Bore Scope Results - Interpretation?

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Harry Marinakis said:
I did a little Scotch Brite cleaning, and took some new photos with the bore cleaned up some more. This is mostly down by the breech.

I talked with Robert Hoyt, looks like I'll send him my rifle after the New Year.
A .54 caliber is in my future.

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You of course can have it re-bored but a lot of that roughness looks like carbon fouling to me and a good lead slug lap job will make that rifle shoot as good as new! The roughness is chewing up the patches and hooking the fouling.
The breech plug will need removed so the bore can be traversed one end to the other if you decide to try lapping.
Carbon fouling cooked on is harder to remove than jacket metal fouling in some instances.
Lapping doesn't change the diameters very much , what it does is take the sharp edge off any pitting and cleans out carbon fouling. As long as the patches don't tear the rifle will shoot as accurately as it ever did.
 
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I think your rifle is shooting pretty good. And the patches aren't burning out. I'd work on some load development and see if it can tighten up. If not, then I'd look at lapping it. Shoot again and if it shoots any better, leave it alone. Looking at a mirror smooth bore using modern optics is just giving you something to worry about. Try a different lube and 2F powder if you're not.
 
Hi Harry, from looking at your before & after pics I'd say the time spent getting the fouling and corrosion removed was time well spent and it cleaned up well. The rifle might shoot pretty well as is and should definitely be attempted, maybe with a thicker patch. I've owned plenty of rifles that shot well (and a couple that shot xlent) with a clean but pitted bore.
On the flip side, I recently took delivery on a B. Hoyt barrel that was opened up to 54 and it shot very well.
One other comment I'd like to make is EC recommended the Scotch Brite pad and that's what I do except I use the S/B patch wet with a solvent like Hoppes, Ed's Red or PB Blaster.
Good Luck with your project!
 
Did anybody ever make or try to use a low flow rate power washer to clean their black powder barrels? Sounds like a potentially good idea, but low flow rate would be very important.
 
rrebuck said:
Did anybody ever make or try to use a low flow rate power washer to clean their black powder barrels? Sounds like a potentially good idea, but low flow rate would be very important.
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There is a guy on here who rigged up his small gardening pump up tank sprayer to do the same thing.

Perhaps he will post the picture again.
 
Harry Marinakis said:
I bought a 35-year old .50 cal flintlock last year, and I finally put a borescope down the barrel. Can anyone with technical expertise tell me what you're seeing?

The bore is pretty uniform all the way down, no particular damage in any one spot that I can see. The entire bore looks about the same.

I do see some area of blackened bore with shiny metal poking through (last photo). Is that what I'm seeing? Or is that lead stuck to the bore?

I've heard some people say they can shoot all day without swabbing their barrel, but this thing fouls up pretty good after only a few shots. I swab every other round, and that seems to keep it loading easily. 0.490 ball and 0.015' pillow ticking patch. I've tried 0.018" and 0.020" patches but ramming the ball down becomes quite difficult with thicker patches, even with a clean barrel.

I have soaked the bore with hydrogen peroxide and scrubbed it out good, but I'm too scared to put a brush down the barrel.

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hey friend. I don't have a bore scope yet.May I ask what the name of the one that you are using. That is very clear 👌 👏
 
French Colonial said:
There is a guy on here who rigged up his small gardening pump up tank sprayer to do the same thing.

Perhaps he will post the picture again.
Click to expand...
That would be me. Here it is, won't help with the corrosion and pitting but will clean the bore from breech to muzzle. A pressure washer with the longer modification would work just as well. I experimented with modifying a steam cleaner but it didn't do as good a job than plain water from the garden sprayer.
sprayer 001.jpg

sprayer 002.jpg
 
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I had a .54 TC Renegade barrel I mentioned around here before. I picked it up on GB from a less than honest seller when he answered my bore condition question. It looked like an inverted cobble stone street from end to end. It took more than 1,000 patches to clean it up. Scotch-brite, JB compound, brushes, and more. In the end, that thing still shot decent groups!! I was shocked. Eventually sold it to someone who had Mr. Hoyt turn it into a .58.

I say follow the great advice given and take time to shoot it, probably thicker patches will do far better than not. Start with lighter loads and see what it will do.
 
Thank you all for the comments.

I don't relish the thought of working up a new powder-patch-ball combination after re-cutting the bore to .54 cal, and melting down 1,000 balls and re-casting new ones.

So I'm just gonna scrub my bore with Scotch Brite and valve grinding paste, and continue to swab frequently.

After scrubbing the bore, I can probably move from a 0.015" patch to a thicker 0.018" patch.
 
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rrebuck said:
Did anybody ever make or try to use a low flow rate power washer to clean their black powder barrels? Sounds like a potentially good idea, but low flow rate would be very important.
Click to expand...
i don't use a power washer but do use a steam cleaner. original purpose was a wall paper striper.
i have a tube that runs up the bore and delivers steam to the breach plug face or blows steam through the fire chamber on a patent breach. i slowly draw the tube out and it cleans the bore as it withdraws. only use it after an extensive shooting session though. or maybe I am just getting lazy.
normal cleaning is tight patch soaked with windex twice. patches soaked with moose milk twice. patch with 99% alcohol then patch with ballistol.
 
What is your main purpose for this rifle? If it's just for hunting I would bench rest it and find the best load. If those groups are hunting accurate why spend the money re-boring? If it won't group or If you want a target rifle then spend the money and enjoy a .54 cal. I agree that frequent cleaning can be annoying but for hunting it's not an issue.
 
morehops52 said:
What is your main purpose for this rifle? If it's just for hunting I would bench rest it and find the best load. If those groups are hunting accurate why spend the money re-boring? If it won't group or If you want a target rifle then spend the money and enjoy a .54 cal. I agree that frequent cleaning can be annoying but for hunting it's not an issue.
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Whether it is pistols, rifles, unmentionables, whatever...I am in the "Just shoot it" crowd.

You really do not know what you have until then, I am like others here who have seen bores that were questionable shoot great.

BUT! It does give us something to obsess over when there is nothing else to do. One of those navel gazing things.
 

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