REALLY DIRTY bore!!!

[Dale Allen Raby]

I use the old stand by hydrogen peroxxide/murphy's oil soap/ alcohol mixture to clean crudded barrels. Plug and let set for a few hours, dump out and repeat a few times followed by either lapping or schotch brite.

Nooooooooooo! Hydrogen peroxide will rust it even worse.

 

[chorizo]

peroxide= oxidation really bad idea Dale is correct

 

[stephenprops1]

Cleaning is always the biggest issue with BP and for the life of me I just don't understand why shooters don't get it!

An Amish gunsmith told me inline guns were "throw away guns." I think many black powder shooters fall into that category as well. When deer season comes around in Ohio we get many muzzleloaders in the gun store where I work. The typical story is, "I used it last year (or 2-3 years) ago and put it away after the hunting season." Or "my brother-in-law had it for 2-3 years and didn't clean it." Then they ask us to salvage it, clean it and put it back into pristine condition. I have a Word document on file that I usually only have to change the name, type of gun and the date, explaining why their gun is ruined or compromised. Some people are either ignorant of black powder, stupid or lazy. Some are all three!

 

[TDM]

A patch of green scotch bright pad wrapped around an undersized jag, then some steel wool wrapped around bore sized jag. This is best accomplished by putting the barrel in a padded vise so you can use both hands on the rod to minimize fatigue. Soap and water or gun cleaning oil to lubricate the scrubbing jags.
I picked up an old CVA Frontier in similar condition, got it cleaned but the barrel was pitted. It shot just fine but the pitting would hold more fouling than a smooth barrel. That necessitated Swabbing after every 5th shot. Sold it to a guy wanting a hunting rifle who said he wouldn't be shooting it more than 5 shots a day anyway.

A product like EvapoRust will chemically dissolve all the active rust in the bore without damaging any of the steel. May take more than one application, but it does work. Once done, you can see what you left in the bore. Or you can scrub, soak, brush, swab, wipe with patches and get things stuck in the bore until you give up.

These procedures should take care of your problem.

 

[kyron4]

I'm a bit "different" I've been told , but I enjoy cleaning guns both BP's and regulars. For me it's almost therapeutic , very relaxing . A clean gun is a happy gun I always say.

I had being shooting mil-surplus guns with corrosive ammo for years before getting into BP so the cleaning " as soon as possible " with water was nothing new to me. Some people seem to struggle with the concept.

 

[kyron4]

I'll add , after a good cleaning and the evporust treatment , try soaking the bore in Kroil for a day or two. I like to heat the barrel up where it's just about to hot to hold and then fill the bore with Kroil.

 

[GeronPG]

I have one like that. It was given to me and the inside looked like a sewer pipe when I got it. After lots of soaking and scrubbing, I could see some rifling. More soaking, brushing, scrubbing and I could see fairly sharp rifling but a pitted bore. However, it would shoot sabots very accurately, but Lee REAL's miserably. It does take longer to clean after shooting. the nice thing about a gun like that is you only have labor in it. I camo'd mine, and you don't care if it gets nicks or scratches. I've shot a couple deer with it.

 

[nhmoose]

 

[wganz]

Any tricks or suggestions to save some man hours???

Contact Us

Call these folks, send the barrel with a $125 USPMO, for the listed service below, and just take the "L". Just take the "L" and move on.
Rebore and Ream Ruined Rifle or Pistol Barrel to a Smooth-Bore

 

[ffg]

I've been buying, selling, collecting, and working on black powder arms most of my adult life, and when you get a dirty rusted pitted barrel from some greenhorn who does not clean the weapon after shooting it, you only have 2 choices, hope you can have it rebored to the next caliber if there's enough meat to do so, say .50 to 54 or use it as a sturdy tomato stake. You can rub and scrub till the cows come home, and you will still end up with a shiny pitted bore.

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I've been buying, selling, collecting, and working on black powder arms most of my adult life, and when you get a dirty rusted pitted barrel from some greenhorn who does not clean the weapon after shooting it, you only have 2 choices, hope you can have it rebored to the next caliber if there's enough meat to do so, say .50 to 54 or use it as a sturdy tomato stake. You can rub and scrub till the cows come home, and you will still end up with a shiny pitted bore.

While this is true, that shiny pitted bore may still shoot quite well enough for hunting. I've got one with a ring in it, that shoots quite well with sabots... though it fouls quickly and will not shoot round balls very well. I'm planning to ask Mr. Hoyt to work his magic on it.