Messed up and need advice

[seth30]

I have a mossberg 500, and consider it a very universal gun.   I use it for deer, coyotes, upland, and now waterfowl.  Well my last add on for its use has caused some major damage to to my gun.  I have never hunted in a saltwater enviroment, and after my last waterfowl hunt I got some mud on the barrel of my shotgun.  Told myself I would clean it, and when I got home had to deal with other things Took out the shotgun yesterday to find rust spots, and missing paint.  I used hopps to clean it as much as a could but still have rust spots and missing paint.  My question is can I sand it down, and use krylon or another similar paint, or does this require a gunsmith?

[high country]

use a fine steel wool and light oil to get rid of the rust. if you then want to paint or blue it.....or both, you will need to get the oil off with a degreaser.....lq thinner, MEK, acetone, xylene....etc, then paint away.

[seth30]

Thanks for the help.  This is my first rust issue, I am still kicking myself in the a^% for this. 

[Fishnclifff]

OXPHO-BLUE FROM Brownells and steel wool. It eats the rust and reblues at the same time.
 Use gloves and a well ventilated area.
Don't ask me how I know.