Rusty Bore....What to do?

[tecum-tha]

I would make the current owner the following offer:
I would take it home and give it a real good cleaning and I would test shoot it and see if there are rough spots from pitting.
If this is the case, I would give it back to him but with a clean bore of course since you like .50ies
If it is not pitted, I would give him his asking price. Win Win situation here. Even if it is pitted it will be at least clean and he will know it.

 

[DLB]

here's an item that works wonders" SCRUB BUDS" they are SS scouring sponges and 4 to a box. food service supplies or on line. you can't wear'em out and they don't scratch! but they cut rust out like magic. wrap some on a wire bore brush and see it work fast. Box says"cleans pots,pans,glassware,ovens,bbq grills,tires,tools,and even root veggies" I have used them for years.

 

[Scota4570]

Clean it and see what you have.

Since I can do it myself, I would lap it. I mean, real deal cast lead laps with screws down the middle to increase the size. I prefer harder lead alloys than pure for this. Obviously, the breech plug is removed and one works from the breech end. TC's are not easy to get the plug out. Steel wool balls and abrasive on a patch are not lapping. I would start at #120 grit and finish at 320. Significant material is removed, not just a polish job. It is a good opportunity to put a choke in the barrel. Real lapping takes time, knowledge and tools. If you can do it right you can salvage most any rusted barrel.

 

[MSW]

as it says in Ephesians, "Be ye not afraid." buy the rifle. if it's a complete disaster, send it to me and i'll pay you back, plus s&h, plus another fifty bucks. (I have a spare .54 barrel in percussion I can use)

if the rifle is a "Renegade," the barrel will be one inch across the flats, and the heaviest rebore you will be able to do safely is about .58 caliber rifled or .62 smooth. I wanted a .62 smoothie, so I had a very badly rusted barrel which I bought on line rebored. If the rifle is one of the other models, it will most likely have a 13/16 barrel. I'm not sure how much material can be removed from one of these.

step 2: contact Bobby Hoyt. he does not, to my knowledge, have a website or an e- mail address. his work is absolutely first rate, and his prices are more than reasonable, so it's worth the effort to call him on the telephone. you will have to be persistent: if he has machines running, he can't hear the phone to answer it. Mr. Hoyt's number is (717) 642-6696. If you want to drop him a note via 'snail mail.' his address is 700 Fairfield Station Road, Fairfield, PA 17320.

if you are completely adamant that you want a fifty caliber, you will still do well to have a darn near free gun, and cruise the web for a .45 caliber barrel, which My Hoyt can rebore to .50. (p.s. - go with the radius groove rifling; it's a little easier to clean)

good luck with your project - if you end up wanting to send me the rifle , drop me a p.m.

Make good smoke!

good luck with your project!

 

[crockett]

Don't want to repeat myself but at the time gunsmith's would freshen a barrel- I think it involved cutting the grooves maybe a thousand of an inch deeper- I really don't know. I don't know if the lands were cut or polished up. In any event this freshening was so slight that I believe the same sized ball could be used- maybe with a thicker patch.
The problem of rusted bores seems pretty common and everyone figures re-bore the barrel to a larger size. That costs a lot compared to a slug of some sort used on this freshening. I think a wood ramrod was fit with a small steel cutter that was run down the bore and followed the existing rifling but cut it a little deeper. If I recall my readings on this, paper shims were somehow used , an extra sheet of paper on each subsequent pass. I'm surprised that there aren't any gunsmiths around that freshen barrels. As I said, I really don't know that much about it.

 

[Jim C]

Thanks for all of the reply's guys. I did buy the rifle for $75 and am taking "azmntmans" advice and soaking the bore in molasses, but I just haven't had time to go any further with it yet. It does appear to look pretty bad however, so if it doesn't clean up I'll just find another barrel for it and still come out way ahead. The rest of it is in very good condition.

 

[Treestalker]

mtmanjim; I set up at a local flea market last year and a man came up toting a gorgeous TC Hawken that he said had problems and wanted $65 for. I looked at the muzzle and it had crusty funk from shooting and no cleaning. He also pointed out a problem with the clean out screw in the breech. it showed some leakage and I had the same reservations you had. I offered $50 cash and he took it. I was thinking different barrel, etc, but the bore cleaned up beautifully and I drilled out the clean out screw oversize and threaded in a solid steel plug. I loaded 100 gr 2f and fired a patched .490 ball several times, looking for leakage. No problem so I was a happy camper! Unfortunately a dear friend I owed one to saw it and had to have it, so I consented to trade it for a Hawes .44 unmentionable Colt style revolver. Treestalker

 

[Jim C]

I hear ya! I'll take deals like this all day long from now on, when I can find 'em.
I haven't gotten around to the scrubbing out part yet, but according to your experience it really sounds promising....that I'll probably end up with a perfectly good rifle for 75 bucks :grin:
Thanks for the reply.

