Brand New Axis w/ Stainless barrel -- Rust isssue, or somethign else?

Hi all

I am new to bolt action rifles & stainless steel barrels, heard great things about Savage rifles so I picked up one two days ago at Cabela's. So here's my issue, everything on this gun is pristine, except when I went to clean it, I notice what appears to be rust inside the bolt chamber. Anyhow, there were orange / red-ish spots all throughout the chamber, some dark, some light in color, keep in mind this is all stainless steel so I was a bit surprised by this.

Here is where it gets fun. I've cleaned rust off "blued" guns before, it always wipes off orange. This would not wipe off at all with oil and a rag, nothing showing on the rag, so I took some oil & 0000 steel wool to it and it started to come off but still, never any orange color on my rag, just "black" and "gray". If I really look close, I can see some discoloration where the spots used to be, hardly noticeable, but I am just perplexed. There are a few spots that I can't reach so if it's not rust, I'll leave it be but if it is, I want to get everything clean.

So is this come kind of burned-in residue from the CNC process? Or is this actually rust that acts a bit differently due to this being stainless?

Anyhow, can't wait to take this out and shoot it but I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks

PS. next time I will bring a flashlight to the store and look a bit closer before I take it home... ;)

I believe what your seeing is paint/ink residue from the proof load. The proof loads are colored so that they are identified as such, and the one I have seen was red.

The first time I saw it, I thought it was rust also. But I have heard it is a generic metal perservative (cosmoline -brown in color) used for protection during warehouse storage and shipment. It does look like surface rust, but comes off with a rag/patch and some bore cleaner. The assembled action and barrel must be dipped in the stuff before it is put in the stock. Because you also see where it has collected and dried in the threads when you remove the factory barrel.

Thanks both of you for the help... I'll try some bore cleaner on the few spots that are left. I am relieved this is not rust as it sure did not behave like rust when trying to clean it....

Thanks Again....

stainless guns still get rust but not as quickly as blued guns. the stainless is not true stainless steel.

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Originally Posted by devildogandboy

stainless guns still get rust but not as quickly as blued guns. the stainless is not true stainless steel.

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This is an inaccurate statement. To say that the steel isn't true stainless is simply incorrect. There are different types of stainless steel. These types include Austenitic, Ferritic, Martensitic, Duplex and Precipitate-Hardened. The types used in barrels are 410 and 416 (I think 416 is more common), which are Martensitic. Martensitic stainless is a magnetic type of stainless steel. That has nothing to do with it being "true" stainless. It's just a different type. It just so happens that the most common type is Austenitic which is the only type that is non-magnetic. You would not want a barrel made out of Austenitic stainless, it's wear resistance is much lower than the Martensitic and so is its strength.

1ShotKing