I will be cleaning about a dozen rifles that were stored in a home that burned. They recieved no heat damage but were heavily smoked, soot covered and then hit with water. It was a few days ago and there is already some red rust. What is the best way to remove the soot from the stocks without scratching or lifting the finish. Also, does anyone have any ideas on a cleaner to neutralize the soot and clean the metal without destroying the blueing if possible at all? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will have to start doing something in the next day or so because the sea air will aggrivate the situation I am sure. Thanks, C

Have fought with that problem, and it comes down to this: the metal needs to be thoroughly washed and steel-wooled, especially the bores. The wood must be washed and refinished. Otherwise, the guns are screwed.

Go to www.brownells.com and get some gun-sized plastic bags and bagged desicant(sp) and cram the damaged guns into the bags and seal them there until you can get to them in turn. In cleaning, there's two alternatives: start with the most expensive guns, or start with the smallest bores: these seem to rust the worst.

In washing the wood, you might see how Murphy's Oil Soap does, using a pad of steel wool to scrub.

No matter what you do, you have a terrible job on your hands...... Good luck.

First thing is to remove the stocks and get them good with a moisture displacing oil like WD40 or LPS1 or anything else that says "displaces moisture" on the can. That will arrest the rust for now.

When you have an afternoon or evening to clean them this is how I would do it- Fill a bathtub 1/3 full with hot water and maybe 1/2 cup dishwashing liquid, put all of the guns in there and start scrubbing them. Use a toothbrush and something a little larger like a fingernail brush, and you should be able to clean them rather quickly, when done with one put it back in the tub while you do another. I'd get the bores too while I was at it.

Depending on your tub I bet you could do 3-6 guns at a time this way, use a mat on the tub so it or the guns don't get scratched. when the guns are clean but not rinsed put them on a towel and do the next batch.

When all of the guns are cleaned drain out the tub and fill with the hottest water you can stand, and maybe a little more. I might even be tempted to up the thermostat setting on the heater for this little job then back it off after I was finished but before my wife found out. Anyway, rinse the guns all off thoroughly and if they get too hot to hold use a washcloth, then stand on end in a corner. They should dry pretty good that way. If any had rust you might try using a chore-boy scrubber, or another brand of copper scrubbing pad. I wouldn't use a plastic one as they usually have abrasives in them that can scratch, or else they are too soft to do anything...

When the guns are dry oil them with your favorite brand, or else touch them up with blue first.

Regarding the stocks, I think I would be tempted to try "simple green" cleaner on them, it cleans good and would probably go a ways towards eliminating a lot of that smokey smell. Now here I might try a plastic pot scrubber, but again make sure it says something like safe for teflon or such, otherwise the odds are that it will have some abrasive in it and you will have a bunch of semi-matte finished stocks when you are done.

I agree with Mark and Paladin, the most important thing is to clean everything like you'd clean a muzzleloader. Lots of hot water and liquid soap. That will remove the rust and soot, but there may be a smell problem especially with the stocks. After everything's washed, try the following:

2 quarts of hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 squirt of liquid soap

I'd advise trying this on a hidden part of the worst gun, but it should work. This mixture removes just about any smell from clothing (including skunk), so it should work here also. You can put it in a spray bottle, spray it on, and let it dry. Hope it helps.

MarkWhite,

Now that sounds like a man who learnt the proper way to clean an M60 in barracks. Allways lock the door to the bathroom or you'll be doing guard duty for a while!

Nope, the only things uncle sam let me use had wings on them but no guns.

Methyl Alcohol ("wood alchohol" or "denatured alcohol") will easily clean off the soot and deoderize. Don't make it more difficult than need be!