I'm in the process of buying a pretty much "unused" 1954 M70 Standard in 30.06. The gun really is minty, EXCEPT.......

The bore was filthy so I ran a couple of patches through it. It cleaned up very nicely but about 5-6 inches up from the chamber there are a few god rust spots. I imagine I can get most of it out with JB Bore paste. Any better suggestions?

What kind of degradation inaccuracy can I expect? How much does it devalue the gun?

BTW what's the going price for a 1954 M70 action?


Thanks, Rob

Hey'
Try using corrosion X,it works pretty good on rust.
1geejay
www.shooting-hunting.com

Is it safe fir the rest of the bore?

Thanks, Rob

Wrap steel wool around a brush.

Recoil Rob---

Remove the barreled action from the stock and pour boiling water down the bore for about 5 min. That'll kill the active rust. Brush well to remove the residue and leave the warm barrel with a LIGHT coat of good oil (Automatic tranny fluid is the best you can buy)

DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL IN A RIFLE BARREL---- EVER!!

Steel wool is from 5 to 10 points Brinell harder than chrome-moly steel and 10 to 20 points harder than stainless.

Thanks JBelk,will do. Is the bore ruined by a few small spots down in front of the chamber?

Thanks, Rob

Rocoil Rob---

The neat thing about the older cartridges are that they don't strain a gut trying to live up to their advertizing hype......they tend to be very forgiving of a rough bore. Shoot it and see. I'd bet it'll do ok.

I'd advise you to have it re-crowned. Anything with a rust spot in the bore usually has a bad crown.

Are those rust spots in the top of the barrel or the bottom? I have a theory that I'll explain after I find out where they are. I'll post it either way.

Top or bottom, hmmm. Well, they are about 5 inches in front of the chamber, but looking down the bore there's one spot at about 2 o'clock and a few spots at 5, 6 &7, so it's mostly concentrated at the bottom.

Thanks, Rob

RR--

Years ago I worked a case that involved staining of brass shotgun shells if left standing upright for several months. At the time I'd always thought it was the result of condensation forming in the barrel and running down until caught by the rim. I figured the moisture caused a chemical reaction that stained an corroded the brass.

During the case one of the other witnesses mentioned staining of shelf-stored ammunition. His therory was that rats had peed on the ammo and the urine had stained the ammo.

I agreed with that but held onto condensation as causing the staining of a shotshell while standing in the corner in a closed breech.

Then I started looking at rust patterns in rifle barrels. It's amazing how many times there is a trail of dark barrel that starts at the muzzle at 12 O'Clock and follows the "fall line" but rotates about ninety degrees by following the rifling. It's clearly about 5 drops of fluid that does it. Just about right for a mouse.

Stand a rifle on it's muzzle in the corner and if you have mice you'll see a stain show up on the butt, too.

Amazing what weird stuff you learn if you look far enough.

DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL IN A RIFLE BARREL---- EVER!!

Absolutes are difficult. I would never put it down my stainless Kreiger. I take care of my rifles, so I would not need to do it on a barrel I bought.

On a rusty second hand factory barrel I don't see a problem. Clean oily steel wool will not damage blueing. We used to use Amway Stainless steel scrub buds in the gunshop I worked at. Contrary to intuition, it didn't bother blue or damage the steel. It slid over the metal and grabbed the rust, pulling it off. It works fast. We used to use it on antiques that had terrible bores. I remember a Sharps that was horrible. The scrub buds and Krol remove tons of rust and left a decent looking bore. Steel wool or scrub buds minimize rod strokes, which I believe to be a good thing. Don't make the tighest wad you can force down the bore. A little bit on a worn out brush has done wonders for me. KEEP IT CLEAN!! Rust and grit on steel wool will cut metal real fast. I have never seen any decrease in accuracy after I steel wooled a bore.

Another option is the electrochemical method (foul out system).

Suit yourself, if you think steel wool is the devil in carnate don't use it. I have had good results from it.

scot---

I don't argue that steel wool cuts rust....it does, but if you examine, as I have, rifling under the microscope you'll see it takes the sharp edges off the rifling every stroke. Steel wool is a cutting tool to most steels.

The stainless scrubbers you talk about are MUCH softer and don't normally cut steel or 400 series stainless steels as used in firearms. The scrubbys are 300 series SS.