Steel, copper, or bronze wool?

gkitch · Mar 26, 2022

Over many years I've successfully used 0000 steel wool and some oil to clean up a good gun or two where there was some oxidation that needed to be reduced while preserving the original finish as much as possible.

So is copper wool any better? How about Bronze wool? Curious as to what you've found to be best.

stansdds · Mar 26, 2022

I'd say that either copper or bronze wool is better than steel wool. Steel wool will embed tiny bits of steel into the metal surface and can be a source of rust.

gwpercle · Mar 26, 2022

In theory the copper / bronze wool will not remove a blued finish ...
but you know what they say about theory .
I've done a lot of gun cleaning and restoration over the past 50 years with nothing but 0000 steel wool and Turtle Wax Chrome Polish & Rust Remover.
You can do it ... just go slowly , watch what you are doing and use good old common sense .
I would bet money I could remove blue with a cooper wool pad if I rubbed hard and long enough ... remember ...common sense is your friend.
Gary

Protocall_Design · Mar 26, 2022

You can also do the above with stainless steel wool.

SS336 · Mar 26, 2022

gwpercle said:
In theory the copper / bronze wool will not remove a blued finish ...
but you know what they say about theory .
I've done a lot of gun cleaning and restoration over the past 50 years with nothing but 0000 steel wool and Turtle Wax Chrome Polish & Rust Remover.
You can do it ... just go slowly , watch what you are doing and use good old common sense .
I would bet money I could remove blue with a cooper wool pad if I rubbed hard and long enough ... remember ...common sense is your friend.
Gary

Like Gary said, common sense is your friend.
I have used 0000 steel wool and it has worked well with a little oil. Recently, because of what I read on this forum, I purchased a copper 0000 wool pad on Amazon and gave it a try and it worked very well. I think that’s what I’ll use now. It seemed to me to be a little less abrasive and got the job done.
But any of the stated options will work if you are gentle and go slowly, I think.

dave1918a2 · Mar 26, 2022

When I'm cleaning up a rifle or pistol I use 0000 steel wool and Hoppes 9. Been doing it for over 50 years. Of course now I Ren Wax afterwards.

67tempest · Mar 26, 2022

I use 0000 bronze wool with oil when removing blemishes from blued firearms. The bronze is softer than steel wool and won't remove the bluing. I was given a rifle by a friend that was completely covered with a fine coating of orange fuzzy rust after spending most of it's life in his fathers basement. I pulled it out of the stock and went over the entire rifle with 0000 bronze wool and Kroil. When I was finished it looked like new.

Jimbo41 · Mar 26, 2022

I tend to use bronze wool, but it is brittle. I am going to try copper wool.

Lead wool is another option.

jjfitch · Mar 26, 2022

On "entry level" firearms I have used copper wool and cold blue to restore what sounds like you are doing. The cold blue dissolves minor rust and looks great when the directions are followed.

For really light rust I use cold blue and a swatch of blue denim!

Smiles,

jc2721 · Mar 26, 2022

I guess I'm the impatient type when it comes to cleaning off rust--I use the stainless steel wool ball ("big .45" brand but I've also used the Chinese-made stuff, works just as well). I use it dry and make sure to blow off/shake out all of the rust "powder" that forms. When it's to the level I'm satisfied with I then wipe it down several times with Kroil and I'm usually done.

This won't take care of heavy pitting, of course, but most of the time it'll do. I hate the smell of cold bluing, so I don't do that.

Narragansett · Mar 26, 2022

I wrap a gun in gauze or bed sheet strips, and then spray with kroil twice over a several day period. Then I remove the cloth, and rub gently with bronze wool and more kroil. I think it works best to let the kroil do the work over several days

2152hq · Mar 26, 2022

I've always used 0000 steel wool and never have had any problems either with scratches, blue coming off or shards imbedding causing more rust.

Use enough oil,,don't use it dry.
If the rust you are goig after is just the fine grained surface rust type, then I just cover the metal with some oil and also put some right on the steel wool and wipe the metal down with it.

If there are blisters of rust, those are the ones that you usually can not remove with just a wool pad of any sort w/o starting to damage the blue by the time the blister dissappears.

