Take off the old bluing with navel gel using some 0000 steel wool, rub it with the grain a few strokes and the bluing comes right off. This save a bunch of time sanding. Use Laurel Mountain rust bluing to put a luster blue or brown on. Cost less than 20.00 a bottle and is made here in Indiana.

http://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown_inst.htm


Take rust out of the bore by electrolysis. Formula is Arm & Hammer Washing soda and distilled water. Make a sacrifice rod use a steel 1/4" rod, three plastic 1/4" inside - 1/2" outside bushing, six - 1/16" short roll pins and one pin longer than the bore diameter, and a rubber washer thats big enough to cover the muzzle with a hole in the middle for the rod. All this is available at your local hardware and costs less than 5-6.00. Oh, forgot you need a small rubber cork to pug the nipple hole.

Use the long roll pin to keep the rod up off the bottom of the bore about 1" by drilling a hole in the rod and inserting the pin. Next space out the plastic bushings equal lengths on the rod and pin each one above and below the bushing. Make sure to put the rubber washer under the top long pin so it insulates the top pin from touching metal.

Fill the bore with the washing soda and water solution but leave enough room for the rod so it doesnt over flow. Fill it up to the top. Now hook up a small milli-amp battery charger, the kind you see at walmart to charge 6-12v rechargeable lantern batteries. I set mine to 6 v. Hook up the positive to the rod and negative to the barrel. The solution will bubble a lot and over flow so wrap a rag around the barrel. You can add solution as it bubbles out. I clamp them in a vice with the muzzle point up. The object is to have an insulated positive rod in the bore and the rust will transfer to the rod. If the bore is real rusty take out the rod and clean it and add new solution. It takes a couple hours or more but the results are fantastic.

And before I forget use 1/4 cup of Arm& Hammer washing soda in 1 gallon of distilled water. h.h.