Thread: Rusting Howa's

And a note on blued metalwork. Rubbing with oil or any petroleum solvent removes the blueing. Bluing after all is a form of rust. To remove rust from a blued barrel or action use fine DRY steel wool, ONLY. The steel wool removes the rust rust and redistributes the actual blue. Then when finished with the steel wool, wipe over with a lightly oiled rag. 3in1 oil is ideal. Or if you like expensive, your favorite gun oil. But ordinary 30-30 motor oil will do the same job.

Originally Posted by Jhon

And a note on blued metalwork. Rubbing with oil or any petroleum solvent removes the blueing. Bluing after all is a form of rust. To remove rust from a blued barrel or action use fine DRY steel wool, ONLY. The steel wool removes the rust rust and redistributes the actual blue. Then when finished with the steel wool, wipe over with a lightly oiled rag. 3in1 oil is ideal. Or if you like expensive, your favorite gun oil. But ordinary 30-30 motor oil will do the same job.

Ah no, never use steel wool dry. It will remove rust and but also mar the bluing. Always with oil. Use 0000 steel wool only.
For spots only the tip of a fired cartridge case will remove rust, along with a bit of oil.

Have refurbished many old rifles using 4 naught steel wool and oil and have never damaged the patIna.

If rust is more deep seated a more invasive removal method is needed maybe back to the white and then a refinish be it blueing cerakote or whatever.

As far as "stainless" goes people confuse the stainless used in barrels etc for true stainless 316.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Ah no, never use steel wool dry. It will remove rust and but also mar the bluing. Always with oil. Use 0000 steel wool only.
For spots only the tip of a fired cartridge case will remove rust, along with a bit of oil.

Have refurbished many old rifles using 4 naught steel wool and oil and have never damaged the patIna.

If rust is more deep seated a more invasive removal method is needed maybe back to the white and then a refinish be it blueing cerakote or whatever.

As far as "stainless" goes people confuse the stainless used in barrels etc for true stainless 316.

Well each to their own. Not going to tell you you're wrong but I did a lot of research on it and the net was NEVER use oil or petroleum products with steel wool on blued steel. It removes the blueing. I've used dry fine steel wool on a number of restoration jobs now and it works superbly. No scratching, excellent finish result. Then wipe with oily rag to protect. I guess we will differ and folk will do their own research and trials.

Originally Posted by Jhon

Well each to their own. Not going to tell you you're wrong but I did a lot of research on it and the net was NEVER use oil or petroleum products with steel wool on blued steel. It removes the blueing. I've used dry fine steel wool on a number of restoration jobs now and it works superbly. No scratching, excellent finish result. Then wipe with oily rag to protect. I guess we will differ and folk will do their own research and trials.

Go for it. Like you say to each his own. I have seen the effect of raw steel wool on patina. Plus I cannot grasp how raw steel wool "spreads" the blueing. Blueing is not a movable object.
I guess you cannot go wrong if it's off the net.