RUSTED BARREL 45 CAL T/C

[lonewolf5347]

I was at the local fishing baite shop to day picking up some stuff for a day out on my boat and came across a used hawkens 45 cal. that the shop was selling as is,seem the guy who shot one round out of it forgot to clean it you know the rest of the story a rusted out barrel. I am going to try to remove the rust and use some 0000 steel wool with along with J@B bore compound to see if I can get this thing to shoot.I tried to run a jag patch down the barrel and the patch got stuck an 1" down the bore.The gun is a early year t/c around the 70's what a shame.I wonder if I clean this barrel up will it shoot??

 

[Boomer]

I had the same thing happen to me only with a 54 Renegade a buddy of mine gave to me.

I worked the barrel over with steel wool then I used a cleaning jag & some antimony & slugged the barrel. Coated the slug in some jewelers rouge & ran it back & forth 2-300 times. Dropped a bore light down in it & nearly went blind :rotf:

She shot like a dream after that!

Good luck & let us know how you made out.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

Try running bore brushes up&down until you bust the rust up. Use a SS one if you can find, they are made to remoave heavy leading/fouling. When done get a 3M 'fine' Scotch-Brite hand pad and use a piece of it and a next bore size down cleaning jag to work it over. Thwn use an 'ultrafine' and JB to work it over, then check.
Casting a slug in the bore and lapping with JB might be the next step if it needs it. I did this procedure once, have cold beer at hand you will work up a sweat to get it done right.

 

[TN.Frank]

I have one that's badly rusted and I'm going to hone the rifling out of it using a shotgun cleaning rod and emery cloth. That'll give me a nice little 45cal smoothbore that I can hunt squirrels with or deer at close range with a patched round ball. :thumbsup:

 

[Snuffy]

I was at the local fishing baite shop to day picking up some stuff for a day out on my boat and came across a used hawkens 45 cal. that the shop was selling as is,seem the guy who shot one round out of it forgot to clean it you know the rest of the story a rusted out barrel. I am going to try to remove the rust and use some 0000 steel wool with along with J@B bore compound to see if I can get this thing to shoot.I tried to run a jag patch down the barrel and the patch got stuck an 1" down the bore.The gun is a early year t/c around the 70's what a shame.I wonder if I clean this barrel up will it shoot??

Sounds badly rusted & likely pitted deeply near the breech. Scotch Brite with some JB Bore Paste may help.

Hopefully you received this for free???

 

[roundball]

Heck Wolf...it's probably just one of those 1:48" twists...and swampman already told us they aren't accurate with round balls
:grin:

 

[lonewolf5347]

Well spent about 3 hours on the barrel ,looks pretty good . I can run a patch jag down the bore ,maybe a couple of ruff spot but will think a few conical may help.
RB this is a early hawkens has 2 wood screws for the the tang.
To bad it was not a flinter I have the 50 and the 54 flinter a 45 flinter would have been a nice touch to add.

 

[renovato]

Wolf, before you start laboring on it, you might wanna give the bore a long soak in a good penetrating oil like Ballistol, WD-40 or what have you. That'll help break up the rust. Use it with the steel wool too. I've salvaged a few rusty bores, and after some lapping, they shot good as new. Good luck to ya.

 

[grant]

How do you apply the JB bore compound? Do you put it on a patch and run it through the barrel with a jag?

 

[lonewolf5347]

PATCH ON A JAG AND LOTS OF STROKES ALSO USED CARB: CLEANER ON THE PATCH JAG BUT BE CAREFULL IT WILL REMOVE GUN BLUE :thumbsup:

 

[lonewolf5347]

I did shoot he 45 to-day and it shot excellent
I did run into a small problem with the lock seem the 1/2 cock sear broke O well back to t/c for repair
otherwise it a shooter :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

"...I did shoot he 45 to-day and it shot excellent..."

That's like a .45cal Hawken Cougar I have...bought it on auction as a parts back up for some other Cougars cause there's no more parts available.

Mint condition with a clean bright bore but it had a lot of small freckles scattered up and down the bore...I went ahead and got it anyway as I mainly wanted the presentation grade stock in case one of mine broke.

A year or so later I took it to the range to see what it would do and the freckles had no effect at all...shot like a perfectly new factory barrel...both PRBs and Maxi-Hunters.

 

[renovato]

Hey, I'm glad it worked out for ya. That's always a satisfying feeling.

I once salvaged a T/C New Englander that looks to have been shot a lot and never cleaned. When I got it, the stock was dented and missing a chip out of the top of the barrel channel. The bore was rusty and pitted. I figured worst case, I'd replace the barrel, but not before I tried getting it to shoot.

I scrubbed and lapped until the bore shined. I had some pretty bad pits in it but figured I'd try it anyway. I patched the chip in the stock with walnut from a broken stock fragment I keep on hand for such things, steamed out dents, sanded out scratches and refinished the wood. I touched up the worn bluing and made the gun look almost like new.

When I shot it the first time, I was surprised. It shoots very well! I guess lapping the rough edges off the pits makes the patch just slide past them without much disturbance. I was also lucky that the end of the bore and crown were in good shape.

Now I use it as my knockaround hunting gun and have added back all the dents and scratches I worked so hard to repair! :rotf:

 

[lonewolf5347]

I know we heard the same old story but just had to give t/c a thumbs up again.I mailed the broken lock in on Monday and 4 days later a rebuilt lock,like new came to-day.I did have a small memo in the repair order,the reason they repaired the old lock was due to its age and the original stock from the early 70'' and a new lock may require some additional inleting.I also ask them to see what they could do about the rear sight seem the housing the roll pin goes threw was broken,they replaced with an older one they may of had laying around.I took the gun apart last week while the lock was out for repair,them older t/c stocks are a lot thicker or more solid compared to the newer stocks.I am going to leave this project for a winter blues,redo the stock and may just strip the blue off the barrel and brown with LMF browing chemical should look nice when it done. :thumbsup:

 

[lonewolf5347]

Here is the range report this gun is a tack driver.I but threw about 25 rounds and then 5 heavy conicals loads 450 grainers: I then got the J@B compound out again and went at the barrel again also using a 50 cal. bore brush and the black patches just keep comming.
I then when for some groups with RB and a wad and patch: came up with 100 grains of 3F goex a 50 cal. wad and hornady RB and all 3 shots clover leaf at the 50 yd target. :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

Here is the range report this gun is a tack driver.I but threw about 25 rounds and then 5 heavy conicals loads 450 grainers: I then got the J@B compound out again and went at the barrel again also using a 50 cal. bore brush and the black patches just keep comming.
I then when for some groups with RB and a wad and patch: came up with 100 grains of 3F goex a 50 cal. wad and hornady RB and all 3 shots clover leaf at the 50 yd target. :thumbsup:

Now LW, you know that can't possibly be the case...some keep saying all the time that 1:48" twists can't shoot round balls accurately...and for sure you can't possibly be usin' near max powder charges 'cause the ball will go-a-skippin', and the grooves are too shallow, etc.
:snore: :yakyak:


:hmm: ...course on the other hand, the 1:48" twist IS the round ball twist for a .40cal...and the little ole .45 ball is barely bigger than a .40cal... :hmm: ..you don't suppose....nah...they said 1:48's aren't accurate.
:rotf:



Glad to see that barrel cleaned up for you...TC's .45cals have always been extremely accurate for me...sounds like yours is a real shooter...now go to the woods, aim the pointy end at a deer, pull trigger, drag deer.

:thumbsup: :hatsoff: