detriment to accuracy.  Range testing has tended to confirm that.  Conversely, I've heard "Sheath" touted as a lubricant a couple of times (certainly not by Birchwood-Casey), at which task it fails miserably.

More than a few in recent years have recommended "EEZ-OX" as a rust preventive.  I've tried it and it does that job well, and has some capability as a bore solvent (which "Sheath" does not).  An exterior coat of it did, eventually, form a dry film, but it remained greasy much longer than "Sheath."

Break Free CLP is my favorite lubricant for moving parts, and it most certainly does prevent rust.  But its primary intended use is what its name implies—a lubricant—and a heavy duty one at that.  Unless a heavy grease is really needed, I use it almost exclusively on internal mechanisms and don't worry about inside rust at all.  Used as an exterior rust preventive, it remains a viscous, dirt attracting mess.

I've tried "Bore Butter" as a rust preventive, especially in rifle bores.  It did work, but perhaps not as well as "Sheath."  Even its most stalwart advocates agreed that the bore of a rifle treated with it really must be wiped before firing.  As an external rust preventive, it remained greasy and was not as effective as "RIG," which is my choice of a rust preventive in very unusual circumstances (for me) where a greasy external surface is acceptable.   I still use "Bore Butter" to lubricate felt wads for cap-and-ball revolvers and muzzle-loading rifle patches.

I've heard and read varying reports about the efficacy of "Ballistol" as a rust preventive, an as a result of the mixed reviews, have never relied upon it as a primary rust preventive.  Diluted with water, however, I've found "Ballistol" nearly invaluable for a multitude of other uses--black powder cleaning solvent, between shot bore-wiping solution for single-shot rifles, keeping badly fouled black powder revolvers running, etc.   

I've infrequently used "Rem-Oil" as an internal lubricant and found it very satisfactory, particularly when a lubricant of lighter consistency than "Break Free CLP" is appropriate.  I've heard good things about "Mobil-1" synthetic oil as a heavy lubricant, but have never tried it.  I wouldn't consider using either product as an external rust preventive if I could avoid doing so.

I still occasionally encounter someone who staunchly advocates "WD-40" as a rust preventive, usually in very large quantities (i.e., "drowning" the firearm in it--wood and all).  Back in the 1960s, when it was still quite a new product, I used it in rational quantities as a rust preventive in humid northern New York state.  It did work as such, more or less, and was probably the best alternative most of us had at the time.  I believe much better rust preventives are available now.  I still use WD-40 around the shop as a solvent when disassembling rusted mechanisms.  I've had similar experiences with true believers in "Kroil," most of whom also believe that if a little is good, a whole lot will be wonderful.  The stuff smells to high heaven and soaks into wood stocks very rapidly.  It remains my favorite product for attempting to loosen badly corroded steel assemblies.  I've also used it on an emergency basis to treat a couple of thoroughly rain-soaked revolvers that has to wait a couple of days before I could give them a proper cleaning.  I've never otherwise attempted to use it as a general rust preventive.   

Some shooters recommend the use of some type of wax as an external protectant, and I think that idea may have some merit.  I have an idea, though, that wax may attract some dust and debris, build up with subsequent applications, and then be much more necessary and difficult to remove than any oil.  I am an advocate of using some sort of rust-preventive wax on unexposed non-moving parts—e.g., parts of barrels covered by forends, inside surfaces of lock plates, undersides of butt plates, insides of barrel bands, etc.  Until a couple of years ago, I used plain Johnson's yellow paste wax for the purpose.  I've recently switched to using "Renaissance Wax," although I've no firsthand experience indicating that it is any better.

That's my experience and what has worked for me.

[wildman1]

Very informative, thanks. I will use WD-40 on the bores and other fouled parts of my BP firearms if I am not cleaning right away and it seems to soak into the fouling and prevent moisture from collect and starting rust. wM1

[Fox Creek Kid]

Well, I live 30 mins. from the coast and it is always humid here & with salt air. I have tried many things and they almost all failed. I saw a test on YouTube with Froglube and I tried some. I was sold. I don't buy all their BS about lubrication blahblah, but as a rust preventative it's the cat's pajamas.