Could someone tell me what they think this is?

[Boston123]

I am a fan of a green scotch bright pad cut to patch size, oiled and given about 100 strokes down the barrel, this will remove some of the milling marks and polish the barrel. You will need a smaller cleaning jag for your scotch bright pad to fit in the barrel. If you use a maroon pad it will definitely remove the milling marks so use less strokes and monitor closely. I follow the scotch bright pad with JB bore paste on a tight cleaning patch and another hundred strokes.

Will that damage the bore of the gun?

And you are talking about these, correct? Amazon.com: Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty industrial strength Scour Pad, 2 Scour Pads : Health & Household

Or should I use #0000 steel wool instead?

I don't have anything smaller than a .62 jag, so I am thinking I'll give this method a try Breech plug face scrapers

 

[Joemolf]

I can tell you what *I* think it is: surface rust.

I just dont know how it is getting there. I keep the gun well-oiled with Barricade.

You can only see these spots when viewed at an angle (like in the picture), not when looking down the bore. In addition, any patches I send down the bore dont pick up any brown (from rust)
View attachment 92011
How should I go about removing this?. I've got some Ballistol, and I've been reading about how it can "get under" surface rust and make it easier to remove. Should I soak a patch in the Ballistol and run it down the bore a few times?

I don’t mean to change the subject you’re barrel looks to have a lot of machine marks. I’ve read where people rifles that have the same benefit from honing with scotch bright until they are clear. Just an observation I have a traditions cannon .69 caliber that had the same and I can tell you it made some difference in cleaning with swabs that would typically get stuck.
Respectfully
Joe

 

[springfield art]

I can tell you what *I* think it is: surface rust.

I just dont know how it is getting there. I keep the gun well-oiled with Barricade.

You can only see these spots when viewed at an angle (like in the picture), not when looking down the bore. In addition, any patches I send down the bore dont pick up any brown (from rust)
View attachment 92011
How should I go about removing this?. I've got some Ballistol, and I've been reading about how it can "get under" surface rust and make it easier to remove. Should I soak a patch in the Ballistol and run it down the bore a few times?

I'd just kind of ignore it and use the gun. After a while it'll work itself out...or not! Maybe is actually in the metal itself, rather than a surface problem. Not a safety issue.

 

[Joemolf]

I have this bore-brush. Would it be suitable?
View attachment 92024

I dont have any Evaporust. Ive got Ballistol, Barricade, RemOil, and some WD-40.

Could I dunk the above brush in any of the above substances and clean out the bore that way?

The brass bristles of my brush wont scratch-up the steel of the barrel, im assuming. Since steel is harder than brass...

I wouldn’t be too concerned with it but I think like I’m seeing others say to polish it with steel wool or scotch bright which I think will be better then polish with steel wool. I’d want those machine marks removed the are great for catching and holding fouling. It’s a smooth bore polish it up and patch your ball till the fired patch exhibits a properly sized ball and patch combination.

 

[Notchy Bob]

@Boston123 , what kind of gun is that? If it's a custom job, who made the barrel?

From the photo in the first post, it appears to be a smoothbore with a remarkably thick barrel wall at the muzzle. Several of the fellows have expressed concern about the machine or mill marks in the bore, and frankly, that was the first thing I thought about when I saw the picture.

A smoothbore should have a smooooth bore for optimum performance as well as easiest maintenance. You've gotten lots of terrific advice regarding tools, methods, and chemical agents to address both rust and roughness. There is nothing I can add to that, and in fact I've learned a couple of things. However, if the gun were mine and the barrel is stout enough to handle a slight increase in bore size, I would strongly consider sending it off to be reamed smooth. Mr. Hoyt could probably take care of that for you at a very reasonable price.

Good luck with it, regardless of the course of action you take!

Notchy Bob

 

[Robby]

Is that barrel DOM tubing?
Robby

 

[Boston123]

@Boston123 , what kind of gun is that? If it's a custom job, who made the barrel?

From the photo in the first post, it appears to be a smoothbore with a remarkably thick barrel wall at the muzzle. Several of the fellows have expressed concern about the machine or mill marks in the bore, and frankly, that was the first thing I thought about when I saw the picture.