 

[Katahdin]

Just throwing this out to see what sticks to the wall!!!!Would it work to cut a piece of Fine Sanding Sponge down to size and attach it to a worm and Gently scrub/clean the bore!!!The sponge is plyable would form to fit the barrel, and can be cut to size,add some polishing compound and go gently,, maybe with soap as a lubricant,, Now I know there would be some wear to the Lands/Groves, but would it be that much different than shooting rounds through it over the long run??? Just a couple of passes and then clean as you always do!!??

 

[Jim C]

That may just end up being a possible route to take, but I actually intend to wrap some 3 or 4 ought steel wool tightly around a 45 cal nylon bore brush and soak it in Hoppes No 9 at least to start with seeings that I already have all of that stuff. If that will work it down enough to get a patched ball to load, then I'll just proceed to try and shoot it out the rest of the way. We'll see.

 

[crockett]

I think the process is akin to lapping a barrel or slugging a bore. On a muzzle loader I read one article of a guy that used two round balls back to back- drilled through their middles; used to lap. On slugging a bore, traditionally I think the muzzle was plugged about 2" down from the muzzle and a low melt metal (Zinc? I think it was another type metal?) was poured down to create a plug that matched the lands and grooves. The plug needs to be pulled out so some means of doing that needs to be incorporated into the plug pouring step. This plug is then coated with lapping compound.
I sure wish someone knew how to freshen a barrel as that would likely be optimal. You would need a cutter that matched the width of the barrel's particular rifling. As I said this was fit into a wood ramrod and then (if I recall correctly) a pass was made down each groove, then a very thin shim (sheet of paper or aluminum foil, etc. put in place to move the cutter slightly out and another pass made, this was repeated within reason until the bore had all the pitting removed.
Off hand, the lapping takes care of everything whereas the freshen just cleans up the grooves- as I understand it.

 

[bpd303]

Better than steel wool is copper Chore Boy. Wrap around your brush and it will remove rust better using a good penetrating oil like Kroil or transmission fluid mixed with acetone 50/50.

 

[99whip]

Would mineral spirits work in that combination instead of Acetone?

 

[bpd303]

I don't think so, the acetone helps the transmission fluid penetrate. If that's all you have it would be worth a try.

 

[Jim C]

Thanks for the input gentlemen. No options will be overlooked as I attempt to breathe new life back into this smoke pole and give it the second chance it deserves. :thumbsup:

 

[Dphar]

I have a chance to pick up .50 cal TC Hawken for $75 that looks really great except for a rusty bore. What should I do? Maybe try to clean it first to get a good idea of how much damage has been done and hope that it might possibly be salvageable? Have it relined?.....or Rebored?....although I'd much rather not change bore size. Or just re-barrel it with another .50 cal drop in barrel???

Its surely been shot with the corrosive substitute powder. If its been let go it may not even be safe to shoot. It will eat its way out. This is NOT supposition. Even if it does not have "crawdad" holes in the barrel or breech it will be a never ending PITA to use since the rough bore will foul horribly. Find a Green Mountain barrel for it and pitch the rusty one or use it for a door stop.

Dan

 

[sharpshooter1949]

mtmanjim,

I've salvaged several rusted barrels by bead blasting the inside of the barrels. Be sure to do only the inside or you will wind up rebrowning or rebluing the outside. Leaves a matte finish on the inside but it will be as clean as when it was new.Fire a few PRB's thru it and it shines up just like new. You can also then see anything that is wrong with it.

sharpshooter1949

 

[Jim C]

How do you go about doing this, or who do you know that does do it?

 

[M. De Land]

I'd sure like to get my Hawkeye bore scope inside one of your bead blasted barrels.
I do a lot of sand and bead blasting in metal prep for case coloring and rust bluing.
I'll have to give it a try on one of my old barrels some time and then bore scope to see what the land corners, groove bottoms and bore pits look like after the treatment.
Might work fine with patched balls!

 

[nhmoose]

Soak it from the post date you want internet now fix. Sorry it don't work that way