RobertSubnet

Greetings all.

A short time ago I won an auction for a Ruger Old Army on Gunbroker. Well today it arrived...woohoo!

Mostly.

The auction described it as being "practically new." I interpret that among other thingsas without any rust.

Well the pistol does look pretty good, however thereis a rust spot/patch,about 1/8th of an inch in length.It is in the corner/crevice where the front blade sight meets the barrel. It appears to wrap around the front of the sight. There is also some weird looking green stuff in that crevice-maybe some left over cleaner?

Below is a link to a quick picture I took of it. The quality isn't the best, but you get an idea of what I am describing:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-1/86657/sight.jpg

Here is a link to the auction where you can read the description (if interested):

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=89572797

I think if I were looking at this gun in a pawn shop I probably would have still bought the gun, it was $500.

But I am hoping to get some opinions from you guys:

1. Is the rust not that big of a deal? Or should I return the gun immediately?

2. Visually I can live with the rust. What concerns me is will this grow and eventually wreck the sight/barrel? Fortunately I live in Arizona so humidity is not much of a problem here.The gun will be used in the field, not just hung on the wall to be gawked at. So that rust patchwould be effected by what humidity we do have. As well as cleaning fluids.

3. Is this the kind of thing a gunsmith could easily clean up/remove? I don't know anything about removing rust from guns but blueing is not easy if I'm not mistaken.

There is no other rust that I can see. There are some typical,wear marks on the cylinder where the action rotated the cylinder. These are not the least excessive. I would guess about 200 rounds got put through the gun. Otherwise everything else looks OK

If you were in this situation what would you do?

Thank you. As always, your comments are much appreciated.
~Robert

RobertSubnet

Oh crud...I justread in the description where it says "no returns on used guns."

So...is it tough to remove rust?

goatbrother

Try some rusty duck oil or some Kroil. Spray it on and let it work in for a bit, the gently run a brass brush on the rusty part, should come of and it you keep it oiled it will stay away.

By the way, nice looking gun.

Arthur P

While I'd be aprettyirritated at the berk who sold me the gun for not mentioning it in his ad, I wouldn't let a small patch of rust like that turn me off on the gun either. Just clean it up and keep it well maintained and it won't get any worse. If you booger up the blue in that area getting the rust off, just get a bottle of cold blue and touch it up. In the big picture, it's no biggie.

alleyyooper

Try this. It works. I found this when trying to find some thing to stop the rusting on my table saw top.
I drink tea instead of coffee so have a lot of used tea bags they have life left in them for this use.

I have a solution (pardon the pun:-)), and this is not a wind up, although I thought it was myself when I first heard of it - until I tried it and I've used nothing else since!!
The answer lies in every kitchen cupboard (at least in the UK, and probably over most of the world.) It is TEA!!
Get some ordinary run of the mill everyday tea bags, boil about a pint (1/2 litre) of water and add about 4 or 5 tea bags,or teaspoons full if you can't get bags, ie. a strong mix of tea. Stir well and let this brew for a few minutes and remove the bags or strain the liquid to remove the tea leaves. Let it cool down for 10 minutes or so and then put your rusty steel parts in there, fully submerged. Depending on how rusty they are, leave them in there for between 1 and 8 hours - keep having a look now and again to see how they are doing.
What is happening I am told, is that the (very weak) Tannic acid is attacking the rust, neutralising it and turning the residue into a rust preventitive. I am not a chemist, so I can not vouch for the exact truth of this. What I do know is that when the parts are removed from the tea, they are a grey/blue colour, and when rubbed up with very fine wire wool and oil, take on a very acceptable steel appearance with any deep pitting left a dark grey.
After this treatment, clean by your usual methods (ultrasonic tank or whatever). The parts don't seem to suffer any harm, brass doesn't seem to be affected and the bits don't go rusty again, AND IT'S CHEAP!
The more sceptical amongst you may prefer to use either Earl Grey or Lapsang Suchong for delicate parts such as carriage clocks and traditional strong Yorkshire Brew for more robust items:-)
Try it, IT WORKS. My table saw top never rusts now.

[hr]


Al

cayugad

In all fairness to the seller, they described the weapon as "practically new" and not the original seller. Also they encouraged you to ask any questions of the seller. When I purchase a gun I always ask the seller questions.. any rust, condition of the bore, how's the trigger, and then note their answers. If they are evasive, I begin to worry.

That really is not a lot of rust but when you're paying good money, I can understand your frustration. If you have some JB Bore paste & patch,you can lightly scrub that surface rust off the barrel. It will remove the bluing though. Then you can purchase a blue and black marker from Birchwood Casey. At looks like a fancy magic marker paint brush. You could paint over that and it would probably never be noticed. When your done using the marker, put that in a vacuum sealer bag and seal that back up and it will not dry out. I've had my pen for a long time now. I touch up marks on my rifles all the time and it works excellent.

Check the add and see if you can return the pistol if you are not happy. It is a beautiful looking weapon there.

lemoyne

alleyyooper, now thats really interesting, and after you think about it makes sense. Lee

RobertSubnet

All: Thank you for your comments. I will try to see if I can get that rust off myself.

Cayugad: Your right I should have asked those questions. This was my first purchase on Gunbroker, so I will know better for the next time.

Alleyyooper: That is a really interesting suggestion. The only problem is it sounds like it would take off a lot of the blueing. Thank you for posting it though. I will have to keep it in mind for other rust removal projects.

~Robert

Underclocked

Robert, I would first do asgoatbrother suggests with the Kroil or Rusty Duck and allow it to soak and work for at least 24 hours before wiping it off and degreasing. I would then very carefully tape the sight and barrel areas right up next to the rust and evenly on both sides of the sight and at the muzzle end of same. I would try to keep the tape squared to the exisiting lines of the barrel. (plastic tape or even a carefully cut piece of thin aluminum taped in place might be better).

Then use jeweler's files or perhaps a Dremel to slowly work away the remaining rust. Then clean, degrease, re-tape, and cold blue.

RobertSubnet

Underclocked: Thanks!

Can I leave the whole muzzle soaking in the Kroil/Rusty Duck or should it be isolated as much as possible to the rusty area?

Where do you get Kroil/Rusty Duck? I'm assuming either a Cabelas or Home Depot...?

~Robert