A smoothbore should have a smooooth bore for optimum performance as well as easiest maintenance. You've gotten lots of terrific advice regarding tools, methods, and chemical agents to address both rust and roughness. There is nothing I can add to that, and in fact I've learned a couple of things. However, if the gun were mine and the barrel is stout enough to handle a slight increase in bore size, I would strongly consider sending it off to be reamed smooth. Mr. Hoyt could probably take care of that for you at a very reasonable price.

Good luck with it, regardless of the course of action you take!

Notchy Bob

It is a trade-gun from Sitting Fox Muzzleloaders. The barrel came from Pecatonica River

 

[Grenadier1758]

Pecatonica only lists barrels from Colerain. You do have quite a lot of mill marks. Have you removed the barrel to verify that the barrel is made by Colerain? There should be a stamp on the underside of the barrel.

 

[sawyer04]

I am a fan of a green scotch bright pad cut to patch size, oiled and given about 100 strokes down the barrel, this will remove some of the milling marks and polish the barrel. You will need a smaller cleaning jag for your scotch bright pad to fit in the barrel. If you use a maroon pad it will definitely remove the milling marks so use less strokes and monitor closely. I follow the scotch bright pad with JB bore paste on a tight cleaning patch and another hundred strokes.

second here✌

 

[Boston123]

Have you removed the barrel to verify that the barrel is made by Colerain? There should be a stamp on the underside of the barrel.

The builder of the gun advised me to never remove the barrel. They even used "please".

When the gun was being built, the unfinished stock and barrel were sent to my house instead of the builder by mistake. They both came from Pecatonica

 

[RonT]

I doubt that the "marks" shown are the result of DOM.
Cheers,
R

 

[Boston123]

I'll head out to Ace Hardware today and pick up some of the metal-polishing scotch-brite pads and some 0000 steel wool, to try polishing and burnishing the bore.

I'll use this video as a guide



Any thoughts?

 

[Joemolf]

Good video on the subject but this barrel is going to need a little bit more than what Dualist Den Mike Bellevue had with his Brown Bess if I recall.

I don’t understand why he would not want you to remove the barrel. if someone said that to me after the lock that barrel would be off that stock LOL!

Again I think a good hone is required to clean up the machine marks. The ball and correct patch will get you back on paper.

 

[flntlokr]

That barrel looks pretty rough to me. It needs a good polishing to get rid of the tool marks. It should be shiny smooth.

 

[Boston123]

So i dont know what the hell this stuff is. If it is rust, it can withstand a scrubbing from #0000 steel wool.

I wrapped my bronze-bore brush with #000 steel wool, as below

And proceeded to run it up and down the bore, about 5 times, paying close attention to the mouth of the bore where that brown "rust" is.

After, I cleaned the oil and such out with 91% isopropyl alcohol, then swabbed with dry patches until they came clean.

The spots are still there.

On the plus side, my bore is now nice and smooth.

I dont know what Im going to do about this. I dont patch my roundballs, so im.not concerned about patches getting snagged. The spots dont snag the patches I use when cleaning the gun, so they arent projecting above or pitted below the wall of the bore. And the rest of the gun is perfectly fine, even with the apparent tool-marks in the bore (again, no snagging or ripping of cleaning patches, and I dont use patches when shooting roundball). Maybe it is just discoloration in the metal?

I have reenacting events coming up, as well as hunting season, so any decision i make will have to wait until after December.

I guess Ill just keep it well-oiled for now? Ill keep an eye on it and see if it spreads or pits.

 

[Joemolf]

I would suggest you verify you do in fact have a Colleran barrel if not it’s probably alloy. In the barrel. At this point don’t even think about it from all indications you’re happy with the gun so that’s it be happy as Bob Marley said.

 

[Boston123]

Oh yes, forgot about this

Picked it up at Ace Hardware. Will it suffice for polishing the bore of my 20ga smoothbore, or do people think it will be too coarse?

I can try to burnish the barrel some more on wednesday. I only had time for a handful of passes tonight.

