Rusty bore in a .50 caliber Renegade

[patrick_ford]

So, I have found a TC percussion Renegade in .50 caliber for $125. The outside looks pretty good, the bluing is about 95% and the wood has very nice figure and only a few dings, nothing major at all to me at least.

The thing that might be an issue is the care or lack thereof that previous owner may have taken. There is very fine powdery rust around the nipple and from what I was able to see down the bore, the grooves had a shallow coat of rust from land to land. I could only see about 10" down the barrel, so I have no idea how the barrel looks farther down the bore. The crown seemed okay and the lockwork was fine.

I felt like this would be a good deal for a beginning muzzleloader due to the cost and I was already leaning toward a TC Renegade. I really wanted a .54 Renegade, but I thought if this one turned out half way well, I could get a GM .54 barrel with 1 in 66 twist for RBs.

Is there any reason why I should not jump on this rifle as soon as possible?

Thanks,

Patrick

 

[mazo kid]

That will depend on what you think will work out for you. You should always be able to get your money back should you decide to get another rifle. See the next post down about removing rust from your bore. Emery

 

[clint campbell]

Patrick
If all goes well I am in the process of tryin to get set up to rebore and rerifle 50 to 54 and will need some doners to set up on. If you get it mabe we can work it out :grin: c

 

[buttonbuck]

get a bore light you drop down the barrel. I got one at Gander MTN for 8.00, you may be able to negotiate better if the barrel is trashed, I use mine when I clean the guns as well, not just to inspect guns you may buy.

 

[FTW]

Jump on it.Without the barrel the rest of it is worth over $125.00.I have several I put together with parts from sleaze-bay and new GM barrels.

 

[Shifty]

Hey I have an old 50cal. barrel I would like to make into a 54cal. when you get ready contact me ,I live in East Tn. also.

 

[lonewolf5347]

I here GM is having a closeout sale on there fast twist flinter renegade barrel $95.00 shipped 50 cal.
You may want to call them and see if they have the same sale on percussion barrel in 1 and 28

 

[Pork Chop]

I too have a .50 Renegade and long for a .54 cal. When you get set up, let me know and maybe I can provide a barrel for testing...

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Buy it, clean it up and shoot it. It may shoot just fine as is.

It may just need some brushing and a little compound to clean it up.

 

[evan9201]

jump on it dude..just pour some hoppes #9 down the barrle and clean with a 50cal brush and then follow it with oiled patches

 

[kevthebassman]

I'd also say to jump on it. The method I used to get rust out of my bore is as follows:

First, plug the nipple hole with a toothpick. Then, pour some Kroil, PB Blaster, WD-40, or other penetrating oil down the bore. Fill the bore all the way up and prop it in the corner and just let it sit for a day or so.

After you've soaked it, get a bore brush and wrap some steel scrubber stuff around it, and brush the bore with it. I've also heard that the green scotch pads work when used on a cleaning jag. After that, run fine steel wool down the bore on a cleaning jag. Keep the bore wet with oil while you do this. Make sure you get the nipple and threads too.

After this, clean out with alcohol to get all the oil out, then SHOOT IT!

My Renegade came into my life rusty and looking like hell, and now it shoots wonderful, even though the bore is pitted like the surface of the moon.

 

[FPDoc]

I think you should immediately send this firearm to me.. :grin: . If I were you I'd get it and clean it up and shoot the heck out of it! There isn't much to hang up in any pitting, with a PRB anyway (you might have clean a little more often). You can certainly get a new barrel/caliber in the future if you want to. I've shot some pretty ugly looking bores on rifles that weren't well cared for by the previous owner.

 

[stromst]

Grab it! A bore brush and Ballistol will do wonders cleaning it up. Most of these guns will shoot just fine with minor pitting. The price is right if you look at the cost of a new rifle. I have several T/C's and they are quality guns.

