I have a big problem.

[The Last Standing Knight]

Few years back, I bought a Reminton 870 "firearm"...you know, short barrel, birdshead grip. Same league as a Mossberg Shockwave.

Problem is all I have to do is look at it and it rusts. Not just surface, but RUST. It is a constant struggle to keep it free of rust but have found right now it's like sweeping the ocean back with a broom.

I've used Frog Lube, CLP, brushes, etc over and over and any fix doesn't even last 24 hours.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Getting highly disgusted over this.

 

[kwill1911]

What kind of finish does it have? If blue, have you tried wax?

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

Parkerized....if you can call it that.
Have far superior parkerization on some of my service grade firearms.

 

[2152hq]

Parkerized....if you can call it that.
Have far superior parkerization on some of my service grade firearms.

Parkerize Solutions are generally Phosphoric Acid & Nitric Acid with the manganese salts all in soln.

If after the process the prts are not properly rinsed of the Parkerizing Soln, the Acids involved if traces still are on the surface will continue to rust the steel. Especially the Nitric Acid.
Oil is generally very poor solvent for removing most acids from a surface. It needs to be washed/rinsed from the steel surface.

The heavily etched surfaces of the PArkerized finish, likely bead or sandblasted as well can hold the acid residue even tighter and make it more difficult to remove.

I'd try a complete strip down and a hot soapy water scrub, hot water rinse. The dry and oil wipe down. See if that makes any different.

You might try the process just on a small part or two that are giving you the rusting issue before going after the entire shotgun.
It might even take a couple sessions to get it to quit.

just my thoughts..
Pretty easy to do. Not much to loose.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

Thanks, gents. Appreciate the info.

I was about to scream. This is the ONLY firearm I have that does this.

 

[kwill1911]

I own several 870s and my son has one with what I think is the same finish as yours. I don't think it is Parkerized. I suspect it is just blue over a sand-blasted finish. His tends to rust around the vent rib and other corners and crevices.

 

[gwpercle]

It might be the original finish ... when done incorrectly ... Salts don't get neutrlized and washed away and these salts get trapped in crevices and over time will slowly leach out causing rust ...
There is no way , I know of to solve this condition .
The factory finish wasn't done correctly ... My thoughts are ...
Have a long talk with Remington ... they should fix / re-finish it !
The weather conditions in Southeast Texas are just right to grow Rust ... Remington needs to help you !
Gary

 

[chief38]

THe best rust inhibitor I know of Is Rig Universal Grease. Get some and clean off the rust. Then put a light coating of the Rig on it. If it still rusts after that, you have a poorly finished gun and I'd contact Remington - or whoever took them over. While they bought Remington out of bankruptcy and have no legal obligation to help you out, you can always ask - nothing to loose.

Try the Rig Universal Grease after a good cleaning.

Another idea is to wait for a gun buy back and sell it to your County or State. Don't know what they might pay in your area (if anything) but in some areas they pay up to $200 bucks. Put that towards an new SG!

 

[jem102]

If Remington, or whomever they are, won't help you the advice from 2152hg is sound. If it's rusting everywhere it was not correctly, if at all, post treated. As he stated you have to neutralize the salts and acids. I blued guns as a hobby business many years ago and I always took the baskets straight from the bluing tanks to the clear water boiling tanks for 30 minutes. As they boiled scum would rise to the top to skim off and I assumed this was the remaining residue from the bluing salts. This also seemed to "harden" the finish and when pulled from the boiling tanks the water would flash off. I immediately saturated them with oil and set them aside for at least 2 days. I received many complements for how well the jobs held up.
Best of luck on curing the issue.

 

[dfariswheel]

I seem to recall reading that the new Remington is not providing any warranty or repairs on the original Remington guns.
Contact them to ask.

The Express guns finish was bluing over a bead blasted surface.
The later guns were very bad about rusting for unknown reasons.

One way to try to fix the issue would be doing a hot water and soap scrub, dry thoroughly and spray it dripping wet with Rem Oil or CLP Breakfree.
Remington LE used to recommend disassembling the 870P Police guns and spraying dripping wet with Rem Oil, give it 20 minutes to dissolve the factory preservative, wipe dry and put into use.

Another way would be to slather on a thick coat of grease and warm it with a hair dryer.
Let it cool then wipe off the excess grease.
This will fill the rough surface with grease and seal it.
Salt water bird hunters do the same using wax, usually Johnson's Paste Wax, but now since it's discontinued, they use Min-Wax wax.

Note: Car wax is not suitable for this.

Finally, a sure and permanent solution would be to degrease it and apply a spray-on gun "paint" like Brownell's Aluma-Hyde, Lauer Duracoate, Gun-Kote, or Cerakote over the bluing.
The rough surface gives coatings a "tooth" to bond to.

 

[glowe]

A trick I learned years ago when rust bluing and browning guns is to boil them in water and sodium hydroxide. The high ph will neutralize any remnants of acid. Rinse, dry, and oil should to take care of the rust for good.

 

[kraynky]

A "Do it yourself" cerakote product was my first thought. However about 30 + years ago I bought a Mossberg 500 that I knew I was going to have outside a lot, and I paid a local gunsmith to parkerize it. It was pretty cheap as I recall, and it's still rust free.

I like the idea of grease & heat mentioned above, it reminds me of seasoning an iron skillet. LOL!

 

[Vtgw938]

Spray paint. I bought an 870 about 15 years ago at Dicks and it would rust at the drop of a hat. I spray painted it green and didn't put much time into the prep. Every so often I would hit it with the rattle can. It was fine after that. I think it was painted to begin with!

 

[series guy]

Ballistol should solve your problem. It will neutralize acid.

 

[BC38]

A heavy coat of wax would be the first thing I'd try.
I like Renaissance Wax for firearms, but lots of people have said that they got very good results using plain old Johnson's paste wax.

 

[6string]

A trick I learned years ago when rust bluing and browning guns is to boil them in water and sodium hydroxide. The high ph will neutralize any remnants of acid. Rince, dry, and oil should to take care of the rust for good.

I was thinking the same thing. If the existing finish is salvagable, the way to do it is neutralizing the acidity.

 

[DWalt]

Johnson's Paste Wax is definitely worth a try. And far cheaper than the so-called RenWax which will do absolutely nothing that JPW won't do just as well. Parkerized (phosphate) coatings are normally dipped in a Sodium Dichromate solution as a corrosion inhibitor after it is applied. Whether your was dipped or not is unknown. Another way is to apply one of the several spray and bake finishes over the phosphate. That works very well, I have done that to many guns.

 

[Skeptic 9c]

Sounds like a job for a professional re-finisher, if you think a dying Remington era shotgun substitute is worth it.

Geoff
Who is a Mossberg 500 fan.

 

[chief38]

If the gun was never finished correctly, then putting ANY coating on top of it (including oil or grease) is probably futile. If that is the case, then a complete strip and refinish would have to be done. If the original price of said SG is in the $300 - $500 range it just isn't worth the effort and additional monies. Sell it at a Gun Buy-back for as much as you can, then replace it. If you have no buy backs in your area, you could disclose it's issue and just get what you can. There are people who would buy anything as long as they think its a bargain. Just disclose to buyer which is the right thing to do.

I did state above - it is certainly worth a call to the new Remington asd ask what they can do if anything. Like I also stated above, while they are a new entity and not liable for what the old Remington did, they still share a common name and might offer you something.

 

[BE Mike]

Have you tried CorrosionX? I've used it with very good results.