I thank everyone for their advice, by the way

 

[Boston123]

I would suggest you verify you do in fact have a Colleran barrel if not it’s probably alloy. In the barrel. At this point don’t even think about it from all indications you’re happy with the gun so that’s it be happy as Bob Marley said.

My main concern about taking the barrel off isn't that I don't know how to do it, it is that I don't really have anything to put underneath the barrel to prevent rusting and the like.

Here are the direct words of the builder of my gun (Context: I was asking how to remove the barrel for cleaning/oiling the underside, since I had seen videos where that was referenced)

"Please don't ever take the barrel out of the stock. I sealed the wood and coated the barrel. You won't have an issue with it. The only thing you will ever need to remove is the lock to clean it."

I don't really have anything to re-coat the underside of the barrel with, if I were to take it off.

 

[Kid Shelleen]

That barrel appears to be jug choked. That would explain the annular ridges (mill marks) beginning just below the crown. I'm certain one of the many knowledgeable people here can give advice on smoothing out that 3-4" area, if indeed that is the case.

 

[Boston123]

That barrel appears to be jug choked. That would explain the annular ridges (mill marks) beginning just below the crown. I'm certain one of the many knowledgeable people here can give advice on smoothing out that 3-4" area, if indeed that is the case.

With all due respect, I dont believe so.

The invoice for my gun doesnt say anything about a jug choked barrel, and the "estimate order work sheet" for Sitting Fox Muzzleloaders doesnt have an option to choose a jug-choked barrel.

In addition, the Pecotonica River Company doesnt carry jug-choked barrels in 20ga. They have a "turkey choked" smoothbore 20ga barrel, but only in 38", not in 36" (my guns barrel length)

Otherwise, im gonna hit the bpre again with some more steel wool. It might just be wishful thinking and different lighting, but I think there is a difference in the "rust" between the first and second photos.

The ringed barrels I've seen don't get harder to load below the ring than they are above the ring.
As the ball/bullet passes thru the ringed area it gets much easier to push.

If something is tearing patches half way down the barrel it sounds like something like a rusty pocket or perhaps some lead from a bullet is in the area.

I don't know who said that using fine steel wool wool would be a bad idea unless they are the sort of people who don't like to work hard.

Using a cleaning jag wrapped with steel wool in the bore will remove anything softer than it.
Lead and rust are both softer than steel wool so it will wear both of them away if they are in the bore.

Steel wool will slightly round off the sharp edges of the rifling if any sharp edges are there but this is not a bad thing if your shooting cloth patched balls. You really don't want sharp edged rifling cutting the cloth patch.

As for actual wear of the bore in the place where steel wool is used I'd venture to say the steel wool will wear out a lot quicker than the bore will. In other words after 1 or 2 thousand strokes the bore might become one thousandths of an inch larger.
As one thousandth of an inch is about 1/3 the thickness of a human hair the small increase will never be noticed.

The removal of sharp edges or rust or lead will be instantly noticed though.

According to the great Zonie, using fine steel.wool to polish a bore wont do much to hurt said bore. And my gun doesnt even have any rifling to worry about.

Some people apparently take steel wool to new barrels as a matter of course.

I wrap 0000 steel wool around a brass bore brush to clean and lap a new barrel.

HD

Hello Zukeeper1,

I do like Huntin Dawg sept I use a brass cleaning jag with a cotton patch over that and then I use the 0000 steel wool over the patch. I usually use a gob of Brasso which will, in my opinion hone the inside of the bore and remove any foreign stuff that affects accuracy and it also polishes the bore too. I will saturate the patch and steel wool and also pour some of the Brasso down the bore to start.

I normally will keep this up way after the Brasso turns a black color untill I think it feels smooth inside. Maybe 50 or so times. What I find is that it is easier to load, cleans up better and I can not find anything at all wrong with the accuracy afterward.

good luck

rabbit03

Cant hurt. And according to the instructions on my barrel of Barricade, the removal of rust in that fashion is even a "legitimate" use of Barricade

Ill give it a shot in the next few days. 25 strokes or so