Bad Bluing Job - How to Fix/Stop Rusting???

[Oso]

I recently had any older Sako L46 re-barreled and to keep the vintage look I went with chrome Moly barrel. The action and barrel were blued. After receiving rifle back from gunsmith I ran a patch through it to make sure no cuttings or grease in the bore before I took it shooting. Imagine my surprise when the cleaning patch came back coated in rust!!!

I have scrubbed the bore with wire brush and cleaning patches. I then ran patch with bore paste to remove any of finer rust. Clearly a step was skipped during the process either one of the oil baths or water rinse...

What can be done to abate the rust? Can I send the rifle back and have gunsmith run it through the bluing process a couple of more rotations....would this neutralize the ongoing rust?

Thanks

 

[boltfluter]

First thing to do is find a new Smith and maybe a new barrel after running a wire brush through it. Good luck.

Paul

 

[shortgrass]

"running it the bluing process a couple more rotations" won't fix that

 

[NorCalMikie]

Isn't bluing an "acid" treatment?? I had one that did the rust thing but I just oiled the crap out of it, more than a couple times. I know if the surface isn't oiled well, it WILL rust.
What about "Baking Soda"? Kills acid and corrosion on battery posts/cables. Maybe a soft paste on a patch? Just thinking out loud.

 

[jdh47]

Only rust bluing is a sort of acidic treatment but the bore is plugged in that process. What you are seeing is a salt bath blue and the bore is not plugged. It can't be because the salts run at around 295-310* and it would just blow the plug out. The bore is blued so just clean it and shoot it. It will be fine. On the other hand you might see some salts weeping out from the barrel union if it wasn't cleaned and oiled properly. yo can just oil the blued barrel/action with any good oil.

Either way bluing is a controlled rusting process. The rust blue method produces a fine finish that lasts well but it's expensive. As they age a lot of Sakos get a reddish tinge to the action due to the steel used.

 

[SBS]

Since bluing is a controlled rusting process, there will always be a little surface rust in CM bores right after bluing and even on the outside of the barrel and other parts. I've taken many new rifles out of the factory box and even though the metal looks blue, wiping it off with an oily rag will usually produce a light rust color on the rag. The factories do not normally wait very long after bluing to pack them up. After caustic salts bluing, there is a little more action on the metal surfaces even though you have followed the usual cold water rinse and water displacing oil. I usually let them "age" a little with oil on inside and outside surfaces and wipe them down a couple of times within a week and use a bristle brush inside the barrels. There is always a little color the first time or two. I use Dulite products, same as a lot of manufacturers. I would suggest that the smith did not do this post bluing clean/oil several times and thus you are seeing some rust color. As long as the bore was oily when you received it, I doubt if it has done anything bad to the barrel -- you're just seeing what he would have seen had he kept it a little longer and cleaned it more. A borescope will tell you if there is any pitting should you want to make sure.

 

[tmwinds]

SBS is exactly right. Every CZ rifle that I've bought new has the brown in the barrel. Wipe the bore a few times with a oily patch, run a couple of dry patches and shoot it. The bore will be fine.