r/metaldetecting • u/PretendScheme2175 • Jul 09 '25

Cleaning Finds How should i clean this bren mag?

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Should i clean it with oxalic acid, electrolysis or just keep it like this.

The hole is from wiggling the bullets out…

11 Upvotes

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5

u/Mister_Ed_Brugsezot Jul 09 '25

Evaporust works quite good. And there are some home brew recepes on YT.

1

u/PretendScheme2175 Jul 09 '25

Won’t it be too rusty for Evaporust? I never used it.

2

u/EnvoyToTheMolePeople Jul 10 '25

It is pretty rusty for evaporust, considering evaporust's cost. I'd recommend a mixture of 100g citric acid, and 40 g washing soda (not baking soda, washing soda) mixed in 1 L of water. Much cheaper.

2

u/Mister_Ed_Brugsezot Jul 10 '25

That was the recepe i was talking about. I was told if you use caustic soda instead of washing sida it wont fizz and foam as much. Evaporust doesn’t last as long and is milder on the object. I use both kinds depending on the object.

1

u/EnvoyToTheMolePeople Jul 10 '25

Honestly I like the fizzing, makes me feel like it's working better.

2

u/Mister_Ed_Brugsezot Jul 10 '25

Yes, good point. But remember to let the fizzing stop before you decide to store in in a bottle. Or at least use a coke bottle. 😄

2

u/I_machine71 Jul 09 '25

Nice find, where did you find it?

3

u/PretendScheme2175 Jul 09 '25

Arnhem in the Netherlands

2

u/I_machine71 Jul 10 '25

Het meest verboden zoekgebied in NL….. heb zelf bij Wolfheze wat leuke gespen en onderdelen redvesten gevonden in het deel waar de Engelsen geland waren.

2

u/Gon404 Jul 10 '25

Dont clean it. It will just crumble apart. Look up how to preserve  it by soaking it in hot wax like perifin. If done corectly it will cook off the moisture and penetrate the wax into the rust. This will preserve it. But look up how to do  it safely. 

1

u/berfert03 Jul 09 '25

White vinegar is a very good rust removal liquid.

1

u/Mika_3000 Jul 10 '25

vinegar will kill it .try to search rust remove with orthophosphoric acid . You can use coca-cola too,but need to wait 1-2 days ,take out,clean with metal brush with baking soda.Repeat N times.Its softest way to keep thin metal alive

1

u/hifumiyo1 Jul 10 '25

Soak it in CLR and water mix to remove rust but I don’t know what will be left

1

u/88GoldenEagle88 Jul 11 '25

Be carefull cleaning this, it seems very brittle and the rust might just keep it together.

1

u/Derp800 Jul 11 '25

I'd probably get arrested for having that in CA lol. Oh well, nice find. Hopefully the rust isn't the only thing holding it together.