Cleaning Neglected Rifle

[Longtrain]

My buddy called me to tell me he bought a used ML from a guy at work. Well the rifle is a Percussion 50 Cal. The rifle is in pretty poor shape, there is some minor surface rust, but the bore shows rust on the lands and grooves. The nitwit that owned it must have shot BP and failed to clean it properly.

The rod, appears to drop to the bottom of the barrel, but I'll pull the nipple today and see if I can get light to confirm it's not loaded.

Is there any cleaning method that can clean the rust from the barrel and safely get this to shoot again, or should he hang it over the bar? I read something about evapo-rust, is that a remedy?

Thanks,

Tony

 

[1sgt]

My buddy called me to tell me he bought a used ML from a guy at work. Well the rifle is a Percussion 50 Cal. The rifle is in pretty poor shape, there is some minor surface rust, but the bore shows rust on the lands and grooves. The nitwit that owned it must have shot BP and failed to clean it properly.

The rod, appears to drop to the bottom of the barrel, but I'll pull the nipple today and see if I can get light to confirm it's not loaded.

Is there any cleaning method that can clean the rust from the barrel and safely get this to shoot again, or should he hang it over the bar? I read something about evapo-rust, is that a remedy?

Thanks,

Tony

On one like that I remove the barrel from the stock. Use plenty of Liquid Wrench or WD 40 to soak inside and some around the nipple threads. Let it soak, it takes some time to work. Remove the lock and trigger for inspection, cleaning and relubing. A stiff wire brush and more WD in the barrel will remove a lot of the rust. Repeat this untill you have removed most of the rust. Next I would clean all of the loosened rust with hot water with some Dawn dishliquid with the wire brush. Rinse and dry. Run a clean tight patch lubed with Wd 40 down the bore. If it caches and still feels rough I would use valve lapping compound to smothe things a little more. Rinse and dry. Lube the parts with Ballistol and reassemble. If the bore is pitted the pits will blead rust, but the barrel may shoot OK if it doesn't tear patches. After all that hard work cleaning shoot it a lot. The more you shoot it the slicker the bore will become. I would not use a chemical rust remover unless you intend to re-blue the barrel. Anything that dissolves the rust will remove the bluing. I have used Electrolitic cleaning on some barrels.
I have used these methods on many used muzzleloaders. Many of them have been shot one time and never cleaned. The lock and trigger clean up like new. The barrel may take some time. The more you shoot and clean the better it will get.

 

[necchi]

I just did one with Electolysis, worked great. http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/264212/
The Evapo-rust has some high ratings too, polishing compounds, steel wool, brass charcloth and elbo grease, all are ways to remove rust from bores.
Many times you can get them back to shooting well, but once rust starts it's a booger to keep up on. The pit's are still in the metal and leave places for rust to start again. It can be done, but one must be ever vigilant.

 

[tecum-tha]

Remove the rust asap after you made sure the thing is not loaded. I like the Remington Barrel cleaner,because the previous owner may have shot maxieballs or other conicals with direct lead to barrel contact. Use it 5 times. Then I would swab the barrel with a penetrating oil that creeps under the remaining rust and then clean with bronze brushes until all the rust is gone.Use a spinning handle rangerod for this that lets the brush follow the rifling. I personally like Ballistol a lot on all of my rifles and prefer it over WD-40. If you're lucky, there is no real pitting in the barrel yet.After all the surface rust is removed, you may want to lead lap the barrel with some polishing compound. This only applies if you can't run a patch smooth down the barrel.If a patch runs down the barrel smooth, it is not a problem,but requires proper cleaning and care.

 

[Gatofeo]

Iosso Bore Cleaner (preferred) or JB Bore Paste on a tight patch will remove the last of the rust, once you've removed the bulk of the rust.
Either product will smooth the bore, but I prefer to use Iosso because it works faster than the JB.
I don't know that I'd use valve grinding compound, might be too abrasive. I don't know, but I do know that Iosso and JB are made for removing rust and fouling from gun bores.
I'd start with a bore brush and solvent, as others have suggested, and finish with Iosso or JB.
Don't abandon a pitted bore. Often, they'll still be accurate despite their appearance. If the patch seats with difficulty or gets torn, the bore needs more smoothing.
Ultimately, there's always the option of rebarreling with a new .50 barrel, or reboring that barrel to .54 caliber. The old timers "refreshed" their worn or pitted barrels to a slightly larger caliber. It may be a choice for you, provided there's enough steel around the barrel to do so.

