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There's much more to this than just bore condition.

I'll hit 78 this Fall. My gunsmith shop keeps me too busy, but new folks keep coming.

Pump warm water with a bit of dish soap. Then rinse, then rinse with alcohol. Absorbs and removes all water! Let drain and dry. NOW oil lightly. Wipe again with dry patch the next day os so. If ANY dirt shows, do it again.

Historically??? surely some folks tried anything. I never had the need and sometimes outshot state & national champs.

I was a competitive musket shooter and record setter long ago. When I first shot 25 yds with oem sights, I had this same issue. I didn't want to adjust & affect all distances (where I was right on). Reduced powder charge and found success. Give it a try.

A gun's geometry greatly affects felt recoil. I shoot 45-70 rifles using 530 grain bullets and up to 85 grains 2fg GOEX. I also shoot shotguns. Have you tried shooting your shotgun with heavier charges? Not "soft" by any stretch. But not too bad, either. I have other rifles that don't fit me all...

I've done these. Use Kasenit & follow directions. Not rocket science.

Use household ammonia, but do NOT apply it to the wood! Put wood in a box (cardboard) with a small amount of ammonia (ammonium hydroxide) in a shallow dish. Close up the box and leave in a warm room for a few days, Fumes will gradually darken the wood. Watch progress and stop whenever you like...

May be OK for low usage. Will deteriorate fairly quickly. Best to use sand or sandy soil.

Many folks know about over-doing it with aqua fortis/ferric nitrate. The contrast comes in with vigorous scrubbing with 2-0 steel wool. This can give you a nice slightly wavy surface, too, if that floats your boat. I rather like it!

Pics show about perfect touch hole position. Coned from inside is better. Are you wet-wiping between shots? Always ream touch hole with dental root canal tool. Put a wire close to touch hole diameter and remove after ramming charge home. Dry flash channel with pipe cleaner. All these things...

I've been building over 50 years. Tru Oil is easy and pretty fast & looks great. However it does not wear well. I have had great results using Stock Finish at Brownells. Much harder and goes on at least as efficiently as Tru Oil. Get some! Jim Irwin

And it's difficult to imagine how flame can get in behind a proper size and seated cap on nipple. Yet folks still report chain fires. I wonder if there's ever been good video of such actually happening???

Yep a small charge (10-20 grains should be more than enough) and shoot it out is the way to go. Send a bit of moose milk down to soak the patch, if you want to. Try to seat the ball on the powder if you can. You'll need to clean & dry the bore before reloading & shooting normally. The grease...

Most folks know to put the butt plate in the "pocket" at shoulder. Do that with a typical iron curved antique style buttplate ONCE and never again! OUCH! The guideline is simple and probably defies the specific info you request. So...Try it and move it around until you find the fit that fits...

6 inches is not so hot, pilgrim. I set a record for the 130 yard Hawken match in Oregon about 40 years ago. Shots at a 100 yd bullseye. My Hawken with Douglas barrel 1:66in twist 54 cal. using 100 grains 2fg is dead on at 100 yds. At "approx 130 yds" I aimed at the top edge of the black to hit...

The Lyman is a fairly close replica of a Hawken. They tend to shoot well, too. $300 would be too darn much for a sewer pipe bore one. Lots of them on gun auction sites.

NOT A HAWKEN! May be stamped so, but it's not. Damn shame the many movies furthered the mis-identification.

Zoli Zouave is made in Italy. but any schematic for such will be essentially identical. I suggest VTIreplicagunparts.com

Easier fix is a few light taps to the top edges of the dovetail cut to tighten the fit to the sight. One can also use a center-punch in the slot to raise some dimples to similarly tighten the fit.