Daly .50 Cal Restoration

[The New Guy]

Ok guys, I'mma gonna need some help with this one. I have just received a new purchase from a fellow member and I am planning a complete restore. I am the proud new owner of a Charles Daly .50 Cal made by Investarms. The lock needs some work since it is not as smooth as it should be (feels like its rubbing on the inside somewhere), the stock needs refinishing (easy fix), the barrel need some TLC (reblueing maybe, maybe browning(thoughts)), and the brass needs to be cleaned up. My first and main concern is the clean-out screw. It's broken off about halfway down and the shank on that thing is small. Advice?? The barrel is 23" long and 15/16th across the flats at the breech and muzzle. Paid $75 for it and the previous owner also sold me a T/C .50 cal 29" barrel also in 15/16ths for another $25. So my main questions are, where do I start and what can I do about the broken clean-out screw. I knew it was broke when I purchased it, I just didn't know it was broken so far down. Here's a few pics. Let me know if you need more or want some close ups. I'll take all the help I can get. Thanks in advance.

 

[44-henry]

If the rest of the barrel is as bad as the clean out screw breech end look I am not sure it is worth doing much of anything with. If everything was clean and in good shape it would make a good basic rifle, but there isn't anything too special about it. If it were mine I would probably strip it down for parts and sell it on Ebay. I am sure you would get more than the $75.00 you invested in it (seems like folks on Ebay are always paying more than they should for anything gun related) and could than buy something more worth working on.

If you really feel it is necessary to do anything with it you could try drilling out the clean out screw and than re-threading to a larger size. The lock might just be gummed up and could use a good cleaning. Refinish the barrel and stock as you see fit. You could invest a lot of time in a gun that if in good shape might not fetch more than $175-200 in most parts. But if you are doing it for the education/self satisfaction than have fun and good luck.

 

[steved]

Hey New Guy,

I did a similar project on an old T/C Renegade a year or so back. Many of the things I did in my rework/refinish job can apply to yours. Here is a link to my post on the project.

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/254604/post/954778/hl//fromsearch/1/

I've seen a number of post in the past about reworking/refinishing old factory repros to make them more personal and period correct, so you can find more insight by searching the forum.

Don't have much advice to give you on the cleanout screw other than what was already written; to drill it out and tap for a larger replacement screw. Good luck with your project.

 

[illuveatar]

That looks like a good cheap way to get into the hobby. Retapping the cleanout port sounds like a good idea, make sure the replacement screw is strong so that you don't have the same problem down the road.

Also make sure the bore is in good condition. If it's rusty and pitted you might consider having a gunsmith convert it to a smoothbore. This will be the cheapest way to return the barrel to good working order(refreshing the rifling is very expensive). Make sure the breach plug isn't rusted out too.

I refurbished a cheap CVA .50cal a year ago. Replaced the cheap plastic parts with brass, added a bit of carving to the stock and also converted it from percussion to flintlock. It was more work that the gun is really worth but I learned a lot about basic gunsmithing which I will apply to more costly builds in the future.

Cheers

Illuveatar

 

[The New Guy]

thanks for the link. I'm just getting back from vacation so I'll start work on this soon. I picked up a few ideas from your previous post and pic links. Thanks for the info

 

[Rifleman1776]

It would help if you would shine a light into that clean out screw hole. The entire breech might be a lost cause. Are replacement breeches available?
You could possibly drill out that hole and plug with a strong bolt.