Taking rust off an 870

[fishuhalik]

after my only time duck hunting this year i loaned my 870 to a buddy cuz he was going pheasant hunting & his shotgun was at his parents. i got it back from him yesterday cuz i'm going hunting tomorrow with elwood. the gun & case got wet & he didn't clean it or even take it out of the case. he just stuck it in his garage. now it's covered in rust. i'm pretty p.o'ed and he said he's sorry but he can't buy me a new shotgun. needless to say it's the last time i loan a gun out & he's not on the top of my friends list right now, but i need my gun cleaned bad. it's just an 870 express but i've got alot of memories with it. it was my first & only shotgun & i was hoping to give it to my son when he's old enough. any tips? i don't think it's real deep since it only sat for about a month. i tried wd-40 & it got alot off but there's still quite a bit, especially under the rib & any other hard to clean areas.

[Beast26]

Is it pitted yet? Or is it just surface rust? I hope for your sake it's surface rust.....

Get a large bottle of gun scrubber. The 870 is parkerized so you shouldn't hurt the finish too much. Take it apart and remove the wood if possible. Soak it in gun scrubber or parts cleaner. After you let it soak for a while start cleaning it up. It probably won't be perfect but it should still function.

Sadly if it's already pitted you probably are never going to get rid of all of the pits.

Good luck

[LightningBG]

happened to mine after sitting moist for just a couple days, mine is pitted. I got all the rust off, but there are spots where the parkerizing" is gone, its just bare metal there. Looks like [PoorWordUsage], but not much I can do about it now. It has now been demoted to a slug gun and backup bird gun. It can be refinished, but it would probably cost just as much as a whole new gun.

[harvey lee]

I will borrow alot out to friend but I am very fussy who I borrow a gun too.

When I do get it back, I go over the totasly gun right away as I always fear they will not take care of my gun like I do and they cost to much to misuse.

Gun Scrubber should work on the surface rust but pits are pits.

Sorry to hear about your 870.

[Ufatz]

Fishuliks "friend" is a total jerk. HE should be cleaning the gun and HE should be taking it to a gunsmith. And then, if it was somebody I knew, HE would be off my radar forever. No excuse for treating somebody elses gear like that.

But.....there might be a lessson here.

[mnguy152]

try CLP had the same thing with one this year was not pitted but lots of surface rust. After a few scrubs and over night soaks with it came out looking ok. Scrub it with the CLP and a toothbrush. Then just keep cleaning it with CLP and seams to season the metal and it doesn't rust as easily as it did with out it.Get the one not in the aerosol can.

[Tom7227]

FYI I think the parkerized 870 Express guns will rust if you give them any chance at all, particularly the older ones. I have one from shortly after they came out and it rusts in no time. I am not up to date on when/if Remington did anything to resolve the problem but if mine were in a wet case for a month it would crumble when I touched it.

[Gordie]

Fish as I told you I have a 870 express that I have done a bunch of work too and I also camo painted it with permanent duck boat paint. I know you probably do not wanna do that but there are other alternitives that can be done also like haveing the gun camo coated. I know that Keelers gunsmithing does this and hes in Becker.

Gun Scrubber will work to a degree but this will be an issue in the future

[fishuhalik]

i like your idea of painting it elwood. does regular duck boat camo in a spray can hold up pretty good?

[Tom7227]

You may want to check with the mentioned gunsmith about just painting it. A pro may be able to prepare the surface in ways you can't and get the paint to adhere in a way that assures no rust. If you are going to do it yourself then my suggestion is to take it apart and get the stock off so you can do all the surfaces and avoid rusting in some little crack you didn't get to.

[LightningBG]

FYI I think the parkerized 870 Express guns will rust if you give them any chance at all, particularly the older ones. I have one from shortly after they came out and it rusts in no time. I am not up to date on when/if Remington did anything to resolve the problem but if mine were in a wet case for a month it would crumble when I touched it.

