Removing rust from pistol.

[mauserk98]

Hey, i have a pistol that suffer from rust attacks, and i need to know if oxalic acid will remove the guns bluing?

[james m]

If it's just surface rust a good quality paste wax like Johnsons has worked well for me. Just keep applying it and wipe off. The good thing about paste wax is that it isn't abrasive and won't harm the blueing. There are more aggressive procedures that can be used if necessary but I'd recommend you try this first.
Jim

[mauserk98]

Well there are a bit rust that look deep, so i thinked that maybe oxalic acid would work, but maybe ill just buy some acid and try on another blued metall piece.

[james m]

Oxalic acid is a bleaching agent used for removing stains from wood. To the best of my knowledge it wlil not remove rust. Good luck.

[mauserk98]

Well it is also used by a lot of collectors to remove rust, i have seen a lot of examples and it is remarkable how good it works, it doesn`t remove any paint or paper labels.

[Kelly w]

Also bio-degradable rust remover has got good results. One with no acids.

[Willi Z.]

I have used "Breakfree" and "0000" fine steel wool many times to remove light rust from blueing, and other metal fittings, when I don't want to damage the paint/ finish. It is how I remove rust from field gear, etc. I saturate a small piece of steel wool with the Breakfree. Don't let it come into contact with any cloth/ fabric though.