A Little Rust.

[SeargentDavis]

Hello all,

Due to a recent flood of my Parent's basement, my U.S. Model 1861 Springfield is covered in rust, in the barrel, on the nipple, inside the barrel ect, oh, and I cant get the nipple off, probably rusted in and i was wandering if anyone that has had this problem before can give me any advice on what to do. Help Please,:(

[lukegilly13]

Re: A Little Rust.

Is it surface rust or pit rust? Judging that you said the flood was recent, I'm going to assume that it is surface rust. For this, I recommend 400grit sand paper or some very fine/soft steel wool. On the inside of the barrel.....use a cleaning rod and a copper or brass wire brush along with some sort of solvent (rubbing alcohol, Hoppe's, etc) to brush swab, brush, swab, brush, swab until you have removed the rust (you may wish to purchase an actual rust remover solvent from your local gun store or even big wolly world). Saturate that nipple in WD 40....if it is rust that is freezing the nipple pecking it very lightly might help (but do this with EXTREME caution). I've seen people fire a cap and the percusion breaks loose the rust....Not sure how great of an idea this is so use your own judgement (i.e. make sure that the bore is clear and not jammed with fowling and wear safety goggles). To quote one of my favorite movies....
Anything can be accomplished with pressure over time.
Hope this is helpful.

[SeargentDavis]

Re: A Little Rust.

Thanks, will right this down!!!

[Phil McBride]

Re: A Little Rust.

I once bought a used musket on which the nipple was frozen on like a rock with rust and lack of cleaning. I successfully used a hardware store propane torch to heat up the nipple and barrel before dousing it with liquid wrench and then used a socket wrench to remove the nipple. Good luck.

Phil McBride
The Alamo Rifles