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I was down at Bisley today and discovered a couple of patches in rust in the club P14's barrel. It shows up as two clusters of tiny dark spots on the bore, and a dry patch down the barrel comes out with orange marks.

Rather than scrap the rifle (it's not as if a P14 converted into a target rifle would be worth rebarrelling, really) can anyone recommend a good method of removing rust from barrels?

Hi Gaz.

Shooters in the US say that "Butch's Bore shine" is what you need. I bought some at Bisley to try and impressed with the results, also very good for copper fouling as well. Not sure where to get it from, I got mine at the last Bisley antique fair one dealer had it on sale..

For rusted miltary barrels the best I've found is the issue gauze for the pull through.

Make sure that the pull through is is good condition as it takes a bit of a pull. Oil the barrel and the gauze, Ed's Red and then one slow steady pull through keeping the cord off the muzzle is usually enough, finish of with a patch or two 'till clean.

I took my nagant out of the cabinet today, slightly dismayed to find a very fine layer of rust forming in the barrel, it happened last time i used it, put it down to under oiling after previous use, this time I know i put a good amount of oil through..
I must be doing something wrong in my cleaning, i used a boresnake wet with hoppes cleaner/oil, pulled through a couple of times, then some forrest bore foam, left for 15mins, nice blue lumps left, then pulled through again with boresnake a couple of times, then i soak the end in just gun oil and pull that through, with a couple of squirts down barrel before I put away.
So where am I going wrong, not through enough clean? or ammo issue?
Use standard looking russian surplus.

Somebody in the US mentioned B52...not sure what it does but lads there swear by it....and Mobil1 EP for gun oil.....

You need to boil 4 pints of dihydrous oxide and pour that through the barrel as soon as possible after firing. Most milsurp ammo uses mercurious fulminate primers and these generate salts that promote corrosion. The boiling dihydrous oxide (oxygen dihydride can be used instead) dissolves away these salts...



Whilst the barrel is still hot from flushing through with dihydrous oxide, use your foam and Hoppe's cleaners, then the boresnake. Finally, pull through a patch soaked in a light oil before storage. Next time you use the rifle, pull through with a clean dry patch to remove the surplus oil afore firing...

Guess I'd better find a suitable funnel, thanks badger!

...and a length of plastic tubing ! It makes guiding the boiling water into the barrel easier and ensures none gets spilled around the breech from where it can seep between the stock and barrel, corroding the latter, invisibly, from underneath.

...and if you must hold the barrel during the process wear a pair of thick oven gloves as it will get rather hot.

Of course, the best barrels never go rusty: they are made from properly seasoned oak and contain a protective coating of 25 year old malt whisky on the inside...