Rust removal

[barrym66]

Recently bought a "lightly used but excellent condition" Pietta 1858 Remington revolver. Looked nice enough, but the cylinder pin was lodged tight and the cylinder turned less smoothly than my other '58 (bought new and well maintained by me).

Sure enough, after soaking with Kroil and tapping with a hammer and wood dowel drift, the pin moved out enough to see it was rusty in spots.

Question - after disassembly, I plan to use 0000 stainless steel wood and Kroil to clean off the rust on the pin and anywhere else I find it (the exterior surfaces are all nice and rust free). What is the best way to clean up the cylinder pin bore? I'm thinking 800 grit wet/dry paper and Kroil wrapped on a dowel and 'lapping' the bore just enough to clean it up.

Is there a better way?

[amurphy]

Take the steel wool and spin and pull it in your fingers to for a long thin thread/yarn of steel wool and pull that through till its clean. Using the sand paper will remove metal and make for a loose pin.

Thats what I have done and has worked well for me.

[Prowler]

Get some string similar in size to the hole and rub some polishing compound on it, or try some toothpaste, and run it through the hole like a boresnake. Possibly, a Q-Tip with toothpaste or polishing compound as well.

[barrym66]

Done...

Problems resolved... the steel wool worked great on the outside (OD) surfaces of the cylinder rod (and some other internal parts that were rusty), after soaking in Kroil and/or WD40, I was able to remove the surface rust, clean well/degrease and use some cold blueing to treat the bare surfaces.

The ID of the cylinder rod hole in the cylinder (as well as the individual bores) were cleaned up with some 1"x1" squares of 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper, glued (using CA) into a 3" length of 3/16" hardwood dowel that I split using a bandsaw. I used this tool with WD-40 by hand to clean up the bores, no clean metal was removed. I also needed to do this to the frame in spots.

After complete disassembly, the frame was cleaned in very hot water with Dawn soap and a stiff nylon brush, any rough spots cleaned up with 0000 steel wool as needed, then all the metal parts were washed in hot sioapy water then pressure blown dry and dried in the oven (at 180 degrees) for 20 minutes or so. I then soaked the hot metal parts in Breakfree CLP, allowed to cool, wiped down, then repeated again. After this the frame was completely wiped dry of oil and the gun re-assembled. This made the metal nice and shiny but not oily (heating and coating then allowing to cool seems to allow the pores of the metal to absorb the treatment).

I wet sanded and machine polished the trigger guard and grips, came out looking like a new gun. And it functions very smoothly now.

I'm now looking forward to shooting it soon.

[amurphy]

Looks great!

More picture are needed!

[barrym66]

Thanks

Looks great!

More picture are needed!

Thanks...about 5 hours of work, nice to see it is appreciated. To get in the mood, I watched "Pale Rider" while doing most of the work. Loved the part where Clint changes cylinders in 5-6 sec or so...

here's another pic plus one of the home-made lapping tool. This shows the cloth length after I cut it down to lap the cylinder rod hole in the frame.

I also used some pure Carnuba wax (melted and mixed with some beeswax) to protect the finish, especially on the brass. I also collect pipes (not the wacky weed kind ) and this finish holds up to high heat and handling very well.

Wish I had a better camera setup, this one does not allow me to highlight how glossy/smooth the finish is now.

[amurphy]

Pale Rider is one of my favorites!

Pretty sweet wheelgun. I need to get a few. Can never have just one for long. Bluing on that is lovely. Finish is really rich. Trigger guard brightened up with the wax being put on.

Nice lapping tool. Cheap and easy works pretty darn well.

Now range report with some neato action shots!

What range do you go to here in San Diego?