[Lance K.]

Can this be done with steel wool?

My freind has a winchester from the 30's that is in mint condition except for some rust speckles, he said if you use steel wool it will remove the blueing, becuase he used to rebuild antique golf clubs and said there were some old putters that were blued and steel wool would leave whitish area, so he is afriad to try it on his gun.

Is steel wool ok for a gun or do you need to buy some of that rust removing jelly?

Thanks

[Patrick Kelly]

Your friend is right, it will remove the bluing. In fact, in the areas of rust the bluing is likely already gone anyway. Best to treat it with some gun oil and lightly buff it with some fine steel wool, followed up by some touch-up with a good cold blue. This is assuming that the rust isn't too wide spread. Don't use a rust remover on it as that will remove the bluing as well. The only way to really restore it to it's original appearance would be to have it professionally refinished.

[Lance K.]

Ok thanks Patrick.

Lance

[Jason Daub]

It isn't guaranteed to remove the blueing, use 0000 steel wool, lots of oil and lightly polish the steel, the oil will float the rust off the surface and prevent it from scratching the surface, this method will remove dry powdery rust with no ill effects. If the steel is pitted, allow the oil to soak into the rust and then,again using lots of oil, polish the area. If the rust is deep you WILL remove the blueing, BUT if you don't deal with the rust now it will just get much worse. IMPORTANT, when polishing make sure to follow the original polishing lines as closely as you can or it will show, either method will fade the blueing but it is better than a crudded up rifle. If you need to reblue and want it done professionally there are lots of accredited gunsmiths who charge a very reasonable fee considering the amount of work involved in a good quality reblue. If you want to touch up an area with a cold blue I would suggest Brownells Oxpho-blue in the gel, it is very easy to use.