Howa 1500 with rust in barrel

[ndekens]

I just got an older 1500 Howa from my brother in law that has been neglected. It has some rust on the barrel and some inside the barrel near the muzzle. It's chambered in 7mm mag. I would like to get it operational but I am unsure how to go about the rust removal.

Also I am aware of a bolt recall from a while back. Has anybody recently done this? Is the recall still being done?

Thanks

[Divernhunter]

#0000 steel wool and gun oil will take care of the outside rust.
Blue wonder or J-B Paste on a brass brush wrapped with a cleaning patch(or a mop depending on the rust) will probably take care of the bore.

Then wipe the barrel with oily rag and oil the bore before storing.

[ndekens]

I looked up that blue wonder stuff and it's a cold blue kit but they also have other stuff. Is there a specific blue wonder your talking about?

[kendog4570]

Re: the bolt recall. I found this on the web from an American Rifleman. This is over 10 years old. If the number is no good try Legacy Sports in Nevada. They are the current Howa Importer.



In the December 2002 issue of the American Rifleman (p. 85) is an Important Safety Notice concerning Howa rifles made between 1970 and 1993.
"Howa Machinery Ltd. of Japan is performing a safety upgrade on all Model 1500, 1550 and 1700LS series rifles manufactured between 1970 and 1993.
The affected rifles bear serial numbers from one of the following series on the receiver: PN00010 through PN87159, LS00001 through LS05150, M000001 through M020422, LS10001 through LS10309, B000001 through B028450.
The safety upgrade will replace the bolt sleeve to prevent misassembly of the bolt, which might occur on affected rifles. Such misassembly might result in a hazardous condition in which the rifle can be accidentally discharged without the bolt being fully engaged, causing severe injury.
These rifles were distributed by Smith & Wesson, O.F. Mossberg and Sons and Interarms. These rifles may bear the distributor trademark.
Stop using your rifle immediately and visit our website at www.regen.com/howa or call Howa at 1-800-456-5131 to receive a Bolt Return Kit.
Only the bolt sleeve is being upgraded. Your bolt will be returned to you after the upgrade.
NO OTHER HOWA RIFLES ARE AFFECTED. CHECK YOUR SERIAL NUMBER "

[Divernhunter]

It is a Blue Wonder bore cleaning paste. Comes in a toothpaste tube container
I would start with the J-B bore paste first

[MongooseV8]

You can always have a smith cut and crown your barrel if you dont get the rust cleaned up.

That being said I have personally scrubbed out some gnarly looking tifling rust out of plenty of rifles. It usually just leaves a stain in the steel and they almost always shoot just fine afterwards.

[ndekens]

Thanks, The barrel wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it cleaned up pretty good. Also I called that number about the recall and it was still good. The older lady had hard time hearing me but its a go to get the bolt fixed. Just need to clean the rust spots on the outside and re-blue them now.

Going to be at least a month before I can shoot it since I don't want to fire the thing without having the bolt fixed.

[M1NM]

You can always have a smith cut and crown your barrel if you dont get the rust cleaned up..

Lots of C&R rifles shoot just fine with corrosive ammo rust for the entire length of the barrel.

[MongooseV8]

Yep read the rest of my post. I have shot some pretty good groups with rusty ol milsurp barrels.