Help Restoring rusted air rifle?

Question

I have a winchester air rifle, i dont remember the model but it is one of the good quality ones that shoot pellets. You break the barrel down to load it with a single pellet and close it to fire. It was a great little rifle, and fairly expensive but it was underwater for a while due to a flood. I want to try and repair it. Aside from a wd40 soak how can i clean the rust? The entire barrel is orange and scaled. I dont care about the blueing at this point. if i use a .17 brush can i get the barrel clean enough to fire straight again?

Pazuzu · Accepted Answer

Use some Birchwood Casey blue and rust remover or another such product. It will work faster and more effectively than soaking it in WD-40. Scrub it down with either some 00 steel wool or, my personal favorite, a Scotch-Brite pad.

The barrel interior will never be the same again. You can make it better than it is now, but never as it once was. Whether it will shoot straight at all or not depends on how pitted it is, but by your description of the barrel exterior, my guess is that your shots will be going wide all-over.

I once restored an old 8mm Mauser that had a barrel so rusted, it produced groups 1-1/2 feet wide at 50 yards. Best I got out of it after restoration was about 6-7", which is still horrible. I'd expect better accuracy from an ancient, smoothbore ball-thrower.

Anonymous · Answer

Pazuzu gave you some good suggestions.  Kano Labs sells a rust remover called Exrust that I have used with good success.  I have never tried it on a firearm, but what have you got to lose?

Get it cleaned up and paint the metal with Krylon spray paint or DuraCoat.  Clearly, you don't have to be concerned with ruining the value of the gun.

Buckhunter · Answer

I would use a good solvent with a very fine steel wool on the outside of the barrel, and then just scrub the bore.

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Help Restoring rusted air rifle?

3 Answers