Some rust on my M1 Garand

[Waltz41]

Went to pull out my M1 Garand tonight. I've had it stored for some time in my walk up attic (dumb i know), but that was about a year ago and I now keep it in my closet. I have taken it out and looked it over a few times every year, but....I never took off the GI muzzle cover i kept on it. Tonight I took it off, and there's some small rust on the end of the barrel. What's the best way to get rid of it and also protect it? I was reading #000? steel wool and a little WD-40?? Want to make sure before I try to fix her up. Thanks.

[Sandlapper]

I think some gun oil or wd-40 and steel wool will do the trick. Keep the gun oiled with good gun oil even if it is in storage.

[SergeantMajorGray]

after you get the rust off it id recommend you get some ballistol gun oil its what I use on my guns and it works great for protection.

[oldfireguy]

Keep that muzzle cover off also. It's canvas and will attract moisture.

[ordnance]

OK, I have to admit I'm a steel wool hater and don't recommend its use. You can usually get by with 0000 and oil used VERY lightly but I've seen a lot of guns scratched up with excessive steel wool usage.

 

If you have a good hardware store nearby, try to find some bronze wool. It's much softer and won't scratch bluing or parkerizing.

 

But for rust freckles and spots my favorite tool is a "cartridge scraper", a home made trinket a teacher showed me in gunsmithing school. Take a fired cartridge case, like a .30-06 or similar and put it on a hard surface. Pound the mouth area flat with a hammer turning it over once or twice. File the end square and sharp.

 

Now you can use it with lots of oil or WD-40 to scrape at rusty spots. Let the oil soften the rust first and wipe away the residue as particles are removed. The brass is softer than steel, bluing, or parkerizing and will not damage the surface.

 

Some care is needed to not just rub the dulled scraper back and forth too much over a single area without cleaning as the loose iron ozide flakes can stick to the brass and act like a lap. Just remember to give it a quick swipe with the file to keep the edge sharp and square.

 

I've done a number of guns that had been left in a damp environment and had the kind of rust spotting all over that snagged your skin as you ran your hand back and forth. With a little patience, you can make it all go away. About the worst problem is it will sometimes leave a brassy sheen on a textured surface like parkerizing but that can be wiped off with a bit of thumb rubbing.

[Waltz41]

Thanks guys.....most people said wd-40 and steel wool, although I did see a number of people online saying NO! to steel wool. I'm going to try to tackle it this weekend. Ordance, interesting idea too, I might have to look into that. Thanks.

[Awheeler]

Your muzzle is most likley a bit worn from the cleaning of the bore with a standard jointed USGI cleaning rod. this has removed finish and will let your muzzle rust. THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS REMOVE MORE FINISH. I would take a firm tooth brush, oil the rusted area and scrub away. wipe away the orange oil, add more and repeat until the oil wipes off clear. It sounds like the rust is not too deep and pitted. If its pitted and what not, than 0000 wool will not hurt the value any more. But if its just surface rust, try out my idea. If it still needs more, use wool...

[zsmith]

If you use a 0000 steel wool it should remove the rust without harming the bluing. If you still don't want to chance it then use brass wool.

[Orlando]

Scrub with oil and brass brush. If brush leaves brass marks it can be removed with Hoppes,etc

As already suggested leave the muzzle cover off. If you are storing the Garand for long periods I would rub in a thin coat of grease over all parts. It will protect better than oil