Best Way To Remove Rust From Gun Barrel

Got rust on your gun?

It is most likely to spread over the entire gun including the gun barrel. You need to pay extra attention to it being one of the most crucial parts of a gun.

But do not worry. You got this. Getting rid of gun barrel rust won’t be that hard. All you need to do is follow the guideline for how to remove rust from gun barrels and act accordingly.

I have elaborately described the steps to remove gun barrel rust for you to understand easily. Hope it makes things easier for you.

Cleaning Rust Off Of Gun Barrel

A gun barrel is one of the most important parts of a gun and getting rust on it is like a total nightmare.

Your precious gun will lose its power to effectively fire bullets due to the rusted barrel. Issues like failure to ejection or even jamming of ammo inside the barrel will occur.

I bet you don’t want such problems to occur. So, you urgently need to treat the gun barrel rust and bring it to its normal state.

Removing rust from the barrel is not that hard as it might seem to be. The tight space and unreachable areas of the barrel normally give a negative impression.

But trust me you can remove rust from gun barrel as easily as you can clean the rest of the parts.

How To Get Rust Off A Gun Barrel?

To start cleaning, you have to disassemble the gun first. It is typically done while taking the gun for any maintenance work. Nonetheless, you need to unload and double-check the gun even before you disassemble it. It is the first and foremost duty.

The process of removing rust from a gun barrel is the same as cleaning the whole gun. There is no significant difference. The only variance is that the inner and outer parts of the barrel have to be cleaned distinctly. That is, you have to clean the inside of the barrel too as you have to clean the outer area.

There is no rule or law for cleaning the outer segment first and then the inner or vice versa. You can choose the order at your convenience. But the process of cleaning the inner part is different than the outer. You need to follow the consecutive steps from the individual guides to clean the rusted gun barrel.

How To Remove Rust From Inside Of A Gun Barrel?

The inside of the barrel cannot be reached with hands or fingers. You need to use equipment that can pass through the long barrel to clean the rust from inside and follow the steps consecutively.

1. The first step to remove rust from gun barrel involves lubricating. You need to lubricate the inner section of the barrel completely to make the rust loosen its grip from the gunmetal. You can use an aerosol lubricant such as CLP to easily spray it inside the barrel. It is quite easier than the liquid one to reach the deep inner part.
2. Next, take the bore brush. Attaching the bore brush to the cleaning rod pass it through the already lubricated inner barrel. Let the rod slide through it and make it up to the muzzle. Once it comes out the other side, detach the bore brush and bring back the rod. Do not try to get back the rod including the bore brush. It will resettle the cleaned rust and dirt back on the barrel. Repeat the step a couple of times to get rid of the rust completely. Try to scrub while doing the step.
3. After that use a jag and wrap a cleaning patch on it. Then pass through the barrel connecting it to the cleaning rod. Similarly, as the last step, detach the jag when you will pull back the rod. Reattach the jag with new patches on for another round. Repeat the step until the patches come out clean.
4. When the patches start to come out clean without traces of rust, you can end the session by lubricating the inner part.

That’s how you get to remove rust from inside gun barrel.

How To Remove Rust From Outside Of Gun Barrel?

Unlike the process of removing rust from the inside gun barrel, the outer part does not have so much detailed action. It is much simpler and easier.

1. First, lubricate the surface area with a CLP. Make sure to coat it holistically. Set it aside for a while to let it act against the rust.
2. After the set time, scrub the outer surface of the barrel with a brass bristle brush. Make sure you do not use too much force or scratch the gun finish. Let the strokes be more controlled and gentler. But scrape consistently to remove rust from the gun barrel.
3. In case the brushing still leaves traces of rust over the barrel surface, use steel wool to scrape off them. Use the steel wool to rub it over the outer barrel to remove the last traces.
4. At the end wipe off the total thing to remove the leftover scraped rust and grime-infused lubricant. Clean the barrel and then coat it with a new layer of lubricant.

Whether it’s the rifle barrel or the shotgun barrel, it does not matter. Both are recoverable. You can scrape out the rust in both cases.

How To Remove Rust From A Shotgun Barrel?

Removing rust from shotgun barrel is not a problem at all. The mentioned procedure will successfully remove rust from the shotgun barrel.

