Light surface rust|General Discussions & Questions|Forum|Winchester Collector

0000 steel wool and a lot of oil.  Very light touch.

Zebulon said
Any of the above with an emphasis on a very light touch and knowing when to stop.

As another alternative, wipe on BreakFree CLP with a soft cloth and give it lots of time to get under the rust.  Repeat as necessary and be very patient. In time it will creep underneath and remove the rust without an abrasive but you must be patient. It will also bond to the bare steel and discourage further oxidation if repeated at intervals. 

  

Yep, if it is truly very light surface rust this is the way to go, skip the abrasives

Yes I like the bronze 0000 wool but it’s a little more stringy and loses its strands a little more readily…you gotta blow out the copper fibers when done! Wear gloves because those little bastards stuck in your hands when you can’t see them are a little annoying

Zebulon said
Concur copper and bronze wool should not abrade steel if used with light to moderate force.  But my Cousin Bubba has 18″ arms, a limited notion of “moderate,” and is disinclined to try stuff out on a piece of scrap first.   

The Pyramids were built of limestone & granite using only copper–not bronze, unknown at the time!–chisels & other stone working tools.

If it does mar the blue to even an imperceptible extent, it likely diminishes the refectivity of the finish. How harmful this is depends on the size of the affected surface.  We’re talking light surface rust, not pitting. I’d try the BreakFree first. 

Every man for himself and God for us all. 

Bert H. said
One thing to keep in mind… this is a 1969 production Model 94 with a sintered steel receiver frame.  The original factory bluing did not adhere to, or wear well on that era… hence one of reasons they are not considered “collector” grade Model 94s.  There is very little that you can do to it that will further negate its value.

Bert

  

Bert,  I don’t know the manufacturing change dates but, before WRA abandoned the M94’s sintered receiver, didn’t they black chrome some of them? 

If so, is it possible a 69 receiver might not be blued at all? 

Yes, I distinctly remember handling my first one at a Western auto in 1966 or 67.  The change was very dramatic from a Fifties gun a relative owned. 

While we’re on the subject, there was a rumor floating around for years that the big discount stores got sintered receivers and stamped internals, whereas some smaller gun dealers got better 1894 production with forged receivers and milled parts. This was even hinted at in print, in a Roy Dunlap article published in Gun Digest. 

That sounds like it might could have been true later, as Winchester returned to higher quality production of the M94 but had unsold inventories of the junkier guns. 

Was there anything to the rumor?

That was probably the.actual seed from which the exaggerated rumor grew. The gun industry has its own jungle drums network.