Might have been a mistake

[don hepler]

Stopped by LGS and there was a TC Cherokee 32 cal. I have a Seneca 36 cal., so I'm thinking the 32 is a little rough and would make a perfect field gun and save the Seneca, which is of way more value. I have several Hawken rifles, so I traded the worst one and 75.00 for the 32. I tried to check the bore at LGS but it's hard to look down a 32 bore without a light. Turns out the bore was rougher than I thought. My question is how rough, is too rough? I'm in it for 175.00 at this point, Is it worth reboreing to 36 cal., if I have to? The stock is pretty good, with small scratches, no cracks, and the outside of the barrel has a bit of small speckle of rust, but not too bad. Big mistake, or not?

 

[jamesthomas]

Well, I would run a piece of green pad wrap around a jag up an down the barrel a few times (50+ at least) and see if it smooth's it out some first. If it's too badly pitted go ahead an make a .36 cal. out of it. If you can I would debreach it so I could see exacly how bad (or not)it is.

 

[necchi]

$175 into a Cherokee?
No, that's not mistake in todays world.
You could take the barrel off and use it as a tomato stake and sell the remaining parts for $400.

Clean it up and shoot it, see how bad it is.

I understand it's about $200 to have Mr. Hoyt rebore to a larger rifled caliber. With that your $375 into it and still well under going market rates for a Cherokee with a good barrel.

 

[Squeeze]

still sounds OK to me I'd shoot it a bunch first or try to lap it. Ive even heard of lapping compound in a conical lube and shoot lapping. I have a cherokee .45 barrel i'm thinking about trying it on the TC .32's are 1-30 twist and most say one of the best shooters out there. their .36's were 1-48.

 

[don hepler]

I been trying the scotch-brite and JB compound. If it ever stops raining, I'll see what it will do. I appreciate all comments and encouragement.

 

[Amikee]

I spoke with mr Hoyt yesterday. He charges 100.00 plus shipping.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Scotchbrite & J&B to lap out pits :idunno: not sure how that's gonna work.

 

[necchi]

I spoke with mr Hoyt yesterday. He charges 100.00 plus shipping.

For a rebore to larger bore rifled?
Interesting and good info. Another member posted just the other day that it was 200, but he had it bored larger and the twist rate changed too.
I wonder if that was the difference?

 

[Dan Jordan]

I know what you mean brother about this rain im from Suffolk Va and i dont think its ever goin to quit long enough to shoot ,Ordered a new Hawkin 2day from Cabellas hope that it will stop long enough to get it sighted in. Good Luck.Shoot Staight and Have Fun.

 

[Hawgeye]

Mr Hoyt bored out my TC hawken fifty in April to fifty-four cal, from 1 in 48" to 1 in 60" twist, round bottom rifling for $100.00 plus shipping. 4 1/2 weeks turn-around time. Shoots great! :thumbsup:

 

[don hepler]

Still raining, but if I can't get this little 32 Cherokee to shoot, I'll definitely be seeing Hoyt to change it to a 36 cal. I had my heart set on having a 32 but a 36 is a ball of fun. I have a nice Seneca, but a backup for hunting would be nice.

 

[Squeeze]

I have 3 Cherokees now, one in .32 with a 4 digit serial # in perfect condition I really don't want to shoot just keep as is. and 2 in .45 ive been looking for a good .32 barrel for a while now. hard to come by and people want huge $$. I may just have one made, but still want the 1-30 twist. The .45's punch me in the cheek so bad, I hesitate to use them much for range.. now that I have them sighted in, ill hunt with them occasionally.. but something about their stock just don't fit me. They may just end up heirlooms for the kid :wink:

 

[Amikee]

It was for reboring .45 to .50. I was checking the price for my friend who doesn't speak much American

 

[hawkeye2]

You could have Hoyt reline it and keep it a .32. I have several barrels he has lined (and lengthened) and they are as good as a completely new barrel.

 

[Billnpatti]

I used to have a .32 Pedersoli and I found it to be a beast to get it to group. I don't know if it was the fact that it was new and needed to be "shot in" or if it is just hard to get a small caliber to group. It took a lot of shooting and experimenting with different loads, patches, lubes, etc. before I got it shooting well enough to take squirrel hunting. If I remember correctly, the load it finally liked was 30 grains of Goex 3f, a .310 ball and a .010 patch. My lube was Bore Butter. Use Dutch Schoultz' Muzzleloading Accuracy System to develop the best load for it and you will know just how well it is capable of shooting. If it doesn't ever shoot worth a crap, then you will know that you have serious barrel problems and it is time to re-bore it.

 

[nkbj]

I spoke with mr Hoyt yesterday. He charges 100.00 plus shipping.

For a rebore to larger bore rifled?
Interesting and good info. Another member posted just the other day that it was 200, but he had it bored larger and the twist rate changed too.
I wonder if that was the difference?

Just saying, one huge factor is the amount of metal that is to be removed. .45 to .50, .50 to .54 or .54 to .58 should not be a great deal of steel to bore out. Try .45 to .54 or .50 to .58 for example and the amount of work, machine time and production costs involved go way up real quick.
Say... when are those folks at Green Mountain cranking back up?

 

[MSW]

I agree ... try the green scotchbrite pad and some JB bore paste and see how it works out ... I have heard of some bores which look pretty bad and will actually throw good patterns once you get a load worked up.

good luck and (when the blank blank blank rain lets up) make good smoke!

 

[don hepler]

Well, I finally got to the range and took my 36 Seneca with me, cause I knew it would shoot a group. However, I couldn't get it to group, and I had all the information written down, on what the correct combination was. So I tried the 32, and it looked like a load of buckshot hit the target. At 25 yards both guns seemed fair, but not what I'm used to. At 50 yards, both guns were not acceptable. If the weather improves, I'll go back with some real black powder, and start over. My flintlock, would put these two guns to shame. I might have to take a look at the sights. My flintlock has tiny fine sights, and a long shooting radius. Aging eyes, work better some days than others, I think.

 

[MSW]

don' t lose heart ... I've found that smaller caliber rifles can be a bit more temperamental

 

[410-er]

My little TC Cherokee likes a .310 RB,20grs of FFFg,and a .010 patch.Squirrel heads are a 50/50 at 30-35yds.
Don't give up till you try all patch,ball size,and powder combo.
They are sweet little squirrel guns! :thumbsup: