Sometimes we get a firearm that is a little on the "cruddy side."  Well rather than buff the heck out of it with steel wool, or a wire wheel I tend to like to use electrolysis to clean.  This is great if you have a historic firearm and you want to remove rust and gunk and not scrub it to look new.  This process will leave original bluing, and most of the patina and it comes out looking like it hasn't been cleaned.  You will need a plastic tub that can fit the gun, a piece of rebar,  and a battery charger.  I followed the instructions on this site and the results are amazing.  http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=103161

I recently did this to the old Civil War Musket from Appomattox to help preserve it.  The rust that was on it was active and needed to be neutralized or the gun would just keep on rusting.  I did not want to remove the patina, or have it look pimp shined so I decided to do electrolysis.  Here is a before pic of the lock and an after.  Also some of the proof marks showed up after cleaning that you couldn't see before.  The electrolisys process also cleans the bore so a nasty looking bore can come out looking great.  The Appomattox rifle ended up having a mirror bore, and my gunsmith said it was the best he's seen on a civil war gun.  It ends up that the gun is actually shootable! 

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an old 1873 Trapdoor Cavalry Carbine that i picked up cheap recently because it looked like a wall hanger.  It was crudded up pretty darn good, the lock wouldn't work and it was seized up.  Into the electrolysis tank it went this morning.  After a little "bath" it came out in awesome condition with a mirror bore.  So tomorrow I am going to let this old guy bark for the first time in probably a hundred years.

Thats awesome

The closest thing to an abrasive that these guns saw was an old toothbrush to give them a quick scrub down after taking them out of the tank. 

And after electrolysis, it's as hairless as a baby's butt!

I have used electrolysis to salvage a giant vice that I got from someone for free. It was supposedly sitting outside for 10+ years and was completely seized. After a 3 month bath in oil it was still seized and I thought I would have to scrap it. Then a friend taught me about electrolysis. After a few weeks in it became unseized and still works great today. So with a little work I got a vice that weighs well over 100lbs for free!

Electrolysis, not just for lips and hairy donkeys!

Cool trick. If I get a rifle in that condition I will try this. The water in that bucket is super dirty.

Bill Nye the Science Guy! Bill! Bill! Bill! Really, that is great. Totally forgot about doing it that way. Last time I screwed with electrolysis, I was generating Hydrogen...

 

 

Sent from my iPad 2 using T2 Pro

I'm definitely going to have to try this. 

 

How would you say it does in removing stubborn rust from barrels?

I do this with my hand/bench planes, chisels, and axe/ tool heads.

 

Only thing is I was learned to use arm an hammer washing soda. The electrolyte helps the process.

 

You can pick it up at wall martian

I use the arm and hammer washing soda too. Does a great job when i clean old cast iron pans. A day or two hooked up to the battery charger and they come out looking great.