A barrel I would like to use.

[tom in nc]

This old .40 (?) caliber barrel has seven grooves so I cannot accurately measure land to land. The best I can do with my calipers is 3/8". I suppose it would be considered .40 cal?
How should I start to clean it. It looks better down past the first couple of inches from the muzzle.
How aggressive do I want to be with the cleaning? Brass brush for a .38 caliber to start with?

 

[leadhoarder]

Careful using those calipers. I would hate to see you damage the barrel.

 

[tom in nc]

Careful using those calipers. I would hate to see you damage the barrel.

Yeah, that's why I keep plastic calipers around. Won't scratch anything!

 

[64Springer]

View attachment 225943View attachment 225944
This old .40 (?) caliber barrel has seven grooves so I cannot accurately measure land to land. The best I can do with my calipers is 3/8". I suppose it would be considered .40 cal?
How should I start to clean it. It looks better down past the first couple of inches from the muzzle.
How aggressive do I want to be with the cleaning? Brass brush for a .38 caliber to start with?

A brush the same size as the bore will get stuck when you try to pull it back out.

Use an undersized brush wrapped with some green scotchbrite pad or course steel wool.

Scrub dry. No oil. For now.


P.S. 3/8th is a long way from .400. Try to insert a 3/8th screw into the bore. If it wiggles just a touch it's probably a .40. If it won't go in at all it's probably a .36.

 

[poker]

Back in the days that barrel was made, they didnt worry about it being any certain caliber. It could as easily be a .38 as a .40

 

[Sam squanch]

Get a pcv pipe that will contain it. Then fill it with plain water and let soak for a few days. Is the breech plug out? Is it loaded? If the plug is out, get a bore brush you can push all the way through- make sure to have a long enough cleaning rod! Just plain water will dissolve a lot of crud. You should be able to determine the bore condition from there….

 

[PathfinderNC]

Have it bored out or sleeved.

 

[Flintandsteel]

It looks tone coned. So probably smaller than a .040.

 

[Rawhide67]

A former workmate of Bill Large, told me to use a drill bit, not the cutting end. Some wd40 will make it easier. Steel in the bore 1.time isnt hurting much, and it will get you a lot closer to the right diameter than calipers.

 

[hawkeye2]

If it were mine and I hoped to save it:

Make sure it's unloaded.
Remove the breech plug.
Using a stainless steel bore brush clean any loose rust from the bore not worrying about tight rust.
Clean the loose rust from the outside.
Get a piece of plastic pipe larger than the barrel and cap one end. Drop the barrel in and cover with EvapoRust or a molasses & water mix. Save yourself the time & work, let the soak remove the rust and it will get to the bottom of the pits which brushs and Scotchbrite won't.
When the solution is done working remove the barrel & rinse, clean as needed. Examine carefully and determine whether you can make the bore useable or if it might need to be bored to a larger size or lined.

I bought one of the 115 piece drill bit sets (Numbered, letter, fractional sizes) from Harbor Freight and use the end that goes in the drill for plug gauges. Once I've found a bit that is a snug fit I measure it with a micrometer as they don't always agree with the size listed on the index which is probably why they are so cheap.

 

[rich pierce]

Soaking in a rust remover will remove the lovely external patina.

As I posted on the other forum, if it has a drum and you want to in-breech it, the drum must often be removed first. If hard to unbreech use penetrating oil for days. In the end, heat is sometimes needed to remove a breech plug. Heat the barrel with a propane torch. Once it is clean, you’ll know how bad things are and it’s likely the rifling will need re-cutting (freshening). Re-lining won’t look right on close inspection. Getting it bored out and re-rifled will result in a bigger bore, usually a standard caliber.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Get a piece of plastic pipe larger than the barrel and cap one end. Drop the barrel in and cover with EvapoRust or a molasses & water mix. Save yourself the time & work, let the soak remove the rust and it will get to the bottom of the pits which brushs and Scotchbrite won't.
When the solution is done working remove the barrel & rinse, clean as needed. Examine carefully and determine whether you can make the bore useable or if it might need to be bored to a larger size or lined.

LD

 

[andy52]

Have it bored out or sleeved.

I just had Bobby Hoyt do a re-bore on an original barrel, he doesn't recommend sleeving an iron barrel, his take on it is that iron barrel barrels are more accurate re-bored.

 

[user 34300]

Bobby knows. I would also magna-flux the barrel. A hand forged barrel may be fine or have flaws that make it unsafe.

I have has stainless brushes cut soft steel barrels. The barrel steel came out like a steel wool ball.

 

[rich pierce]

If all you care about is the exterior looking like an original then a re-bore and re-rifling will be great. But the rifling won’t look original.

 

[tom in nc]

If the bore turns out to be useable I intend to rebrown the outside. I have the lock and trigger(s) that were on the gun. The barrel has the remains, sawn and filed flush, of two lugs that indicate it one originally in a full stock. The stock I have is a half stock. If the barrel turns out nice I will restock it, either full, or do a better job of filling the unneeded slots and go with a half stock. Maybe use one spot for a sling attachment? The barrel is 7/8" so I'm looking for a stock now.

 

[tom in nc]

A trip to the hardware store got me a piece of pipe and a cap.

The breech plug came out easier than I expected. Now the barrel will soak in Evaporust for a few days. I lucked into a deal on Evaporust a couple of years ago. I went to buy a gallon at my favorite local hardware store, run by two brothers, whom I went to high school with. One told me he had a 5gal bucket of it in stock that no one would buy because of the price. He sold it to me for $40. That's less than the price for two one gallon buckets.

 

[tom in nc]

I posted this before, I think, but...the two spots on the underside of my barrel, where I guess lugs were originally, have pieces of brass attached. I can see numbers or letters on them so they must have been made from a coin(?) or medal. I wish I could see enough letters or numbers to figure out what it/they were. There are only two. The pics show each, upside down and right side up(?).

 

[tom in nc]

I am pleased & surprised at how clean my barrel is after 14 hours in Evaporust. I believe it will brown well when the time comes.

The threads in the barrel and on the bolster appear good. The threads appear to be courser than 7/16x14. As shown there are a lot of preexisting vice jaw prints on it. I chucked it in my drill press, after I took these pics and cleaned it up a bit but it will need more work, maybe on my buddy's lathe

I found a drill bit that fit very well, maybe a little tight, but the closest one I have, and checked it with my mic. Looks like .3518 +/- to me. Maybe a .350 ball with .010 patch?
It's back in the soup 'til tomorrow.
Then I will work more on the bore.

 

[tom in nc]

If all else checks out with my barrel I won't worry about saving the drum

Here's the fix, if I can be sure the threads in my barrel are 7/16-14.
OR put in a plug with a touch hole a make it a flintlock?