True that, I've had mine get a pretty decent coating of rust just while i was out using it in damp weather. Not even in a case. I could literally see the rust forming.

[SmilinBob]

Get something done with it soon or it will pit, the Remington factory parkerized finish is a moisture magnet. I would recommend Duracoat at Keeler's, I'm a certified applicator. It will look nearly the same as the original finish in matte black, or the patterns that can be appled are nearly unlimited, and it will not rust, chip, flake, or come off with regular use.

[picksbigwagon]

I would use blue wonder gun cleaner and 0000 steel wool. Use it in a well ventilated area since it is a strong % of ammonia. you will need to nuetralize the blue wonder when you are done taking off the rust, I use CLP. THEN, go to keelers and get the duracoat.....I keep telling my self, "Self, you gotta get that 870 duracoated"

[Gordie]

If you go back in the archives there are some really great how to's for painting your gun but I belive they were or are in the waterfowl forums

I think last year a couple of guys had done some really nice work on there guns.

[CJH]

Fishuliks "friend" is a total jerk. HE should be cleaning the gun and HE should be taking it to a gunsmith. And then, if it was somebody I knew, HE would be off my radar forever. No excuse for treating somebody elses gear like that.

^ This!

Sorry you have to deal with this unpleasant situation. Definitely sounds like a coating on the gun is in order, especially if you want to keep it around as long as you mentioned.

Good Luck!!

[LightningBG]

Get something done with it soon or it will pit, the Remington factory parkerized finish is a moisture magnet. I would recommend Duracoat at Keeler's, I'm a certified applicator. It will look nearly the same as the original finish in matte black, or the patterns that can be appled are nearly unlimited, and it will not rust, chip, flake, or come off with regular use.

Any idea how much it costs to get a gun duracoated? Just a general range would be great. We talking $75-$100, $100-200, $200+?

[fishuhalik]

smilinbob, I gotta get out your way one of these days. I still need you to put my 10/22 back together for me too. I took a closer look at it, and yes, the rust is pitted so it looks like I'm gonna be getting a new 870 sometime between now and next fall. Talked to my buddy again and all he had to say was sorry, I didn't think it'd rust that quick and that he won't be able to afford to get it fixed for me. I was looking forward to spending some time icefishing with him this year but I doubt I'll ever speak to him again.

[nofishfisherman]

I'd tell him that's ok he doesn't have to buy you a new one right now. He has until next fall to save up for it. Either that or he can make an even up trade for the shot gun he has sitting back at his parents house.

Its too bad something as relatively minor as a shotgun has to ruin a friendship.

[fishuhalik]

It's not that I'm that mad about the shotgun. Stuff happens and I realize when I loan stuff out that it could get damaged. It's just his attitude. If he was sincerely sorry for what happened he would have at least offered to clean it for me or do the best that he could for reimbursing me. All I know is that if it was me, I would give have at least sold some of my stuff to pay for my buddy's gun that I ruined. Oh well, life lesson learned. Time to move on

[nofishfisherman]

On the bright side you get to go shopping for a new gun!

= Happy gun shopping face

[SmilinBob]

Any idea how much it costs to get a gun duracoated? Just a general range would be great. We talking $75-$100, $100-200, $200+?

For a solid color on a shotgun you're looking at about $150, patterns and complexity of the gun being done will increase from there, for example an AR with a multicam finish will run in the neighboorhood of $350. I know a lot of people question these prices, saying "it just paint", but duracoat is a lot more than just paint, it is a lifetime finish and the prep time alone can be a whole day's work. Remember the people that work in the finishing dept's are often the highest paid and typically most skilled workers because it is the quality of the final product that makes people want to buy their stuff.

[charliepete]

At least you didn't lend him your truck. Rust damage to a $300 shotgun is getting off cheap compared to what some of us have endured before figuring out a former buddy is a knob and needs to be place on the do not call list.