Black Rough Bore

[grant]

I know I'm talking about pistols but these issues are more of a general nature. That said here goes. I "rescued" a pair of pistols from my brother-in-law. These pistols have brass(or bronze) barrels, when I got them and check the bores they were black. I've cleaned them time and time again and I can't get a ballistol wetted patch to come out clean. I learned later that these pistols were fired and put away without a proper cleaning. I've finally got to fire them recently and I noted that when I push the PRB down the barrel it feels like I'm pushing the ball down through sand paper. The mid point of the barrel seems to be worst spot. I've tried JB Bore cleaning compound. What do you guys recommend to smooth out these bores?

Incidently do brass barrels expand significantly as they heat up? I shot about 25 shots through one of these pistols and the PRB seemed to go down easier towards the end of the shoot. Of course they were out in the hot sun too.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Brass heats and cools rather quickly, so I doubt that getting the barrel warm accounted for the smoothing of your loading. I do think that shooting the barrel has polished the barrel some. You need to use something like steel wool, wrapped around a bore brush to polish the inside of the barrel to make it smooth. Put the brush on a ramrod and chuck the rod in a hand drill to spin it fast enough to remove the rough spots. Just keep moving it back and forth in the barrel so you don't wear out a wide spot in the barrel.Then use lapping compound, JB bore cleaner, toothpaste, etc. to finish the polish.

Remember that Brass is not steel. It can harden with use, and then develop cracks. I would not recommend shooting these barrels on a regular basis, unless they have the mass of a blunderbuss barrel! Even then, I have seen brass cannon barrels develop cracks, where they had to be brazed to be able to shoot even blank charges again. Be very gentle to those brass or bronze barrels. Never heavy load them. Use either 1Fg or 2Fg powder in them, but NOT 3Fg. You don't need the extra pressures generated by FFFg powder in those barrels.

You have not told us much about those guns, but most of the brass barrel models were made to be wall hangers- decorations- rather than to be shot.

There are some museum examples that have brass barrels, particular guns made to serve aboard ships, simply because the brass was much less likely to corrode badly on a voyage. However, the reason those originals survived to be in a museum is probably based on the fact that they were not intended to be used frequently or fired often, and they just lasted long enough to be taken into someone's private home and kept as a relic, or souvenire.

Far fewer blunderbusses, or shotguns with brass or bronze barrels have survived. Most were melted down for their metal, and made into something else, after they ended their careers aboard a ship. The steel lock plates and other steel parts were saved and used to make new guns, with iron or steel barrels.

 

[buspete]

Tell us more about your pair of pistols. I've run across older Pedersoli brass barreled Kentucky style pistols a few times, but can't remember any other commonly available commercial ones.

Try shooting them smooth by using dry brown paper as patching instead of greased cloth. You know, the kind of paper that grocery sacks are made of. The paper will gently polish up the bore for you.

The quality of the brass makes a big difference in a gun barrel. If it is a cast barrel, I'd be leary of it. Disassemble the pistol and look for a seam leftover from the halves of the mold to see if it was cast. If the breechplug is not a separate part, it is surely cast!

I've got a brass barreled blunderbuss in my shop that is here to be salvaged, it was cast, but not well. There is actually a cavity at the breech etc. and it was never meant to be a real shooter. What we are going to do with it is to cut off the breech and bore it out a bit to accept a salvaged piece of Brown Bess barrel from another project to create a liner for the brass barrel. This way, the guy still gets to show off his 1" bore, but can safely shoot it because of the steel liner.

Show us pics of your pistols!!!

 

[paulvallandigham]

Don't be afraid of using a liner. A friend ordered a British Light 6 pound field piece barrel from South Bend Ordinance many years ago now, and while the barrel was a steel casting, he ordered it with a 1/4" steel liner in it. The liner was one unit, with a closed back on it. The liner itself was rated to take the heaviest charge that could be loaded in the barrel, so he had no worries about the cannon blowing up.

When we finished building the carriage, he tried it out using the original British field manuals for the gun, and fired a One Pound Charge-- that's right, an entire can of powder!--- in the barrel with a 6 pound lead ball! The ball was recovered unharmed, but the ears of everyone within 100 feet were left ringing, and the shock wave was impressive. We shot more blank charges out of it than live rounds, at demonstrations, so we finally worked up a load using 1/4 pound powder, and 3/4 pound of ordinary flour. Same amount of smoke, same flame coming out the barrel, but not quite as loud a concussion sound wave. The folks never knew the difference. It cost im a lot less money to shoot that toy!

I think a steel liner for that cast brass blunderbuss would be perfect to put it in good working order. A machine shop could probably provide you with one inch I.D. piping, and even weld a base plug to it. Then all you would need is to find someone to drill out the brass barrel to fit the liner, and you would be in business as soon as the epoxy dries.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Paul V has the good idea, get a machinist to ream the barrel out if it's in question and heat it up to press a steel liner in, and go light on powder charges when you shoot it. A lathe would do the trick I think. Good luck ! :thumbsup: