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Good morning members. What do you use to remove light rust from the barrels and action without damaging or scratching the patina? Thank you. Bill K

My first choice is always Big.45 Frontier Pad with a little solvent like Hoppe's.

I use stick of board chalk to remove rust! First spray or wipe the barrels with any light machine oil .Then use the stick of the board chalk to rub off the rust. The rust will be removed ,there will be no damage to the barrel finish. Chalk was one of the abrasives used by gunsmiths of old to finish polish barrels prior to bluing or browning.

Calcium Carbonate (whiting powder) and French Chalk (talc) are the two substances commonly used by old school gunsmiths. I use them both still, but mainly as a degreaser and to soak up contamination when blacking barrels.
Calcium carbonate is/was used commonly as a degreaser when prepping the barrels and metal for blacking. It was mixed with either water or alcohol into a paste, applied with a rag, and then used to scrub the metal.
French Chalk was also used for the same purpose, depending on the location and its abundance.