got a rust problem, need a little advice

[48Dragoon]

Went to the range today for the first time with a pair of 1851 navys in stainless. Shot a couple rounds then sprayed the guns down with a blackpowder solvent. Wiped them down a little then put them away. Drove the hour home then got distracted with guests for another 1/2 hour. Took them out of the case and they were rusty in spots. I got some of the rust off but now there are black type "rust" marks in these spots and i cant get them off. Considering letting them soak in gas over night.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Rickk]

If they are stainless and it is rust then try the yellow rags sold in gun stores called "wipe-away".

Brasso on a damp rag would work as well.

Gas won't dissolve rust I don't think.

[mykeal]

Brasso's good. Neve-R-Dull is also good. Blue Wonder makes a cleaner that's good on rust also. Also good in an emergency are the various automotive products made for loosening stuck bolts and nuts: Liquid Wrench comes to mind. Some like WD-40, although I wouldn't take it near my bp guns. The problem with the auto products is their petroleum base; if you are forced to use one be very sure to thoroughly clean the entire gun and action to get rid of any residue before shooting again.

Gasoline is not a good idea; it is ineffective on rust and causes big problems with petroleum residue when exposed to black powder and black powder fouling.

[blhof]

I'm suprised that such a little time would cause such a problem.  I've left my Ruger OA for several hours and with no actual rust; hard to clean, yes, but not rust.  I would also recommend wiping down the gun with good automotive paste wax.  Leaves a protective coating (carnuba wax) that hasn't increased fowling for me and seems to make clean-up even easier.  The wax easily comes off with all commercial BP cleaners,  I reapply after the guns are thoroughly dried and ready to be put away, it takes very little to coat, just be sure to wipe off all excess and polish before putting away, it helps prevent fingerprint spots on stainless.

[Rickk]

48Dragon, what kind of black powder solvent did you spray it down with?

I've been using Ballistol lately myself. It is water soluable, which is a good trait for BP cleners. www.ballistol.com

It is also mildly alkaline (which helps neutralize acids).

The MSDS for it says it is on the very low end of the scale as far as being hazardous.

Here is some info on it you might find appropriate :
http://www.firehawktech.com/b^firearms.asp

[48Dragoon]

i used Cabelas Black powder solvent. Thanks for the suggestions guys, i will try a couple of them and see if there is any result.

[.54 sharps]

  hi,
        I'm new here, so if I get outta line someone just tell me.  American Pioneer Powder.... best stuff ever made for cap and ball or muzzleloaders. I shoot it in everything from an 1851 navy to my .54 cal. sharps. never had a rust problem in 2 years. hope this is a help

[hrminer92]

anyone here use Eezox for cleaning & protecting against rust on their C&B revolvers?  Their web page says it's ok for black powder and doesn't have any petroleum based ingredients, but I was wondering if anyone here has ever used it.

http://www.eezox.com/gun-care.html

It looks pretty good as far as keeping rust away based on the tests these guys did.
http://www.6mmbr.com/corrosiontest.html

[Bad Flynch]

There is something very fishy going on here. Why would "stainless" steel rust quickly and then stain?  Stainless steel is not rust proof, but that is a bit soon for anything. Were you using pyrodex or black powder? This sort of response to BP seems more like nickel than stainless steel and I do not know of anyone supplying 1851s in stainless, anyway. That does not mean there aren't some out there, but I have not seen them; Remingtons, yes, 1851s, no.

I have left both my blued revolvers and stainless uncleaned for more than a day before a very slight discoloration was observed, and then only on a bare shiny steel place, not on the blued surfaces. Something is not right here.

By the way, I use Ballistol Milk for cleaning my BP guns. It is made of 2 parts Ballistol and 8 parts of distilled water. Shaken well, it makes a very cloudy emulsion; one puts it in a generic spray bottle. It works as a BP solvent; it apparently neutralized BP fouling (which is strongly alkaline), because I can shoot a gun, spray it down, and come back 3 days later to an oily gun with no rust. The distilled water evaporates and leaves behind the oil and BP crud, but with no rust.

All I do to clean is to spray the gun down, wipe, brush, mop and wipe out the bore, wipe down again and spray again. Then I come back in 24 to 36 hours and redo the procedure. After the second go-around, I let the stuff dry to the oily base and store the gun. No rust, ever.

[hrminer92]

Does anyone specifically make brushes for scrubbing out the C & B cylinders?

I've taken my 1851 repo to the range a couple times (24-36 shots each trip) I thought I was getting it cleaned out good at the range and was following the instructions for detailed cleaning including sticking the parts in the oven for 30 minutes.  However, I thought I saw something in near the back of the cylinder near where the nipples screwed in.  I found a flashlight and sure enough there were some red spots at the back of a couple of the cylinders and in the middle about where the wad would sit behind the lead balls. Crap. 

The brushes I have work ok on the barrel, but the twisted steel wire that's the core of it pokes out too much for it to scrub the back of the cylinders very well (I'm afraid that it might screw up the threads too).  I'm not making much headway on the spots in the center either.  Any suggestions?   My next idea is to attach the brush to a low speed drill since turning by hand doesn't seem to do much.  I packed the cylinder into a can of crisco and will get back at it after work.  I'm calling it a night.

[Rickk]

interesting article... read this : http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/corrosion/corrosion2.html