Once you spot rust on your shotgun, get to work as soon as possible. You need to do nothing different than the mentioned guide. It will help you restore your gun in no time. You can again take your shotgun to hunt without the possibility of failure to fire.

How To Remove Rust From A Rifle Barrel?

On the other hand, the process of removing rust from the rifle barrel is similar to the other but might need a little more attention. Its barrel structure is different than the other and is a bit tricky to work on. This makes it hard to get rid of stubborn rust craters. Sometimes the rifle might work fine even with the leftover rust traces but it is highly risky to use it as it is. It might malfunction at any time and cause a huge hazard.

In case you cannot at all get rid of the rust from the barrel, rebore the rifle barrel. You can rebore the barrel to a larger caliber to get the access to clean.

If you cannot manage to do so, you can always get a new barrel for your rifle. But do not use the rusted barrel which can be very dangerous. Get rid of the rusted one and get yourself a new barrel. Make sure to take care of the new one to avoid unwanted rusting.

What To Use For Removing Rust From Gun Barrel

You will need some effective cleaning kits as well as solvent to remove rust from gun barrel. It will help you omit rust from the barrel easily without much hard labor. First, let’s check out some gun cleaning solvents that can be used:

1. CLP-4 Cleaner Lubricant Preservative Squeeze Bottle

This is a cleaning solvent used widely to remove rust, dirt, and grime from the gun surface. Its chemical components are such that it acts against the bond between the rust and the gunmetal. It works fast and works under any temperature from -65F to +475F. The versatility of the solvent is something that makes it very useful for gun maintenance. It is a 3 in one solution for cleaning, lubricating and protecting. It works against rust very effectively. The simple spray mechanism facility makes it even easier to spray it over the infected areas and let it act accordingly.

2. Kroil Original Penetrating Oil

This one is a penetrating oil for gunmetal. It is a fast working solvent that dissolves rust quickly. The oil goes down deep inside the surface to act against the rust. Kroil oil breaks and loosens the rust-gun metal bond and allows the removal of the foreign substance easily. Carbon, lead, rust, or any other residues can be successfully removed using the oil. It is in a liquid state. You have to soak the cleaning material in the liquid to use it. It is easy to be used in any tight space without difficulty. It passes and spreads uniformly over the area for its compatible viscosity.

To scrape off the rust, you will be needing some efficient tools that work against the rust without damaging the gunmetal.

3. Raiseek 13 Pieces Bristle Gun Cleaning Bore Brush

The stubborn rust on the gun barrel has to be scrubbed off using an abrasive element. But this cannot be too much abrasive to damage the barrel surface. A bore brush like this one specializes in cleaning rust off gun barrels without being corrosive. The bristles of the brush are made of quality ensured bronze. Its only target is the rust and other grimes. The bristles are attached to the tiny brass body that can pass through the gun barrel easily for successful cleaning.

4. BOOSTEADY Gun Cleaning Brush

This is a brush set for cleaning guns. It is not too abrasive towards the gun surface but successfully removes rust off the metal. This is a set of double-ended brushes. Each side is of a different size. This gives the option to clean unreachable areas with it. To clean the rusted area, you would require varieties of brushes that this set includes. It has a nylon brush, brass bristle brush, and stainless-steel brush. All these are useful for scrapping stubborn rust off from the gun barrel.

5. Red Devil 0310 Steel Wool – 0000 Super Fine

It is a cleaning agent that is used to scrub over the rust or dust-infected area on a gun. It is not too abrasive for the gunmetal that makes it suitable to use on guns. You can have better control over the cleaning process while working with steel wool. You can apply pressure or lightly scrub as per your requirement. It can successfully remove the rust from the gun barrel without leaving any traces.

Final Words

Using the right gun barrel rust remover and the right technique to remove rust from gun barrel are the keys to cleaning the rusty gun barrel. It is not that complicated. Following the mentioned guide, you can do it without trouble.

However, you need to be very careful while you are removing rust from a gun barrel. Only focusing on the targeted rust won’t work. You need to make sure you are not scraping off the gun coating or the gun metal along with the rust.

That’s why being attentive and checking on the progress from time to time during the session is important. And that’s how to restore a rusty gun barrel successfully.