Advice needed, I"ve got the pits!

Afternoon team.

I'm after some advice on some serious pitting on the barrel of my rifle.

Ruger 708 Hawkeye.

It has an over barrel suppressor which covered the problem.

I brought it off my father who has a very slack attitude towards gun cleaning. He should know better!

It's only a bush gun and rarely shoots over 150m. I can still hit a tennis ball at that range.

The problem is the rust wont stop growing....

Easiest option is to keep treating and wait for the suppressor to blow out and replace both, just wondering if there are any other options?

Thanks

Couple options. I simply would chop it off and get it rethreaded . But if you don't want to lose any length I would get it blasted rust kill and get some sort of cerakote or durakote .

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Also make sure you don't leave the can on it when not in use. That's most certainly what has caused it. I would be surprised if the crown and possibly the thread ain't shit house also.

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Clean it as much as you can with a wire brush on a bench grinder, treat it with phosphoric acid and paint it with black zinc primer.

Thanks Cartman.

It's in about 5 different spots....

Any recommendations on who could do that blasting/coating work? Are we talking under or over $500?

Where are you based? There's a guy in here who does cerkote in any colour you want he would be able to either do the blasting himself or know somewhere. Or talk to your local gunsmith they should be able to point you in the right direction. It should come in well under 500$ I would guess half that.

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@footrot I would turn down the pitted area because it is under the over barrel suppressor area
Just back to the suppressor bush
Or just past the bush and fit a new bush
Either way you leave the existing thread s is

Real hunting rifles have pitting somewhere :)

I suspect your suppressor does not have a barrel isolator tube but just seals on the barrel ?
The corrosion / pitting is caused by carbonic acid forming from the CO2 and water vapor from combustion.
If the barrel does have an isolator tube then somehow the acid is getting between and onto the barrel
Something needs done to stop the acid getting into the wrong place first before anything else

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Originally Posted by footrot

Thanks Cartman.

It's in about 5 different spots....

Any recommendations on who could do that blasting/coating work? Are we talking under or over $500?

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https://www.cerakotenz.co.nz/technical-information/

Bead blasting would remove to completely if that’s what you are after


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I have a hand held sand blaster and will zap it if you can bring it to me?

If its not in the bore, I wouldnt worry too much about it. If its covered by the supressor, I would steel wool the rust off, and then just paint it.

Spirits of Salts(hydrochloric based). Will dissolve all the rust, then clean and treat/reseal.

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated!
Thanks for the offer @40mm I'm in Matamata so not far but I might try and diy it and see how it goes.....
Any spare ruger barrels around?
Might put a seperate post in buy and sell and see what is out there.

there is a rust kill product that looks like PVA glue...it converts rust....stops it growing...DO NOT worry about this too much...just make sure to take suppressor off and clean between uses and store barrel bare.....mate has same/similar rifle wiht full over barrel and it is way worse ,but as others have said,its outside the bore so cosmetic.....to put it another way,if you never unscrewed suppressor to look you would not know...and minute of tennis ball at 150 yards is a good group for hunting rifle.dont sweat it...just treat it and keep it oiled...job done.

Make sure that corrosion hasn't affected threads. Hot, high pressure gas finding a pathway through the corroded threads won't do you any good.

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Originally Posted by 40mm

I have a hand held sand blaster and will zap it if you can bring it to me?

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@40mm I need to bead blast my spare (2nd hand) Sako .223 mag bottom plate. As I made it shiny removing some rust. Needs a rough textured finish to match the original look.

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Originally Posted by dogmatix

@40mm I need to bead blast my spare (2nd hand) Sako .223 mag bottom plate. As I made it shiny removing some rust. Needs a rough textured finish to match the original look.

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No prob mate. Mrs 40mm has the Wuflu at the moment.... so once that has passed come round. @dogmatix.

I have fine Garnet. not sure if that is suitable, but it leaves a nice matt finish.

Its a bush rifle and the surface is under the suppressor. I had the same issue (but so much worse) and we simply hit it with rustkill / rust converter which neutralises rust (It was left over from a rust job on my car - supercheap...) and then polished it again with steel wool. I wouldn't worry about painting it or cerakote if you just dont want it to rust further. Just keep oiling it when you put it away. If you want it to look nice / flash / new again, and choose to cerakote it, then by all means do so. The rifles I have seen that have been done all look really good.

As mentioned I would check and see if the suppressor is leaking / venting onto the barrel. Another of my rifle suppressors did this and as long as I clean the barrel after I use it, it has not been an issue. The only issue was the manufacturer refused to repair it (I even said it was 2nd hand and not under warranty so I was prepared to pay) in fact he even refuse to believe his product could do this....

If the rust isn't too deep, just have it turned out in a lathe.

Bury the rifle at the local beach for a few weeks.
Give the whole thing a bit of 'character'

Thanks team for all the advice!

I'm going down the scrub treat and paint path.

Hot barrels!

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Originally Posted by JohnDuxbury

If its not in the bore, I wouldnt worry too much about it. If its covered by the supressor, I would steel wool the rust off, and then just paint it.

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I saw a sweet video on youtube of someone removing rust with a ball of tin foil from a pair of bike handle bars
it didnt even damage the chrome as the ali foil was softer

so tin foil and a little bit of water to help carry the rust particals away

bead blasting will make it mint again tho anything else will be a crappy fix