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Burned barrel ??

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oldbadger

32 Cal.
Joined
Mar 13, 2004
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Hello - I was given a 50cal t/c barrel that supposedly the gun was in a fire. What do you guys think of the serviceability of the barrel -- shoot able or ??

Thanks Jim
 
scalper said:
Don't have to think about that question..
Answer is No....Not useable after a fire...
TOSS IT & FORGET IT.


Hmmmm, why would a muzzle loading barrel not be usable after being in a fire?

ML barrels are soft steel, and not hardened and tempered, so what is there to worry about?

The only concern I might have is if the barrel were red hot and doused with water from a fire hose. That might raise a concern, because I don't know what steel TC uses for their barrels.

Maybe someone who knows more about metallurgy than I will chime in.
 
ML barrel were historically made from soft wrought irn which wouldnt be affected by losing its temper, but modern repro barrels might be temepred and if so the temper is definately gone.
Also if the barrel was in the fire long enough it might have had carbon burnt out of it or other impurities burnt into it.
Then again it may still be a perfectly servicable barrel.
Needless to say i think the warranty is shot.
 
I'd suggest checking with T/C about the warranty, and about tempering issues.
If it is unfit for shooting or replacement under warranty, it would make a couple of pipe tomahawks, or it could serve as a platform for some cleaning experiments or powder burning tests....
 
oldbadger said:
I was given a 50cal t/c barrel that supposedly the gun was in a fire.

Why do you say "supposedly" in a fire?

Is all the bluing burned off?
 
IMHO, I'd junk it. The consequences of a barrel failure are far greater than taking a chance at it holding up.
 
I had a barrel of questionable parentage once. I cut it in half and used it to pin a landscape timber to the ground since I didn't have any rebar. It worked well for that purpose.

Many Klatch
 
Was it in a house that completely burned all the way to the ground? If the T.C.'s wood didnt burn all the way up from the fire I'd say its OK.........I've seen guns that were in fires that all that happened to them was when the fire dept put out the fire the wet ashes ate the bluing off of the gun and stained the wood. If you could get more info from the guy who lost it in the fire it would make a difference. Plus take out the little spring from the rear sight and see if it has been affected by the fire. That should be an indicator as to how much heat was at the barrel.................Bob
 
J.D. said:
scalper said:
Don't have to think about that question..
Answer is No....Not useable after a fire...
TOSS IT & FORGET IT.
[/quote]


Hmmmm, why would a muzzle loading barrel not be usable after being in a fire?

ML barrels are soft steel, and not hardened and tempered, so what is there to worry about?

The only concern I might have is if the barrel were red hot and doused with water from a fire hose. That might raise a concern, because I don't know what steel TC uses for their barrels.

Maybe someone who knows more about metallurgy than I will chime in.


yep....
 
There is no need to take the chance with the barrel. Even if it was safe (probably not), you don't know how warped the barrel would be from the fire. Years ago I lost several rifles in a motorhome fire. I salvaged the barrels and other metal parts from the rifles. The fire had been hot enough to melt some of the brass furnature.

I was able to reharden the parts from the salvaged locks and triggers and make other things out of them. I didn't trust the integrety of the barrels so I now have an unusual rifle stand and fire grill. Great conversation pieces. :)
 
I'd just proof it good. The steels such as 12L14, 4140 or 4150 would be little effected by wood heat. The fact that you're thinking about shooting it would say that it still looks like a barrel. Not half melted.

Paul
 
Hello guys - The barrel is not melted and only seems to be some sort of plastic or something melted on the side with the blueing dulled. The spring in the site is still there and ' looks like ' a spring but has lost any ' spring ' to it. The breech plug is removable and it seems straight as an arrow looking down the bore - nice and shiny to. It came with the lock and it is missing some parts but seems good. No wood ' stock ' came with it to see how bad it was. Brass rod thimbles are dark but not melted or anything.

Thanks for the help -- Jim
 
Without more information and being able to examine in person, it hard to advise you with any accuracy. Such things as to where it was in the fire (house,barn,shop etc. would be needed. I would think TC would tell you to discard it.This in itself would not be an actual assesment of the damage, but if TC were to say
'use-it" it would put them in a poor legal position. Take it to a gunsmith and ask him/her to assess the damage.
 
I would be inclined to agree w/ the other members and set it in the trash bin.Better to be safe than sorry.You mentioned the sight spring losing its spring temper,that could be an indicator of what the barrel was subjected to,although there is more mass to the barrel than to the spring,so it is conceivable the spring was affected while the barrel was not.There are many factors to consider.How hot was the fire?How hot did the barrel become? What was the length of exposure?Was the heat applied evenly to the whole barrel?Then we could explore the steel itself.If you contact T/C I am sure they will say to discard it.To do otherwise could open them up to litigation.There's just too many unanswered variables here to safely use this barrel,imho.Have you considered consulting a certified gunsmith?Safety first.Best regards,J.A.
 
get some cannon fuse load the barrel with 250 grains of 3f and two patched balls...tie it to a tree in a VERY safe place. stick the fuse in the nipple hole make sure there's powder in the hole.

Light the fuse and station yourself behind a bigger tree out of the line of fire or schrapnel. I'd not even look out from behind the tree for 20 minutes. Take a book.
If it's still there after the boom...you got a winner.

If it's not...find the pieces...make a good picture to post here.
 

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