Greetings all; I have a 1915 Stevens that is in great condition. there is no rust or pitting on the barrel, but there is a bit of oxidation on the sight. It's minimal. I am hesitant to do anything about it, other than keep it clean. It's my understanding that changing the original condition reduces the value. What are best practices for maintaining collectible rifles? thanks.

merhere,  Oxidation on the sight is not an original condition. I treat my guns like they've been in constant use, since day of manufacture. If they're dirty, I clean them, if they're rusty I remove the rust, if I scratch the stock, I try to touch it up. There's an old saying "when you're selling a gun it's patina, but when you're buying a gun, it's rust" That's my story & I'm sticking to it!!!      ...MIKE...

Something about bluing, which in the early days used to be called "browning" due to the brownish tint, is that the bluing finish is really a very dark hard rust that is tough and durable. 

After the passage of time and neglect, the bluing breaks down toward the softer red rust, forming what we call patina, provided we are on the selling side of the table of course. 

I agree with what most have already told you with one small exception. Do not use steel wool on the rust, use bronze wool. Bronze wool can be purchased from Brownells. The bronze wool will get out the rust without polishing off the bluing. Use it with something like Kroil and go carefully.

40 Rod

Thanks for the tips. I will try the bronze wool first.

With the other guys, no rust or dirt on my guns. That Patina BS is mostly used by dealers or traders working on your selling price. If they want to own "attic condion" fine but no room in my rack for it.

I don't sand or polish out the old finish though just get everything nice and clean.  To preserve light application of good oil on the metal, very light wiped on with a rag,  If the wood is dry some thin oil rubbed in is good, lately I use Watco brand tung oil instead of linseed.  Once clean I give whole gun a rub with paste wax, plain old floor wax. Old leather nothing better than Pecard dressing.

Boats

I nagree with 40_Rod,I use bronze in these cases of minor rust along with Kroil with exceptional results and less harm to barrel finish--Fritz

This is all very helpful. The spot I am referring to is at the top of the front sight cylinder. It was probably scraped along the way.  I called it oxidation instead of all out rust because it is just a color shift from barrel blu to brown. There isn't any "texture" or pitting like an aggressive rust spot.

If the wood is real dirty, take it off the gun, make a "mild" solution of TSP in some hot water & scrub it with a piece of terry cloth towel, rince with clear water & let dry for 24 hours,then put some thinned Tru-Oil on. If it's really crudded up & black around the inletting, make a strong batch & scrub or soak it in that, then finish it however you like.( I like Tru-Oil ) If you soak it, use a little heat to dry it & as the oil leeches out of the inletting wipe it off with paper towels.            ...MIKE...

Oh, and when wet-sanding, put a bit of dishwashing liquid in the water.  That will prevent the paper from loading-up.   

I've often run old, oily stocks thru the dishwasher to get the crud out.  Being single, I don't have to explain this to a wife, however.  Use the hottest water setting the machine will provide.  Does an amazing job, but do plan to re-do the entire finish.  There won't be much trace of the old one if it was an oil finish to begin with.

I can't believe this post--everyone agrees!
Agree with most everything here too---I have a saying that if you get 100 shooters together, you'll get 101 ways to clean a gun!
My 2 cents;
Yep--best way to preserve a gun is to shoot it
Keep it clean and lightly oil it afterwards
To remove rust I'd been using 0000 steel wool (going as lightly as possible) and WD-40 (for external cleaning only--I don't use it on the internals or for regular lubrication or protection) Seems to work better than Hoppes for rust removal with the wool) I switched to bronze wool a few years ago as others say (also from West Marine) just because.
I also go over the bluing with Simi-Chrome by Happich--gets rust out of the blue you can't see--you can google it or most good motorcycle shops carry it as a chrome cleaner.  Using it for decades and no harm yet.
Final treatment is either a light coat of Rem Oil or Eezox or Flitz polish depending on how long I'll store it.  Have also used Boston furniture wax too.  Still playing around here, after all these decades. 


Slumlords comments --he's talking about Big Frontier 45 Metal Cleaner--web site is  " (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) stainless steel wool (which is softer than regular steel wool  I use it mostly for deleading a dark bore, but have used it on the externals of a gun that couldn't be hurt much more in some areas, and it did no harm.  The Wal-Mart equivalent is a "Choreboy" scouring pad in the housewares dept.  Never used it, but some members of my pistol club do and say it's OK

Wood--my go to for cleaning has been just plain alcohol and 0000 steel wool. Works great and dries very quickly (as in minutes) so no need for extensive drying.

IF the stock is really stained or oil-soaked, then I go to another marine product--Teak wood cleaner, also from West Marine, and then use alcohol again.  Teak cleaners usually have a little oxalic acid in them and the alcohol gets the last of it ou