What to Polish Stainless Steel With?

F

FrankieJames7

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I got a Winchester 70 Classic Stainless BOSS. Unfortunately, rust has gotten its teeth into a tad bit. There are specs of rust the length of the barrel, on the floor plate, and a few stains on the trigger too. It is all just surface rust, it doesn't change function at all but I would like to clean it.

I tried wiping it off with paper towel and vinegar. That helped make it cleaner but didn't get much of the rust. I got the finest steel wool they make and tried to polish the rust off with that and got little results.
 
It has a matte finish bead blasted into the metal. Anything you polish it with enough to completely remove the rust is going to polish a shiny spot in the metal. That in my opinion would look worse. If it were mine, and I have the same rifle without the BOSS, I'd clean it as best as I could with nothing more than a stiff brush. Then coat the metal with something to prevent it from spreading.
 
Howdy

NEVER polish Stainless Steel with steel wool!

Tiny bits of the steel wool can break off and imbed themselves in the surface of the Stainless. If this happens, the ordinary steel of the wool will interfere with the natural passivation process of the Stainless, causing tiny rust spots, which may be what happened in the first place.

You can buy Bronze Wool from Brownells that will not interfere with the passivation layer of the Stainless.
 
I'm pretty sure it happened from dust.

I'm just going to get it as clean as I can get it like the other guy said. If it really needs to be done away with it can always get painted over. The specs are barely visible but I just hate rust alot. Kinda makes me cringe to think of such a good rifle developed rust.
 
It may have happened because dust held moisture against the steel, but what rusted was free iron left by tooling. It's a common problem. To eliminate it you have to passivate the stainless. That etches the free iron out without attacking the chromium oxide protected iron in the steel.
 
I'm using liquid Turtle Wax cleaner/preservative on all my guns and it works great. Any good auto wax will protect a barrel from future rust.
 
Any source of iron will cause problems ! A proper Stainless steel manufacturing operation will have everything , machining grinding polishing etc , handle only stainless ! Then the part is " passivated " as mentioned above.

BTW you can get stainless steel wool which is OK to use. You might also find a good coating for the rifle.
 
Lucas Oil Metal Polish. Made for guns, the stuff is amazing. I use it as the additive when I tumble brass too.
 
Two of the moderately important tools to have in your garage/workshop for a variety of reasons are...

A decent-sized compressor...Harbor Freight has a regular sale on a nice 6-gallon one,
sells for $139 regular, $99 on sale about 4 times a year.

Bead Blast cabinet...sells regularly for $199, sale is usually around $149...

You can refinish a beater & then coat it in your favorite oil and it will look pretty much original.
Some even clear-coat with their favorite product...

There was a great writeup in the S&Wforums about the different media
and what they specifically do to the look of an SS pistol.
Man had several beater's that shot well, and made them look new again via bead blasting!
My personal preference is crushed walnut shell, gives a nice look!
 
generally SS doesn't rust...just saying.
Click to expand...

Not true at all, stainless will still rust just not as easily as carbon steel. I found rust on my stainless 10/22 after a camping trip, and my Sig 232 after collecting sweat all day when I used to carry it would develop rust if I didn't clean it at the end of the day.
 
Lots of misinformation here in this thread.

Steel wool won't embed in stainless. Just wipe it off afterwards.

Stainless steel WILL rust. Especially the grades used in guns.

Polish won't remove the rust without changing the surface texture of the metal. If your barrel is polished-polishing it will be fine. If it's satin, then you have to abrade the surface in the same direction/manner/grit as the factory finish.
If it's bead blasted, it would have to be re-blasted with the same grit.

All that said, you might try a paste of Barkeeper's Friend scouring powder and water applied over the rusted area. Don't scrub it-just let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse it off. The oxalic acid in the BF will remove the rust. It might take a few applications
 
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