Rust on a Gun Barrel

[leadpersuasion]

I have recently purchased a Savage Mark II bolt .22 and it has been only a few months and there is already rust developing on the outside of the barrel! I have read that WD-40 and steel wool works pretty well for removal. I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on a better solution and what is the best preventative measure against the rust?

[Colombo]

A big honking  NO  to the steel wool,  use stainless steel wool as it's softer and will not damage blueing easily. Look for stainless pot scrubbers at the store.

[Kentactic]

if the blueing has rust i wonder what the bare metal bore looks like. 

[Colombo]

Usually it starts as fine speckles if you can see it, they expand as the rust builds but if you catch it early enough it's hardly noticeable. As for the bore it takes quite a while to rust out a .22 firing modern ammo, between the wax coating on the bullets and the lead you really have to neglect a .22 to seriously rust the bore. Of course if you clean the bore well and don't oil it it's gonna rust fast if there's any humidity in the air.

[Veritas]

Shoot the rifle until the barrel is nice and warm, then apply some grease to the outside of the barrel.  Rub it in good, let it cool, and wipe off the excess.

[thatGuy]

I like your method of warming up the barrel Veritas!

You could also put it in the sun for a while.

But yeah grease or wax (for that not so greasy feeling), no steel wool unless you don't like the finish. I usually use a wet cloth to remove rust. I know its counterintuitive but it works.

[goodnightChesty1775]

once you get it off, invest in some FROGLUBE heat the whole gun up with a hair dryer or in sunlight and coat that stuff on, wipe off if you desire. you wont have any more rust problems. and the internals will be smoother than ever...

[backwoodsboy]

i have my grandpas old remingtong model 514 22 bolt action and there was rust pitting on the outside so i took a hard brush out of a gun cleaning kit and some remington oil and i would spray and scrub until the rust color was gone and wipe off with a rag.Then i noticed how beat up the stock was in the sunlight,so i put murphys wood oil soap on the stock and the rifle looks alot better! [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co

[JohnyMac]

All good suggestions. This is what I do:

Exterior barrel/ receiver surface rust Brush rust with fine brass wool (Pick up at any Ships Chandlery like West Marine) wipe loosened rust with gun oil and patch. To stop future rust if I am going to put the weapon away post hunting season I apply warmed up Thompson Center Bore Butter to all outside metal parts. Once cooled I remove excess.

Interior of the barrel Modern day weapons I just use gun or sewing machine oil. I remove before I am going to shoot. Black powder I use the bore butter as mentioned above. I also remove excess BB before I use the weapon again.

Both seem to work for me in a salt water environment which I live in.

[leadpersuasion]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I knew I would get great info here. It was just spotty on the outside of the barrel and simply putting Hoppe's Elite Gun Oil (yes, I know its garbage!)on a rag and wiping it down did the job. Rust came off in the rag, not much anyways. I am gonna be buying some Frog Lube later this week. It has got to be the high humidity here in Southwest GA causing it, but I shouldn't have any more issues after the Frog is put on.