surface rust/slight pitting

[hartwell11b]

i've just adopted a bersa 380, it has slight surface rust on one side of the slide. It's black and aluminum lower. Any ideas????

[762xIan]

Might want to post this up in Gunsmithing section also...

I have had pretty good results with 0000 steel wool and gun oil. It will remove the rust but not existing bluing. If the rust has removed the finish and there is bad pitting you may want to look into a re-blue. If it has just removed a little blueing off of the surface, an application of cold blue might pretty it up.

I would go after it with the steel wool and oil and see what you have. I have been having good luck with the Birchwood Casey "Sheath" or "Barricade" gun protectant. Works good on my guns I don't shoot much and sit in the safe for long periods.

[DavidTM]

Before you hit it with the steel wool, try soaking it with a heavy coating of Kroil Oil overnight. You can get Kroil at Midway and I think even at Brownells.

I've used Kroil to remove light rust from blued receivers and barrels and it does a great job. I let it soak overnight, and the next day I just take a terrycloth rag and rub the heck out of it.

Of course, if it's pitted, that won't come out.....but the pitting will be less noticeable.

Dave

[39flathead]

Hoppes and the finest steel wool you can find.
Some people are afraid of steel wool on a firearm, but as long as it is used with a lubricant of some sort (Hoppes, CLP, ect...) it will not damage a good blue job.
It is surprising what can be polished out/up with this method.

[ROBOWOP]

Before using any kind of steel wool or other abbrasive,just try a little elbow grease with WD40 and a piece of T-shirt.It should remove the actual rust,if there are actual pits,I wouldn't go too far out of my way to actually clean them out,better a little discoloration than a hole..AS DavidTM suggests,Kroil is also great stuff,tough to find,though.You could also try PB blaster penetrating oil,also great stuff.I actually spray the stuff in Harley gas tanks to clean the fuel systems on old bikes..

[Echo Papa]

I've had good results with 0000 steel wool (nothing coarser!) and Brownell's Oxpho-Blue®. Just follow the directions on the Oxpho-Blue® container.

YMMV