I have a well cared for four-year old Sako 75 that has a bad tendency to rust the outside of the barrel, no matter what type of preservative I put on it. The action, the bottom metal, and the bore never have a problem. Nor does any other gun I treat in a similar manner (including my quail gun which seems to get rained on constantly). After coyote hunting this morning for example, I wiped the barrel down with Breakfree - again having the cloth turn red. A patch down the bore came out clean, as did the action. Any ideas what the problem could be. Could it be the the quality of the original barrel bluing? I also had this problem 20 years ago with a Ruger (bluing?)

Unusual. Expecially with a Sako, which has the reputation for deep and durable bluing. I have seen older Sako receivers turn "purplish", but it is in the color of the finish and not from oxidation.

This would seem that it almost has to be a problem with the bluing on the barrel. Since the receiver does not exhibit the same problem, I assume that Sako blues the barrel and receiver separately; or it is possible that they are blued at the same time but have different metallurgy.

I would email Sako or their American distributor, which is Beretta, USA, I think.

I hope someone knows the answer to this, as I had a similar problem. My double rifle was just fine for years and then the barrels, especially near the rib, starting rusting and I couldn't stop it. Every oil and magic potion seemed to have no effect. I never did solve the problem.

Will, If your rib and barrels were soldered together you might be getting flux reaction bleed out. Roger

There's no way to be sure but I'd bet it's salt contamination. Salt rusting is not stopped by petroleum products as the salt is not removed(dissolved) by the solvent. Try boiling water with a bit of Dawn dish soapCuts thru the oil). It'll dissolve the salt and the heat left in the steel will help dry the metal, which then has to be protected. I'd reccomend a fine wax. I sometimes use a product called RustPreventIt.. Spray it on, wait a time and wipe off the excess. I've never had any rusting problems. The salt problem is the same as that caused by corrosive priming..