Possibly a rough bore holding fouling and cutting patches in the New Englander

[Crooked Creek]

Boy, I thought I had the New Englander figured out!

Here is a pic of my target I shot today for the June forum shooting match. This one was four bulls with two shots per bullseye.

The setup-

T/C New Englander .50
50g of Schuetzen 3F
Hornady .490 ball
T-shirt material and JoAnns red stripe .015 ticking used for patches that were moist with Ballistol lube.

On the first three shots the patches were not torn. The rest were torn.

Shots 1&2 were T-shirt patches and a clean barrel. Aim was at upper bullseye.
Then something goes awry…
Shots 3&4 were T-Shirt patched and I felt a rough area at about where the ball is seated. I believe it was fouling on a rough spot in the bore. Aim was at second bullseye from top. Results not good.
Shots 5&6 (with 6 being off target a bit) I had switched to JoAnns .015 ticking to see if may have been the T-Shirt material. The rough spot was much worse. Aim was at third bullseye from top.
Shots 7&8 were JoAnns .015 ticking after a Ballistol cleaning swab. Aim was at bottom bullseye.

After I got the rifle, I had Scotchbrited the bore because it was a bit rusty and rough. The rifling is not very deep and I did not want to cut it too much.
I think having another go at Scotchbrite polishing the barrel more at the breech end, along with a few other patch materials may work to bring the groups in.
I have access to a bore scope at work so I am going to have a look to see how bad the barrel is after some more polishing.

Any other thoughts or suggestions on this would be appreciated!

 

[hanshi]

A rough bore can certainly damage patches and hurt accuracy. Another thought is that the thin patching allowed a "crud ring" to develop in the breech. A couple of things you could try is to go to a thicker, stronger patch, plus, you might try other lubes.

 

[SDSmlf]

You may want to try some hard felt wads between the powder and your patched roundball. Possibly will do a couple of things for you. Protect your patch if you are using patch material that is too thin (t-shirt material is too thin in my opinion) and move your patched ball up the bore a bit away from any rough spot that’s where you are seating the ball. I would suggest using a slightly oversized wad, say 9/16” if making your own or 54 caliber if you are purchasing. Find the slightly oversized wad seals the bore better.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have found that rough bores can be cleaned up by lapping with a lead slug and lapping compound. I make a led slug about 1 inch long, then take a hacksaw blade and cut the groves in the slug deeper. The slug is the mirror image of the bore. This allows the slug to lap the groves of the bore more than lands. The groves tend to be where the problem is. Just remember to use a throw away ramrod with a bore protector. Another thing you could try is to use an over powder wad I make mine out of leather. but you can run a simple test by simply folding over a cleaning patch to make one. If you want more information about lapping your bore send me a pm.

 

[Crooked Creek]

Thanks for the replies, gents.
I might have some time to work on the rifle this next week.
Might post pics if I can get some time with the bore scope.

 

[Urban Coyote]

I've a couple of on line purchases that, despite the sellers claims, had bores that needed help. I had problems with cleaning patches sticking in the bore to the point a tug of war was required to remove the range rod. The bores also cut cleaning patches. I have a jar of metal burnish I bought from Midway and I spent considerable time working the bores over with this stuff applied to a cotton flannel patch, it seems to have cured the sticking problem but when cleaning patches still come out a bit rough. A drop in bore light shows the barrels to look pretty good but man are these guns tough to get thoroughly cleaned. After asking for advice here my next step is to try the Scotch Brite treatment. These are both very nice guns that externally look very well cared for. It is such a shame whoever owned them didn't maintain them properly.

 

[golden sky]

either do a steel wool lapping, job or lap in the barrel with some scotchbright pads

i recently done this along with a cone job, and man this gun is fun to shoot, i dont swab barrel between shots anymore either. turned out well

 

[bang]

T shirt material might be problem. Try something that has a high tread count. Wax and veggie oil congealed makes a good lube for me.

 

[necchi]

Thanks for sharing.
You just demonstrated to yourself the reality of something we refer too as "bore condition".
"Each" shot leaves fouling in the bore,, if nothing is done,, the fouling builds up.
Built up fouling changes the "internal ballistics" of the rifle,, the fouled bore is smaller than a clean one, and has more "resistance" as just two examples.
This happens in brand new barrels and second hand,, in the case of second hand rifles it's really not so much bringing it back to a fully smooth new one as it can be to just learn what that barrel wants,
,even if ya bore an old one out to fresh,, it still deals with bore condition.
Ya did a great experiment! But you and the rifle barrel you have deserve more testing,,

 

[nit wit]

drop a AAA battery down the bore and shine a light on it. Use a piece of scotch pad on a .45 cal jag, this will clean it up. When shooting use spit, all natural and it works well.
Nit Wit

 

[Crooked Creek]

Thanks for the input, everyone! I have a T/C Renegade and a Hawken with the same issue. I havnet worked on the new Englander yet. However I have put two Scotch-brite sessions on the Renegade and it is doing better. I will get to all three of my T/C's this winter and I will try to get them all in better shape.
The Pedersoli .32 will get some attention first most likely!

 

[Crooked Creek]

drop a AAA battery down the bore and shine a light on it. Use a piece of scotch pad on a .45 cal jag, this will clean it up. When shooting use spit, all natural and it works well.
Nit Wit

I have a bore scope at work and all three of my T/Cs look like drain pipes, with the Hawken 54 being the worst of them.