Firearms Rust Removal - Easy Milsurp Restoration, Conservation, & Preservation - No.4 Mk.1 Enfield 

Use acetone on your steel wool as it has oil in it to keep the steel wool from rusting. Mark Novak tell us that. This is the best way to do this. Good job.

This was so helpful and completely free of bullshit. Your style of instruction is great! You could be a teacher, man.

I bought a super rusty Star Model BM for like 150 bucks and bought some Brownell's Rust Blue. Sand blasted the gun with a harbor freight sand blaster kit, then rubbed that rust blue on and allowed it to rust over, then boiled it...then carded it and repeated about 4 times. It looks amazing now. When you use that rust blue the entire gun rusts over heavily with that red iron oxide before you boil it. I left it hang over my bath tub full of hot water to progress the rusting. I'll never use cold blue again. The rust blue is much, much more durable and better looking. I used a brownell's carding brush because it worked better for me than steel wool getting into all the small areas. You did the right thing on this though, it didn't need refinishing and I generally am against refinishing milsurps. But this Star BM was beyond any point of collectibility because it looks like water got on the original cardboard box the gun was stored in and rusted the hell out of it. Maybe the warehouse it was stored in had a leaky roof or something.

For the wood I use Murphy's Oil Soap and hot water. With a soft brush and a little time it cleans up nice. It's surprising how pretty some of that wood is once it's cleaned up.

My SMLE No1 MKIII* is starting to pick up rust. Old girl is over 106 years old so I want to preserve her as long as possible. Thank you for the video!

Nice work cleaning up a piece of history

Great video! Never heard/seen the boil technique for rust removal. Have always gone with steel wool with oil and hand rubbing. Keep up the great work.

This is an amazing video. I didn’t know about boiling water doing that to metal

You deserve more views and likes. Great videos!

Great video! I've got a sportered receiver with some fine red rust that I've been concerned about fixing, and now I've got a solution. Thanks for sharing!

Insanely helpful, thank you!

I am working on my RTI B grade now so this is very helpful.

lol thank you for your video. The rifles in RTI are so dirty... The recent Chassepot 1866-74 is so dirty and I’m tired to clean it...

Very interesting to see your process. Excited to see final results and some range action! Nice work brother!

I've had good results on rust with a tooth brush sized wire brush. For me No.4 steel wool takes more finish off. On scaley rust I use a very dull knife then the brush.

Very informative video buddy. I like your enthusiasm. Stay safe brother 🤝

You cannot be married using the baking tray and pot lol🤣 But seriously I have saved this video for cleaning my surplus rifles. Great stuff

Great video brother cant wait to fire it.

Awesome video RR.

I would suggest changing your wool more often. The loose red oxide being removed is an abrasive thats held in the wool.

I have started a maintenance program for my Enfields. Like the British military they are linseed oiled hopefully every month. And the moving parts oiled with modern military grade oil. They are a bad expensive habit.

I took all the metals parts of the Gew and let them sit inside a stainless steal bowl for most of the day with soap and made all getting gunk off easier.

That corrosion removal process woud probably work well for od rusry tools picked up at yard sales

Great tips! Very informative!

Back in November, 2021 I bought a Mosin-Nagant 91/30. I'm grateful it's in good overall, in fact I'd say excellent condition, but with it being my first milsurp AND wooden stocked firearm I was worried about the inside where the unfinished wood had been somewhat darkened over time from gun oil. Wanting to get some of it out and cleaned up a little better I tried a method others had suggested as a starting point, the tools: Mr Clean's magic eraser and hot water. I only tried a little bit in the worst dark spots and surprise it actually worked, the wood surface became a little brighter (it's a dark wood stock anyway) and didn't feel "tacky" anymore - I also made sure to carefully dry and rub down every surface before reassembly. I would appreciate your (and anyone else's) thoughts/suggestions on this subject. Sincerely, your friendly milsurp novice😊

You can use a penny to remove the chunky rust before boiling. Especially if there is original bluing on the rifle. The penny is hard enough to remove the rust, but not hard enough to scratch through the finish. Not much bluing left on that firearm tho. Great video.

Will brake cleaner take off the Suncorite finish that's on some rifles?

I soak the barrel & stock hardware in no odor mineral spirits in a long think plastic tub. Go to Home Depot garden department & you get a window planter box liner which is a long skinny plastic tub which works great for soaking a barrel & will only cost you about $6.

Mark Novak is awesome

One of my rifles a 1907-15 berthier rifle has som significant rust on the bolt and track? looks black but under certain light u can see the orange. Should i keep scouring the rust or just leave it? It was a lot worse.

