Found A Old .22 Rifle... Need Helpd Cleaning It Up!!!

Blood_Grooves

Blood_Grooves

Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
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Well I was cleaning out my grandpas house (he passed) and I knew he had a .22, but i didn't know he had two, so i found a old bolt action marlin .22. It has some very bad rusting on it and the bolt is VERY stiff. I have NO history in gun maintanance and cleaning so can someoe help me with these questions....?


What oil should I use to make the bolt less sticky or "stiff"?

Do I just sand the rust off, or do i use Iron wool, or anything else?

Isn't there a blueing agent that you need to put on a barrel if it was sanded or grinded so it doesn't rust even more?

Thanks in advance, for your help :)
 
Try soaking it down with WD-40 to loosen it up. I use 0000 steel wool and oil to remove rust, just rub it lightly.

John
 
^ +1 soak all the moving metal bits in WD40 for a day or two and then loosen by hand and work them back and forth etc etc. Then strip it down and clean each piece individually, with 0000 steel wool and WD40. Then clean it with gun solvent and a rag, and bore cleaning brushes. Soak the stock (if wood) in danish tung oil and wipe dry with a clean rag, then buff. Reassamble using your favorite gun oil and dial 'er in.
 
Find some G-96 gun cleaning spray. It removes light rust. Spray 'er down and let it sit for awhile, then use #0000 steel wool.

It might be the same Marlin Bolt gun I have.......nice shooter !

.
 
I would try to clean it up and get the bolt unstuck with some Hoppes #9 and then oil it with Rem-Oil. For the rust you could try steel wool or extremely fine sandpaper. You can blue gunsyourself but the results are generally not as good as a gunshops methods. I believe the most popular DIY method is ColdBlue.

Before you think about shooting the guns I would recomend that you take it to a gunsmith and have them check it out and makesure it is in good working order and will shoot safely.
 
David E said:
Find some G-96 gun cleaning spray. It removes light rust. Spray 'er down and let it sit for awhile, then use #0000 steel wool.

It might be the same Marlin Bolt gun I have.......nice shooter !

.
Click to expand...

post a picture!!! :eek::D

Hey ill try the WD40. I didn't know it was imple as WD40 :D
 
orrey45 said:
I would try to clean it up and get the bolt unstuck with some Hoppes #9 and then oil it with Rem-Oil. For the rust you could try steel wool or extremely fine sandpaper. You can blue gunsyourself but the results are generally not as good as a gunshops methods. I believe the most popular DIY method is ColdBlue.

Before you think about shooting the guns I would recomend that you take it to a gunsmith and have them check it out and makesure it is in good working order and will shoot safely.
Click to expand...

sorry if i made it sound old its not like 30 or 40 its maybe 16 max life time. it just hasn't been taken care of lately and was in a moist house. It should be fine to shoot. To make sure we will do a string tringger pull so no one behind the gun.
 
WD-40 sucks for most things. Especially when you can get the mil-spec gun solution for a little bit more. After a good soaking in some good solvent, Wipe her down and see how smooth the action and all works. Run a bore snake through it with some more solvent, actually, Hoppe's has a whole line of great stuff that you can get most anywhere if the mil stuff is hard to find. Use a very fine sandpaper to remove rust from the weapon. Then remove the wooden parts and apply bluing to the weapon in the manner described in the packaging.

It's been a while since I have restored/refinished a weapon, so I won't make a liar out of myself by going into details I have forgotten.

PeACE
Dougo
 
I am not trying to offend anyone who has suggested WD-40, But I have gotten some great deals on "non-working" guns that had seen prolonged use of WD-40. WD-40 leaves a residue over time. IF you must use it on your gun, make sure you are able to competely field strip it. Use a good solvent to remove the WD-40 and then a light CLEAR oil of some type to lube....
 
No worries, I wouldn't be to concerned because of the age of the gun and the fact its a .22 (not much potential energy).

I had a similiar situation a few years ago, .22 bolt action and everything. My father and I cleaned it up and when I shot it the firing pin/bolt assembly flew about the back and smacked me in the cheek. It made me jump and my dad laugh pretty hard. The back of the bolt had a spring loaded firing pin assembly that was held in place by a cotter pin. Obviously it didn't hold. I would just err on the safe side because I would rather have working body parts then funny stories.

Blood_Grooves said:
sorry if i made it sound old its not like 30 or 40 its maybe 16 max life time. it just hasn't been taken care of lately and was in a moist house. It should be fine to shoot. To make sure we will do a string tringger pull so no one behind the gun.
Click to expand...
 
KROIL-The absolute best penetrating oil ever made.

WD-40 sucks in comparison. (read the customer comments) It does have a rather strong solvent smell (i like it).
 
I agree with the non use of wd 40, find a good gun oil and stick with that, WD-40 is great, but it does hurt over time IMHO!!! just my .02
 
orrey45 said:
Before you think about shooting the guns I would recomend that you take it to a gunsmith and have them check it out and makesure it is in good working order and will shoot safely.
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I'm a big fan of fixing things myself, but when you combine the tight tolerances and potential danger of firearms, maybe an expert's opinion would be the way to go. We'de all hate to see you lose an eye, or(God forbid) ruin the rifle. :eek:
 
Strip the stock and all wood parts off, then soak the metal in pretty much any oil for 24 hours, to give it plenty of time to penetrate the rust so it will come off easier. If you can't actually submerge it in oil, just spray it down good and let it set.

Then scrub it down with OOOO steel wool.

Here's a 1902 Winchester I did for a friend using this method.

Before:
Barrel-Before.jpg


After:
Barrel-After.jpg
 
kroil oil or breakfree let it soak then 0000 steel wool lightly and keep repeating. I would then give it a coat of cold blueing. May take a number of days, will still be pitted, but so what. It would make a good user. Depending on how you feel about it you could camo it with paint. Brush the bore out well with oil. regards loosearrow
 
Lots of good advice here.
I picked up an old Winchester late 60's era saddle ring model 94 used a few years back.
It was some guys cabin gun and had been traded in on a new gun.
Apparently his cabin was very leaky and drafty, lol.
It was covered in surface rust with mild pitting all over.
It was mechanically functional (and the bore was good) but ugly as sin.
But for 175$ Canadian (around 110$ U.S at the time) i decided to pick it up anyway.
I always wanted a thutty thutty, lol.
I cleaned off the rust, stripped the "finish" off the stock and forestock (wasn't really any left anyway).
The receiver had no blueing, maybe it was never blued, anyway i got the rust off and polished it to an almost mirror "natural" finish.
Of course some pitting will never come out but all in all i am happy with it.
A good user that i don't have to baby.
(I really need to takes some pics though, lol).

BG don't forget to post some pics when you are done!
 
Lots of good ideas on the oil and steel wool. I would recommend caution in cleaning the bore. I bought an older .22 several years ago that was a bit rough but it shot pretty good. I cleaned the bore too much and the accuracy was so bad I ended up selling it. I've got a Marlin bolt action that has almost no blueing left that is unbelievably accurate. Good luck!
 
if it is a beater/user/never-gonna-be-a-collector....

consider using

Extender Rust destroyer. Goes on pinkish-translucent, dries matt black. Repeat as necessary. Coat with clear to your taste. Protects metal, finishes ok for utility.

Savage 24 .22/20ga with that treatment. Holding up nicely.

savage24DLRugersinglesixBuck110tigh.jpg
 
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