rusty barrel

[jwm]

God, how I hate being forced to admit that I'm an IDIOT, but....

I just found that the inside of the barrel on my Savage 110FP .308 is red with rust.  Apparently (at least I can't think of any other explanation) one or more rounds of corrosive military surplus stuff found their way into it during my last range trip, about a week ago.  I'm hoping that it was my buddy's fault, so at least I'll have someone to blame.

After the initial shock, I started scrambling around to do something, as though another 5 or 10 minutes was going to make a big difference.  I used a jag and a patch liberally coated with JB bore paste, and started scrubbing.  After four patches, 20 strokes apiece, I could feel and see a huge difference.  Two more patches, and the bore looks good, and feels the same as it did before the disaster.  I haven't shot it yet.  Is there something else that I should do to it before firing any ammo?  Or is it totally toasted?  What are my options/chances?  Is a re-barrel a must?  This used to be one of my most accurate range guns. 

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.  And feel free to tell me that I'm an IDIOT!!

John

[Phoneman]

If it's only been a week I wouldn't worry about it. I've cleaned barrels for people that were so rusted and corroded from bad ammo I didn't think would ever come clean. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and go back to shooting. Just remember to clean afterwords.

[gunnut69]

Just to be certain all the salt is gone I'd clean the bore with hot soapy water... Then oil it up nicely.. The corrosive agent formed by corrosive ammo is a salt. It is unaffected by any petroleum based cleaners.. Water and ammonia or another detergent to cut thru any oil film is what will work..

[jwm]

Thanks for the info, gents.  Just for the record, I did a cursory cleaning (a few boresnake passes with solvent, then light oiling) after the range trip, but I didn't do the soap and water thing that I normally use after corrosive ammo.  I "knew" that corrosive salts aren't affected by solvent cleaning, but "knowing" it is one thing, seeing the results of an ammo mix-up is something else entirely.

The ammo was claimed to be non-corrosive, by the gun-show guy who sold it.  I'm just thankful that I didn't completely believe him, because I did the hot water/soap clean-up on the several other guns we used that day.  Otherwise I'd really be pissing and moaning now.

Thanks again.

John

[jwm]

Just a quick follow-up.  Had a chance to shoot the Savage today and accuracy seems unchanged from before the rust problem.  What a relief!

Thanks again for the help.

John

[gunnut69]

The usual result of a bit of corrosive bore frosting is a bit quicker fouling. It usuall takes a bit more than you experienced though.. Good luck!