I've been laid up four years and today finally got a box of guns out. A fine K-38 was in a nylon holster and has a coat of rust 1/16" thick on the barrel and underlug. Cylinder isn't as bad but, it won't open.

Any advice on how to save the gun? I know it's going to have pits on the finish, I can live with that as long as it works again.

Sure would appreciate some advice on getting started.

Hell of a deal, there were four revolvers in this box, the others were in leather holsters and not a one has even a spot on it. Just this one in the nylon.

Thank you,
George

I would use kroils penetrating oil, I believe automatic transmission oil and acetone mix was mentioned on here.

Hello. I tried a thing called Evapo-Rust on some badly rusted Lyman moulds.

I was quite amazed that it removed all the rust, including the deep seated rust, yet did not harm the actual good metal at all.

Although it did, and is advised as such, that it will remove the blue. About a six to eight hour immersion will remove the rust.

It's a USA product so I doubt you'd have difficulty in obtaining this yellow coloured liquid. And you can stick you hands in it with no ill effect.

you seem more concerned with function than cosmetics.I would get a baking pan, momma wont like this, and soak the gun in CRC or any other penetrating solvent you can get. after a day or so start trying to gently open the cylinder and manipulate the hammer and trigger. after you get to the point of basic operation, totally disassemble the gun. use scotch brite pads on the rust, clean everything up and reassemble. keep it oiled. if you choose to use a chemical rust remover just be aware that bluing is a form of rust so it is removed also.

So long as you are aware that blue is just another form of rust, and it sounds like you are aware of that, so anything removing rust will also remove blue.

Anyway, in addition to evapo rust the old standby "naval jelly" works quite well, but the other thing I have found is that most all bathroom cleaners that advertise they remove stains (especially rust stains) can do a reasonable job removing rust from items. So all you may need to do to de-rust your gun is to see if there is a bottle of "lime away" or other similar cleaner in your pantry.

Brownell,s Steel White.

If it's just the barrel and cylinder, then do not soak it in any of the mentioned rust removers; those will remove all rust and bluing and gum up the internal workings. You need to remove the barrel, soak the cylinder in some solvent (it probably will open with some persuasion), then de rust only those parts. Disassemble the frame parts and treat them as needed.
This is not a one shot thing; dump the whole revolver in something, solution. And you might be surprised by how good the metal actually still is.
I have resurrected worse...

So could he just boil it water and card it? I've done a good bit of rust blueing but never on thick scale. Might take multiple boils.

Yes, but again, the barrel and cylinder have to come off/out.

Time to make a fitz special and reblue!

This little jewel strolled into my shop Thursday of last week.

The late twenty something owner left it in the bed of a pickup truck for about a month.

I looked it over and sent her on her way

I worked on a pistol taken from a river. Outside ? Terrible ! Inside ? no big deal , still worked !
The OP ? would like to see photos.Strange that only his nylon holstered gun was harmed ! And you think that "nylon" is just "nylon ". Not the stuff from China ,that could have lots of chemicals added.
Navel gelly is phosphoric acid in a gel Any mild acid could be tried to remove rust like oxalic acid ,citric acid etc. Watch carefully trying to operate the gun . then stop and take apart the gun and carefully clean the metal down to bare metal. Relace parts as needed.

I think I would immerse it in diesel for about a week, then take it out and see if functionality was restored, including being able to open the cylinder. If that was accomplished, then I would disassemble and clean as much as possible with steel wool and see jus how bad the damage is.

Hoping it looks worse than it really is...

if no rubber parts, i'd use brake fluid - leave it over night, and see what i can do with it in the morning

The evapo-rust is good stuff. I bought a box of rusted files at an auction. Over night soaking and I can't tell they are not new.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
This little jewel strolled into my shop Thursday of last week.

The late twenty something owner left it in the bed of a pickup truck for about a month.

I looked it over and sent her on her way

I understand there's probably no way to make money on this one but...I might've tried to get it working again just to see if I could.

(However, I probably value my time differently than you do.)

FWIW, I'd bet that with a little cleaning and some lube it would fire. I didn't say it would be accurate or pretty.

There is a liquid phosporic acid that comes in gallon jugs. Wear gloves as it will suck the oil out of your skin your hand will look like you have terminal scabbies. Frank

George,

After you get it apart using penetrating oil like others suggested and a whack from a plastic faced hammer if needed, deep clean it with a cheap vinegar soak. The acetic acid will eat all the rust slowly in a day or two. Please show us the before/after.

CB

And of course there is homeowners insurance coverage too.

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
I've been laid up four years and today finally got a box of guns out. A fine K-38 was in a nylon holster and has a coat of rust 1/16" thick on the barrel and underlug. Cylinder isn't as bad but, it won't open.

Any advice on how to save the gun? I know it's going to have pits on the finish, I can live with that as long as it works again.

I recall trying to deal with rust on cars. We tried everything under the sun. Naval jellys (Phosphoric acid) sandblasting, etc, etc. What we found was that "surface" rust can always be successfully removed. BUT, if the rust has penetrated beneath the surface. The only way to ever rid yourself of it is to cut it out completely and replace the steel. Otherwise it will always rear its ugly head again. And if you have pitting then you are past surface rust and chemicals or boiling aint gonna cut it. Sometimes you can grind pitting a bit to remove rust as long as it wont effect the critical strength of the piece. But if there is "underlying" rust that has not been removed, then it will continue to spread and weaken the firearm further over time. Even if it looks kosher on the surface.

For surface rust, just use fine sandpaper and then re-blue.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
This little jewel strolled into my shop Thursday of last week.

The late twenty something owner left it in the bed of a pickup truck for about a month.

I looked it over and sent her on her way

Did you tell her to try a little Kroil and some firelapping?

I'd stick it in a 30 cal ammo can and then fill the can with Kroil and latch the lid for about 48 hours.

Where'd ya go George? Get it loosened up? I have a Bushnell range finder that was in a cheap nylon case. After just a few years, it left sticky residue all over the plastic. Took well over an hour to remove it all.

quote:

Originally posted by Wstrnhuntr:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
This little jewel strolled into my shop Thursday of last week.

The late twenty something owner left it in the bed of a pickup truck for about a month.

I looked it over and sent her on her way

Did you tell her to try a little Kroil and some firelapping?

I told her she learned a $400 lesson in responsibility

Am surprised that noone has issued a reminder that you never place a weapon in a holster or gun case then place it in a safe. Doing so causes all humidity to concentrate where the holster or case touches the metal.
Not even a safe that has desicant or a dehumidifier heater.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Nisbet:
Am surprised that noone has issued a reminder that you never place a weapon in a holster or gun case then place it in a safe. Doing so causes all humidity to concentrate where the holster or case touches the metal.
Not even a safe that has desicant or a dehumidifier heater.

Yeah I was waiting for someone to remind the OP of this. Some folks think that storing a firearm in a case adds a level of protection. They are wrong, it is the worst thing you can do.