Go after those heavy rust blobs by coating them with oil and letting the part set aside for a while. Narragansett's method is ideal.

You want the rust to get soaked by the oil ans softened up.
Before I use the steel wool on the heavy stuff, I use a piece of copper to scrape the rust blister off.
Again keep oil on the surface. The copper won't hurt anything though it will leave a copper color on the surface over the bluing. That color will wipe right off when you are done.
I use old Canadian pennys for the scraping,,they just seem to work right and maybe (?) a little softer alloy than the US copper one centers. Maybe it's just my mind failing.

Anyway, after pushing the bulk of the loosened, heavy rust off the surface,,wipe that rust debris and the oil away,,then re-oil and with the steel wool, give it another wipe down to clear any remaining surface rust.
Then one last wipe down,,done.

Narragansett · Mar 26, 2022

2152hq said:
I've always used 0000 steel wool and never have had any problems either with scratches, blue coming off or shards imbedding causing more rust.

Use enough oil,,don't use it dry.
If the rust you are goig after is just the fine grained surface rust type, then I just cover the metal with some oil and also put some right on the steel wool and wipe the metal down with it.

If there are blisters of rust, those are the ones that you usually can not remove with just a wool pad of any sort w/o starting to damage the blue by the time the blister dissappears.

Go after those heavy rust blobs by coating them with oil and letting the part set aside for a while. Narragansett's method is ideal.

You want the rust to get soaked by the oil ans softened up.
Before I use the steel wool on the heavy stuff, I use a piece of copper to scrape the rust blister off.
Again keep oil on the surface. The copper won't hurt anything though it will leave a copper color on the surface over the bluing. That color will wipe right off when you are done.
I use old Canadian pennys for the scraping,,they just seem to work right and maybe (?) a little softer alloy than the US copper one centers. Maybe it's just my mind failing.

Anyway, after pushing the bulk of the loosened, heavy rust off the surface,,wipe that rust debris and the oil away,,then re-oil and with the steel wool, give it another wipe down to clear any remaining surface rust.
Then one last wipe down,,done.

I too use the sharp edge of a copper penny to do what scraping when I can. Let the dissolving medium do the work. I believe this is one of those instances that you cannot go after immediate gratification. Even though it is the American way

John Patrick · Mar 26, 2022

Jimbo41 said:
I tend to use bronze wool, but it is brittle. I am going to try copper wool.

Lead wool is another option.

I am going to try copper wool after years of using bronze wool, because of the bronze’s brittleness. The bronze hairs are a pita.

chief38 · Mar 26, 2022

The usual statement is that the steel wool if not 100% removed after use will cause rusting while the bronze and copper won’t. That said, I have been using 0000 steel wool on guns for 45 years and have never had any issues with rust afterwards. I also have plenty of copper wool but don’t like it. It is not as fine, is a pain in the butt to cut and keep together and I don’t care for the consistency of it.

I always do what works best for me and 0000 steel wool does. Copper is something I use once in a blue-but is not my go to product. YMMV

Bigdog357 · Mar 26, 2022

I have used 0000 steel wool without any issues. I switched to Bronze wool many years ago, you don't have to be as careful with it. I also use a Big 45 Pad as well. Bottom line is they all do the job

glowe · Mar 28, 2022

One thing I am certain of is that steel wool will remove finish every time it is used. The only question is how much and how many times can one repeat the process without visible finish damage and my guess is not many. There are also problems with bronze and copper wool as well. Using it can leave copper and/or bronze on the surface of the gun showing up and no good way to remove it if it happens. Scrub too hard with either product and your finish will turn to polished brass tint. The question that cannot ever be answered is how hard is too hard when using any type of wool and there is no concrete answer that will assure no damage will occur.

All of the above can probably be used lightly, with oil, and one time without much visible damage, but probably not twice . . .

mojave30cal · Mar 28, 2022

Check out " Big 45 Frontier" metal cleaner. Removes rust
with no harm to blue. That's their claim.

glowe · Mar 28, 2022

Big 45 Frontier is stainless steel, nickel silver, monel, and zinc said to be softer than bluing and harder than rust. I have not tried it but sounds interesting.

Steel, copper, or bronze wool?

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