Very coo!

I’ve never boiled a firearm. Thank you for sharing Sir. 🙏🏼👍🏼

Use brass brushes or brass wool instead of steel wool. brass is soften than steel and won't even remove the blueing.

I also heard you should coat your steel wool with some acetone so it doesn’t rust Edit: Just saw the pinned comment

Just as a tip i wouldn’t use steel wool, but copper and oil seem to work better for me great video though

Simplifying stuff with metal parts is just getting a container and wd40 and letting the wd40 soak over the course of 3 days to get grease and the cosmoline.

Do you happen to remember the episode Mark Novak mentioned the diesel in?

I am curious, I was under the impression after boiling and carding you should put oil all over the parts since they have been degreased so the metal can soak it back in? Then wipe off excess

Saw your Facebook post for this video. Good video!

Is it ok to boil springs?

Ballistol is the best.

I should probably do this with my Enfield No.4 Mk1* and un-Bubba it in the process the best I can. I'll need a new fore stock as well as the hand guards and all the fixin's to secure said hand guards, as the Bubba who got their mits on this rifle sporterized the stock. :(

Do you need to use distilled water for boiling?

I boil all the bolt parts & that works great! Bring it to a good roiling boil. I have an old yard sale pot that I use but just remember don't use your wife's good pot from the kitchen she will not like that.

I am looking to do something similar to my iffy Ishi No1 Mk3*. Its my understanding that most of the Lee's were oil blackened as a finish instead of blued. And since this rust conversion is literally rust bluing, but only on the active rust you need to convert, could that potentially cause some sort of issues with oil blackening? Have you noticed much of a difference in the converted rust to original finish on your Lee's? Should this process be done on rusty oil blackened firearms as well? Any sort of insight you have on this would be appreciated. I vaguely remember Mark Novak, over on "Anvil" talk about avoiding working on "old dominion guns" for this reason, but may be miss remembering.

How / what did you use to card the parts that had holes for screws

How long do you typically soak the parts in diesel for?

I wonder why the bugs were all in it. I am hiding my dishes from Tracy as we speak 🤣🤣. I hope you don't cook with that dish 🤣🤣. Can't wait to see it finished

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me the point where a lack of maintenance becomes "patina". Those totally look like bed bugs to me yikes!

New subscriber here, really enjoying your channel... quick question how long did you soak the parts in diesel for?

I got a Lee from RTI and the parts what weren't open to the elements have a black painted finish (might be suncorite). You said to not put it through the carb cleaner cause it'll damage the rifle. What can I do to clean it otherwise or even remove the suncorite?

Nice vid! Used some of these methods for my own no4 restoration project. Do you know if 303 british is sold in the US? I can't find any in stores

is it safe to use that pot to cook in after you've done that with it?

Hey bud gotta question. I have two other Enfields and they don't have that weld mark on the top of receiver like urs does but my r.t.i Enfield does like urs here .at first I thought it may have been a x sniper where they welded up the old threads. But the more I looked it up they weren't mounted at the top there so my guess is maybe that's just another way they manufactured the top the receiver like where the sight rest when folding down . Do you have any information on this.

correct me if im wrong, but if you boil the parts that are exposed metal they will rust. its not rust that was there before. i dont see how that would be helpful unless re-blueing the rifle.

Do you recommend getting a no.4 from royal tiger? I’m really on the edge

Mmmm, ain't that a pile of tasty gunk. Haha.

Rubber gloves. Use them. Your organs will thank you later. Also crud cutter works well for cleaning both metal and wood and is much safer

So what do I use instead of carburetor cleaner in case of a painted finish I dont think mine has one but I wanna be safe

Diesel fuel? ... how does that work lol... I might have to try it... hardens the finish. I’m guessing it’s just a layer of lubricant that’s super hard to remove and dries with residue like a clear coat almost?

Hey is that my Mac and cheese dish you using?

Great video! What did the wife say for using her nice tools😂

U clean like i do

I always use my wife’s toothbrush and then put it back and she never knows except for the oily, gritty taste it leaves in her mouth.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

0000 steel wool and used motor oil.

Gloves man, just wear gloves

I hope you get a canning jar 🫙 and save all the Royal 👑 🐅 Tiger Bugs 🐞 you gather over the years for Posterity! It’s too bad Royal Tiger doesn’t sell Rifles by the pound and give you a refund for dirt and bugs 🐛 returned for weight discounts!