 

[oldwolf]

I am expecting a .50 T/C Hawken with less than perfect bore to be delivered anytime now. This thread has been interesting and probably will be usefull to me too. :thumbsup:

Here are some pics:

 

[sharps54]

Wow, if this rifle was at Perry's then I think I bought it out from under you. :redface: I was down visiting some buddies and we stopped by Perry's on Tuesday. I saw a .50 Renegade with a light frost on the bore for $125 and immediately thought, "I could rebarrel that to .54 or .58!" We ran a patch or two down the barrel, fired a couple of caps and then shot 10 Maxi-balls at about 40 yards using 80 grains volume of Pyrodex RS. It shot fine, we didn't do any serious accuracy testing, just off hand at a bucket.I think 6 of the 10 were in about a 2" group. After that we cleaned it with some old Black Powder solvent (not sure which brand) and hot water. Unfortunately I didn't have any Ballistol handy so after drying everything out we had to coat it in Sheath. I plan on giving it another good cleaning this weekend. I have to get over to the range and do some real accuracy testing with both Maxi-balls and round balls now that I have downloaded the manual and have some load data. Heck, I might leave the .50 barrel on it.

 

[oldwolf]

Hmmm...I need to get to Perry's more often. :hmm:

 

[sharps54]

I always try to stop by shops to look at used guns, you never know what you will find. Some of the used guns I have picked up from shops in your neck of the woods include a Kodiak/Pedersoli 45-70 double rifle, a Broomhandle Mauser, a nice sporterized Mauser in 8x60, a couple .458 CZ 550s, various Ruger No.1's, and a HK P7M8 most from Ed's in Vass. Anyhow Perry's has a good selection of guns, ammo, and accessories even if the prices are sometimes a tad high.

 

[Blacky Montana]

Hi,
A few years ago I had a Lyman GP rifle give to me, that basically had never been fired. However, what had been done to it, was stuck in the back of a closet and forgotten about. When I looked down the barrel, all I could see was dark brown. It only took one cleaning patch to tell me what I already knew. Rust...and lots of it. I wanted to get this rifle cleaned up to give to one of my sons, so I began using brass cleaning brushes, cleaning solvent, and lots of oiled patches. It seemed like the more I cleaned the worst it got. I figured I didnt have much to use, so what I did next I came up with on my own...lol. The rifle was a .50 cal, so I found a 36 inch wooden dowell rod just slightly smaller than the bore itself. I then took the finest emory paper that I could find, I believe 600 grit, and wrapped it around the dowell rod until it it was thick enough to touch the inside of the barrel all the way around, but still thin enough that I could work it up and down the barrel. Before working the rod up and down the barrel, I laid the emory paper face down on the kitchen table, and glued one end of it to the dowell rod using super glue. After that had dried, I rolled the emory paper tightly around the rod, and then glued the final end of the paper to the rod once again using super glue. I allowed about half a hour for the glue to set up good and dry, and then I was able to use it to clean the barrel. I did put a small amount of oil on the paper before inserting it into the barrel. Believe it or not, this actually worked...lol. It took a little while of pushing the rod up and down the barrel, and then followed by running patches down the bore with BP cleaning solvent on them, but it cleaned the rust out realy well. I know this is probably a little unorthodox, but I thought it was worth a shot. I ended up with a realy nice bp rifle for my son, and you would never guess how bad the barrel was rusted when I first recieved it.

Merry Christmas,
Blacky Montana
SASS #19953

 

[DavidLawrence]

Another thing you can do is get a replacement trigger from[url] Trackofthewolf.com[/url].They have Davis replacement triggers. You won't believe the difference.

 

[Maynerd62411]

Several years ago I bought a CVA Hawken .50 for $100. The wood looked great, the brass was clean, but the bore was rusted and the nipple was completely rusted shut. A real good cleaning and several shooting sessions later, she shoots great . The bore still has a few pitted places near the end of the muzzle, but it doesn't seem to bother anything. It's definately worth $125. :thumbsup: