stopping active rust

[henry r]

i was given a magazine for a SMLE a little while ago.

it has a reasonable amount of rust coming up under the bluing. from a little research here it seems that completely stripping and re-bluing it would be a faux pas.

so i guess that leaves stopping the active rust and oiling it for future reference.

i read that boiling it for 25 minutes or so in tap water will kill the rust but leave the existing blue? is that correct?
is it ok to boil the lifter spring?

thanks
henry.

no pics, but for you marking geeks the lifter platform has a 3, a pair of broad arrows and a BSA (crown over Q?B over B) stamp. the body has 2 serifed 4's plus a P? or R? and K? or N? or V? on the back strap. no serial number.

Information

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[bigduke6]

That the basic bluing process, boiling for 25 mins but normally in distilled water, the other way is the electrolysis method, I,m quite keen on this as its one were you can walk away come back in a few hours clean the anodes and leave for a few more hours, only thing I,ve noticed is it will remove bluing on some items.....

[CINDERS]

Try WD-40 or RP-7 and stainless steel dish scouring pad, do not use normal steel wool or it will remove the bluing spray some on the mag and some on the scourer and rub in a circular motion will remove the rust and not the bluing remember stainless. Taught to me by a WWII armourer, this will do light rust. Another one for you molasses I have heard soaking it in it for a while......

[Seaspriter]

the other way is the electrolysis method, I,m quite keen on this as its one were you can walk away come back in a few hours clean the anodes and leave for a few more hours

There are several methods to consider:
1) Electrical: I too have had good luck with electrolysis, as BigDuke comments above.
2) Chemical: Use Naval Jelly. Another alternative for a surface that will be painted later (like a SMLE mag) is to use "Rust Converter" which is available in automotive stores. It transforms rust into a stable form of black iron oxide (IIRC FeO4), which can either be left unfinished or filled, or then be primed and painted with an authentic finish.
3) Physical: Scraping, Sanding, Sand Blasting, and Wire Brushing, followed by chemical (like bluing or Parkerizing/Phosphating or painting) or electro-plating (I've had very good luck plating nickel on bare steel -- done in my kitchen).

[henry r]

thanks gentlemen.

i want to keep the original finish for now so i'll go with the boiling method (plus i'm not set up for electrolysis).

i have tried molasses on some car stuff in the past, it works ok but i think i would need to tweak the mix or try it in a different time of the year (temperature wise) in the future. plus i have a feeling it would effect the bluing.

[Flying10uk]

For a lightly rusted blued item like a mag, I would soak it in Diesel overnight and then lightly rub it with fine wire wool soaked with Diesel. With a little care you can normally rub the worst of the rust off without taking too much of the bluing off with it. Obviously if the blue starts coming off stop. I've never tried using a stainless scorer but it would be worth giving it a go.

[mike1967]

+1 on the stainless steel pad and WD40 or virtually any "gun oil" for surface types of rust . With the stainless you can buy a pretty fine grade which works excellent.

[CINDERS]

I would never post something that I have not tried on my rifles it took me a bit to getting used to the process but it works well, it won't remove pits or stains but light surface rust no probs if in doubt try it in an area not readily seen but do not use just ordinary steelwool will that will strip the bluing quite readilly.
Henry R the above will work in a matter of minutes and diesel is pretty messy I wish I had a lightly rusted mag and do a vid on it so you can see just how quick it works

[Flying10uk]

I haven't tried the stainless scorer on rusted blued parts before because I haven't heard of this before. I will try this method and see for myself how well it works. I have found that fine wire wool works well on very rusted parts but I wouldn't keep rubbing if the bluing started to come off; only an idiot would do so. I have found the bluing found on military items is normally fairly robust, more than is realised.

[bigduke6]

Two examples of rust (deep and pitted) removal are from a Enfield 1903 bayonet and a German ZF4 scope , see links below can't comment of the scope blueing as I would think this would of been a solution rather than the conventional bluing that would of been on the 1903, but the electrolysis method did remove the bluing on both. The bayonet retained some finish on the hilt but the other areas it was nearly all gone, but these are the parts subject to wear and tear over the years so maybe this was a contributing factor.

Surface rust may only look like a slight powder but its the evidence that the process has started, I know all too well as the last few days the weather has been blasting cold wet air under my workshop door onto a machine that has had some warmth due to the lights being on and being run etc, instant rust..... it wipes of but underneath you can see the little stains (basic bluing) so not that that evident on a blued firearm........


German ZF 4 Scope refinish

1903 Bayonet repair and rust removal....