Removing light surface rust

[mojave30cal]

What's the best way ( if any) to remove light surface rust
and pitting on a S&W blued revolver without removing
the blue?

 

[chief38]

0000 steel wool or bronze wool WITH OIL! Go slow & gentle and the rust should come right off. Stains that the rust has created will be visible though. Keep a light coat of oil after rust removal to prevent reoccurrence.

 

[jepp2]

Like chief, I have successfully used oil and 0000 steel wool to remove light surface rust. But it will not removing pitting. Without knowing how deep and severe the pits are, you may have to use more. I have read about folks using copper pennies to remove the corrosion products. Keep in mind that steel corrosion thickness is about 10X the base meta thickness. But the pits are going to remain.

 

[colt_saa]

I use Copper wool and a NON-penetrating oil for surface rust on Blue. Bronze wool works good and is easier to locate than copper

I only use steel wool on brushed stainless.

If you truly have pitting, the pit will still be there after you remove the rust from it.

 

[tlay]

After you get all of the rust off clean it with a good de-greaser and use Renasance wax instead of oil. You will find it stays on and protects better than oil. Plus it looks so much better. It's expensive but not as expensive as your gun.

 

[TAROMAN]

Copper pennies are good scrapers, but beware that all newer pennies are only copper plated.
1982 was the last year for real copper. After that its zink.

 

[mojave30cal]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the input. Looks like the pitting
is there to stay, but I have some of the Renaissance micro-
crystalline wax polisher, and I'll go ahead and try that on
the blue finish instead of oil.

 

[jepp2]

I only use steel wool on brushed stainless.

Interesting. I am just the opposite. I have seen the results when folks use the wrong brush (carbon steel) when welding stainless steel pipe. The carbon steel that gets imbedded into the stainless steel will rust badly. I always use sandpaper and ScotchBrite on stainless steel to avoid the potential for rusting.