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Well, I appreciate all your responses. I think I'll just shoot it as is for now. If someone makes a comment, I'll just tell them it got damaged
while I was fighting off a bunch of Crow swinging 'hawks at me and I used the rifle ti fend them off.

Bill S. - it's the avatar.
 
Griscom Run
I guess to me if it looks like somebody took some time and tried to do it neatly it looks a lot better than what it does now and wouldn't raise nearly as many eyebrows. After needle filing some hot brown could be put in the grooves with a toothpick. Might work out. It could only be better.
 
Admittedly not a real risk here on a low pressure bp ml, it's just the idea of filing in v-notch stress riser cracks in the muzzle of a gun barrel... yikes...

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Well, if you are worried about ‘stress risers’ from notches on the exterior of a barrel near the muzzle, imagine you won’t go near a rifled barrel, with that pesky rifling going all the way to the highest pressure area in the bore, the breech. Yikes…..
 
Well, if you are worried about ‘stress risers’ from notches on the exterior of a barrel near the muzzle, imagine you won’t go near a rifled barrel, with that pesky rifling going all the way to the highest pressure area in the bore, the breech. Yikes…..
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Bob45, I like that idea. I've never used JB Weld so I'll have to look into that. And I just put on Kibler's tall rear sight. Might as well take care of the front
sight then take it out and shoot for alignment.
Thanks for that.
 
I'm not a big fan of the notches on the sight. If they were well spaced and matched, it wouldn't be so bad, but I'm personally not a fan of the way they are now. You've got the room....if it shoots well and you get the front adjusted to where you need it, you could file those wings down to match the barrel flats and nobody would be the wiser. Of course, the sight itself is pretty cheap to get from Kibler if you just wanted to replace it.

As for the barrel...I have issues. If someone is going to decorate a barrel with filing or pattern engraving (vs. an image, signature or other such), I think it should be done consistently, uniformly and cleanly....there are too many consistent lines, angles and symmetry in the barrel to go at it ham-fisted and not have it turn out looking poorly.

I can't tell how all the notches line up and are positioned, but some the hack 'n file marks are still plainly visible in what you have there. It's unique and I think you could work it into something far more respectable...because right now, it doesn't tick any marks for consistency, uniformity or cleanliness. If you want to try to salvage something unique out of it, maybe mark a consistent end around the barrel using a heavy tape, use a chainsaw file or rat tail file to make all of the "fjords" a consistent depth / width / length and get rid of the coarse filing marks in them. After that, re-draw file the barrel to get rid of the mill marks, re-blue and it could be respectable, if quite unique.
 
Leave it alone. It's a period Maine rain forest rifle. The file work is to drain off the rain water so the front sight doesn't get swamped. Common in coastal OR and WA as well.
Check the underside of the barrel. It probably says Francis Marion.
If it works, don't fix it. SW
 
Perhaps if you trued up the notches so they are the same, then filled them with metal of a contrasting color it wouldn't look bad...
And weld or braze the notches in the sight then file it clean it should be pretty good, or maybe inlay some pewter in all the blemishes.
 
Exactly my suggestion as a thought.

Silver solder those V notches at the muzzle. Then file back smooth to the Muzzle metal. After re-finishing that barrel it might look kinda sharp at the Muzzle.

Before hacking I would explore all possible remedies. Might just make that Muzzle a fine and unique thing.

A lot of muzzleloaders were carved and otherwise modified by their owners back when and I see no reason why not continue this rich heritage.

Cookie cutter has never been my strong suit.

It is yours so heck on others opinions. Make it yours and smile every time you hold and fondle YOUR gun
 
You could always have the barrel shortened enough to remove those file cuts. Might be a good deal of work to do but it can be done.
 
I'm leaving it as it is. The rifle shoots just fine. I did put on the taller rear sight and that really worked out well.
'Course, I could say I won a knife fight. That patching should have said - Drill Cloth - fr Joann's.
 

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If it were mine I'd shorten the barrel slightly and redo the nose cap area. I couldn't live with those horrible file cuts.
 
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