Not what you are thinking, need to clean the outside of the barrel on a SR-15. For some reason its got a bunch of little surface rust freckles I’d like to knock off. Anyone know an easy way to do this, or a tool that would work well? It’s covered for the most part by the rail.
I would just take an oily rag, and go at it with that. You can stick the tail end of a rag down between the barrel and gas tube…then use something like a screw driver to push the tail to the other side through the holes at either 1030 or 130. Then grab the tail and pull it. Use a push pull type action to “scrub” the barrel. You should be able to get the rest of the barrel with old fashioned elbow grease with the rag.
FWIW I use the red shop towels. I wash them first alone, and then run an empty cycle to get rid of the dye. I keep the rag in a zip lock bag.
I would then leave the oil on for at least 12hrs to 24 hours, wipe with a clean dry rag, and see what you have. CLP is actually a good oil for dealing with rust although I use SLIP EWL for lubrication of moving parts.
If the rag action does not work use a USGI cleaning brush with CLP.
We used to deal with this a lot as our arms room in Germany was very damp and despite leaving a healthy coat of oil we would have spot rust within 2-4 weeks. Usually just a rag works.
Flood the area with a brake cleaner/acetone then follow up with ballistol once the acetone evaporates. Rust just happens.
I treat all of my firearms with Eezox… The shits almost impossible to find but there is nothing better in my opinion.
My 870 used to get surface rust. I have had lots of good luck with breakfree Collector.
Just as a side note on rust removal, and this applies more to blued steel where cosmetics is more important…
I’ve had good luck with very fine bronze, copper and brass wool when removing rust from exhibition grade firearms. 0000 steel wool is okay too if you must use steel wool but don’t go any coarser than that. What you do is gently work at the rust with the very fine metal wool, keeping it dry with no oil. Rust is very abrasive, and oil tends to keep the rust in suspension when you’re rubbing it with a rag. This can lead to cosmetic damage and finish removal. By keeping it dry, you can more easily frequently dust off the rust and grab a new piece of wool. This cuts down on the amount of removed rust being worked over the metal. After the big stuff is cut down and there’s no more loose rust on the surface, go ahead and hit it with an oily rag. IMO, this is the best method to remove rust and preserve the finish.
Again, not necessary in this case, but it’s a good thing to keep in your “tool box.”