 

[RedFeather]

Glad you posted this. I've got one I need to "rustore", too. Question about brush sizes. Which size for which bore? I tried a slightly undersized brush in a .45 and only inserted it just beyond the tip when I thought I would need pliers to pull it back out. Not familiar with bore brushes on these since I've been lucky so far with good barrels that only needed regular cleaning.

 

[tecum-tha]

Brush size depends on the barrel in question.
But use only brushes where the wire is threaded through the screw-on piece. Don't use the cheap crimped on brushes on ML. If it gets stuck,because you pull the threads from the wire,you will have no fun trying to pull it...
Look at the picture on the link how the twisted wire of the mop/brush goes through the threaded part.These are the brushes you want to use with ML. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/TableList.aspx?catID=6&subID=49&styleID=148

Don't use this kind of grimp style brushes more common found in most gun stores,where the twisted wire is held bu grimping the aluminum thraded part.As an example: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/3...n-bore-brush-12-gauge-5-16-x-27-thread-bronze

 

[SgtSchutzen]

If the bore`s not rusted too bad you can put a piece of fine steel wool on a cleaning jag and work it up and down the bore. That will smooth it up alot. You can never get rid of rust pits but sometimes they clean up good enough that you can save the bore.

 

[stosh]

just went through the same thing with a cva hawken 50 cal. with mine, the drum was damaged, so I drilled out the drum and removed the breech plug. this made cleaning a whole lot easier, but I don't suggest you do that. my barrel was in the worst condition possible, very dirty, and lots of pitting. I spent many hours cleaning it, with various solvent and wire brushes, steel wool, emery cloth, and even rubbing compound. After many hours, it was as clean as it was going to get. I loaded it with 45 gr. of black powder and a round ball with .015 lubed patch. shot it @ 25 yds. and shot a 2" group. Don't get discouraged, I'll bet you can salvage the barrel you have. May take some work, but stick with it. hope this helps.

 

[RedFeather]

Thanks for setting me straight. Think I'll be putting in an order to TOTW. I need a couple of wedges, too, and I see Zonie recommended slotted ones in another thread. This a great place or what? :thumbsup:

 

[Longtrain]

Thanks to everyone for their input on this issue.

I went over to my buddy's and removed the barrel, it was clearly unloaded on inspection. So, I gave it the normal hot water and cleaner treatment which gave up a lot of powder residue and some brown rust. Dried it well and swabbed it with bore butter until I could get it home. Once home, I cleaned the bore with Butch's Bore Shine for several passes, patches were very rust colored. I then swabbed heavily with Kroil and let it sit for a bit, followed with lots of JB Bore Paste and lots of elbow grease.

A look down the bore shows promise, much better then before, but it will need a lot more JB work. I saturated the bore with Kroil and am going to let it sit overnight. I'll pick up a brass brush tomorrow and add that to the process.

Thanks again.

Tony

 

[Stumpkiller]

The JB Paste will work best if you use alcohol or acetone to clear the oil out first.

 

[Longtrain]

Thanks, I can do that, good idea.

 

[M. De Land]

I think I would pull the breech plug after it soaks for a few days with some penetrating oil,it will be necessary to do a proper hand lapping job should you choose that avenue. I use clover products for bore lapping starting with 240 grit, progressing to 320 and usually stop at 420.I have gone as high a rouge but it was a waste of time.
It takes for ever to remove a couple of ten thousands with a lead lap and one doesn't need nor want round ball bores to be polished as much as a lead shooter.
I have Hawkeye bore scope and it is amazing how bad a bore can look and still shoot well,especially with a patched round ball. If the rifling is strong and doesn't tear a patch it can be as accurate as when it was new, long as the crown isn't buggered!

 

[Longtrain]

Well, I think I did ok, first I bronze brushed it with Butch's followed by Butch's soaked patches, probably 5 times or more. Then I used acetone on the barrel, drying it well.

Then I JB'ed the tar out of it. Swabbed the JB out and then back to the brush and patches with Kroil.

Finally, it looks much better, wouldn't have an issue pulling the trigger on it. So, soaked it with again Kroil, letting it sit, probably will do this until I can get it to a range.

My buddy needs to buy balls, patches, etc. Oh, and a bottle of Bourbon for me. :grin:

 

[gearheart]

Tell him to get Maker's Mark :haha: :haha: :thumbsup: