Anyone have a suggestion on how to get rust out of a Rem 700 in the lug/action screw area??? It is right where the barrel screws into the action and very difficult to reach. I had this rifle in the safe for a long time when I removed the bolt it has some rust on the lugs?? I looked inside the action to the area where the barrel screws in and I saw a fair amount of surface rust??? Don't know what caused it but it's there all the same. What I would really like to know is how to get it cleaned up & out of such a tight spot. Many thanks, 163bc

Maybe some JB Bore Bright on a Q-tip could scour out the rust, then oil the area with EESOX.

Dremmel makes some small and very fine wire wheels. Turn down the RPM's and go slowly and carefully.

163bc, do NOT f around with this. Take it to a gunsmith--PERIOD. Rust in that area of a rifle is serious business. I had an inherited rifle, that had rust just as you described, and the gunsmith determined the chamber had been compromised. He opined that if it had been shot, the barrel would have tanked, probably not on the first shot, but before to awful many!

You're probably OK, but someone who can inspect that chamber is in order.

Better safe than sorry.

There is about zero chance this is a safety issue as Fish mentions. Is there a it's just bluing salt leaching from the barrel/receiver fit? Sometimes the threads hold a bit of salt and they will leach out. Flitz or JB the lug recess and soak the area with Kroil a bit. A solution of baking soda and water will sometimes stop the rust if it's from salts

Find someone with an ultrasonic cleaner and it will clean up any area that the liquid in the cleaner touches. I use hot soapy water in my cleaner and it works great on issues like yours. It will remove the rust without damaging the bluing or the base metal unless its nichel plated.

For example I've used my ultrasonic cleaner to clean precussion revolver cylinders and it will clean soot, dirt, residue, and rust out of them like nothing else.

See if you can find an AR-15 chamber brush. It looks like a 223 brush with a tutu at the base. I find them useful for scrubbing the lug area, with a section of jointed rod. Use it by hand in a rotating manner. Don't chuck them up in a drill.