I recently picked up a very slightly used Remington 870 Express in .410 gauge. This gun is going to be my grouse getter. Unfortunately the lighting was dim when I inspected it and I didn't notice the redish tint on the side of the receiver and under the rib. The price was very good so I would have bought it anyway. I've worked on the rust with Break Free CLP and it seems to have removed most of it. Any suggestions on how to get rid of ALL the rust and how to prevent this shotgun from rusting in the future?
Thanks, Doug

Will alsyws start with the lightest possible abrasion....hopfully one that won't damage existing blue. Are right..need to get it all...any left-on rust acts like seeds, letting the rust bloom again with just a little moisture.

So will start with light oil (or Deisel Fuel...or Mineral Spirts) and either old panty hose or burlap. (If they are YOUR panty hose, please don't tell me about it...I'll wait for the "Shooters Gone Wild" DVD). IF that won't clean it...then soak it (tie a oil soaled rag over the bad parts) and try again after a couple of days.

The next steep is steel wool...the finest graqde you can get (OOOO) and a LIGHT hand. It can take off blue...it is abrasive...so limit yourself to the rusted areas.

From there, will glue 0000 (or 00000...I've found some locally) to sticks (the bamboon skewers sold in grocery stores work great) and get after the stuff under the ribs or in little nooks. Can shave and shape the bamboo sticks to sizes needed...dip in glue...add a tuft of steel wool...and reach neraly any odd sized shape.

If you've the urge to hunt up bronze wool...which is sttel wool made of bronze...it's less abrasive.

For sure, there is no blue under active rust...so will need to cover it (or perhaps plan on a full reblue after a season or two of hunting...may as well wear it a bit more before making it pretty). OxphoBlue (Brownels) is still the best cold blue I've used.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of ALL the rust and how to prevent this shotgun from rusting in the future?
Thanks, Doug

Corrosion X will penetrate into any pits and under any seems and kill the corrosion. No need for abrasives. You can buy it from Brownells and it is in wide spread use in general aviation (little airplanes.).

If you have very much bare metal I would use a bakeing lacquer from Brownells.

If this was an early gun your going to have some real problems. Remington was just getting into this coating and had some quench problems with it. You might want to contact Remington and see if they will fix it. Mine would rust in a bucket of oil. It appears they didn't have the right formula to stop the finish from rusting.

Perhaps the corrosion X william is talking about might help.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I guess my first attempt will be a call to Remington. I'm not sure how old this shotgun is. If they won't help, I'll continue to keep it oiled and perhaps try the Corrosion X for the rest of this season. I may have it refinished this winter.

Flitz will remove the rust. Im not sure what the finish is on the Express guns. Looks like a sandblast blue to me. Breakfree has kept the Express rust free for me. BTW, try the flitz on a small area first to make sure it wont remove the whole finsh.

Doug,

I believe Bob is right (again) about improper cleaning at the factory. If Remington won't help, I seem to remember instructions that included a wash with a backing soda solution to neutralize the cause. I would think this would be after cleaning up all the rust as best you can..

I cleaned up the barrels on an Old LC recently. Mostly used a pencil (real pencil, made of wood). You can use the sharpened point to get in to tight places, the exposed wood (and toothpicks) make a good rubbing surface, and a quick once over with rubber eraser removed all carbon and kind of cleaned it all up..

This is another project that I failed to take a before Pic.. but the after looks quite good. I’m not real sure how it will work on that weird park type finish, so try it some where not obvious.

Best o luck

nate

Thanks for the help guys! I called Remington and because the shotgun is 14 years old they won't do anything other than offer a refinish job for $150. My local smith will redo it in Black T, which he says will last forever even in saltwater conditions but the cost is $320. Geez, that's more than the shotgun is worth but if what he claims is true, I guess I'd never have to worry about it again. I just don't think the quality of the shotgun is worth that kind of money.

Doug you might check out having it armaloyed. I ran a small gunsmith business when I was stationed in Alaska and did a lot of boat shotguns in this finish. It holds up to salt water about as good as anything I've ever used. It's a electrless nickle plating. I don't know who is doing it in the lower 48 except Larry Kelly at Magnaport now. It cost about the same as a standard bluewing job.

I finally sold my first 870 Express, You could have left it in a bucket of oil and it would rust. The second one in 3.5 inch mag was better though it kicked me to hard. I have a 20 gauge youth model I bought last year for the grand kids and it's holding up well. I think Remington finally got it right.

I've found that getting any express refinished is not cost effective. I finally ended up with a Mossberg 835 ultimag in the camo finish. Got it at Wallmart for under $300.00 and am really happy with it. Does not kick me near as bad as that 870 express did.

I suppose the porting helps, but last year I shot my turkey with my buddies old ulti-mag and the 3.5 inchers and it also seemed to kick less than my 870 and his wasn't ported. Thats the reason I switched guns.

Bob, I agree, having the Express refinished probably isn't cost effective. While taking it apart I noticed the trigger assembly looks to be aluminum and rather cheaply made. Oh well, maybe I'll try some of the suggestions for rust removal, oil the heck out of it, shoot the heck out of it and just enjoy it the way it is.

If you can get the rust off the cheapest way would be to paint the gun. The paint should stick to the rough surface of the Express really well. Brownells sells finishes to be applied this way but you could probably use Rustoleum in flat black heat resistant.

I have to agree with mr. ribbonstone. steel wool & good gun oil. I bought a used 700 rem. about 25 years ago with the same problem steel wooled it with LPS used very liberally,got every where ,but worked. I still have this rifle and it still is rust free .switched to break free about 15 years ago, just clean it & oil it 2or 3 times a year .
pilly