To recrown or not

[D Sanders]

Hello all...

I have been shooting the same GM .54 cal. round ball barrel for about 11 years. I have hundreds maybe thousands of rounds run through it. It has been well taken care of. But lately I have been noticing my groups are opening up a bit. Originally 2" groups at one hundred yards. Now they are expanding to about 4". I have tried different patching, powder charges, ball diameters, etc. Some improvement in these areas but still not like new. My question is this. Could the crown on my barrel be wearing out? I use only wooden ram rods. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hawken Hunter 60

 

[Zonie]

It's just my opinion but if the group size is opening up due to excessive barrel wear at the muzzle the worn rifling in the muzzle would be fairly easy to see.

If the rifling grooves are still fairly "crisp" and no visible wear is present it leaves another possibility.

I hate to say it but it is a fact of life that our eyes deteriorate over the years.
I know that my vision went to hell in a handbag in my 50's.
Is it possible that your sight isn't as good as it used to be?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thousands of shots should not harm the bore of themselves. I have a '82 Renegade that probably has 7,000 shots through it and is still tight. Try lapping the bore with J-B Paste or a similar product. Depending on your choice of lubes it is possible you have "gummed up" the bore a bit.

 

[flinthead]

After that many years and that many round maybe the barrel fit to the wood is getting a little sloppy. Try glass bedding the barrel if the crown shows no obvious damage.

 

[renovato]

I think I'd give the bore a good scrubbing first, just to make sure that the corners of the grooves aren't getting packed with fouling.

It takes a lot of shots to shoot out a bore. Far more than it sounds like you've put through her. If there is wear at the crown, it's from the loading and cleaning rods rubbing against it. Even wood can wear metal with enough rubbing. If there's wear at the muzzle, recrowning would go a long way in restoring your accuracy.

 

[bingo1952]

I agree with Zonie on the eye thing. I noticed a big change in my eyes between 40 and 50 years of age and now that I am approaching the 60 mark I can see even more changes. That's life.

 

[MikeC]

If it is the crown I would "cone" the barrel with Joe Woods Tool.

 

[Dphar]

Hello all...

I have been shooting the same GM .54 cal. round ball barrel for about 11 years. I have hundreds maybe thousands of rounds run through it. It has been well taken care of. But lately I have been noticing my groups are opening up a bit. Originally 2" groups at one hundred yards. Now they are expanding to about 4". I have tried different patching, powder charges, ball diameters, etc. Some improvement in these areas but still not like new. My question is this. Could the crown on my barrel be wearing out? I use only wooden ram rods. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hawken Hunter 60

Its probably worn at the breech. Lightlu oil a patch that is very tight in the bore and push it down slowly to see if its loose at the breech.
This is why original guns were "freshed" fairly often if used much.
If you have used one of the corrosive repilca powders its probably pitted as well.
Dan

 

[Dave K]

Dan, I have heard of this before and just want to understand it. If the barrel is burnt in the breech, wouldn't the rest of the length of the barrel stabilize the ball? Or, does the loose area in the breech cause the patch to burn and give an unstable ride for the ball down the barrel? Of course you could see that if you retrieved your patch. I can really see how a muzzle can affect the flight of the ball, just trying to understand the breech.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Dave: If the breech area where the ball is seated is worn out enough, you get gas blow-by.

But, you are correct. You should be able to read this in our spent patches if its happening. Generally, the last 8 inches of barrel before the muzzle are the most critical for accuracy. I would do a very careful inspection of the crown of the muzzle, both with a magnifying glass, and with calipers. Then, I would check the bedding of the barrel in the stock. You are more likely to see stock wood shrinkage over years of use, or movement, as the result of repeated recoil pounding, than you are to see wear in the bore of the barrel. Only if those two areas of concern prove to be OKAY would I then go on to test firing the gun- with other shooters with " young eyes"-- and then reading each spent patch after each shot.

If the shooters has been using patches that have not had the sizing washed out of them, the sizing can be reducing the lands by a few 10-thousandths of an inch, and that can affect accuracy.

Most people don't realize that paper actually is given a fine coat of Granite Dust to help it both absorb oils, and to provide friction so that pencils and ink pens can write on the paper. That same granite powder wears the steel barrels when paper is used as wadding. You might have to use a slightly thick patch material to get the same seal after several thousand rounds have been fired through a gun.

 

[roundball]

Hello all...

I have been shooting the same GM .54 cal. round ball barrel for about 11 years. I have hundreds maybe thousands of rounds run through it. It has been well taken care of. But lately I have been noticing my groups are opening up a bit. Originally 2" groups at one hundred yards. Now they are expanding to about 4". I have tried different patching, powder charges, ball diameters, etc. Some improvement in these areas but still not like new. My question is this. Could the crown on my barrel be wearing out? I use only wooden ram rods. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hawken Hunter 60

If you haven't already done so, a simple, cheap step that will show immediate results...pro or con...is this:

If a caplock, install a new nipple

If a Flintlock, install a new vent liner

 

[theDuck]

New nipple or vent may be it. Both will erode with use and open up slowly reducing 'chamber' pressure and maybe slowly opening the group up.

 

[D Sanders]

Thanks guys for the helpful advice. I will try the new nipple and rebedding the barrel first before I do anything with the bore. And yes, I might as well admit it, the old eyes have looked down the barrel as many times as rounds through it! I guess new glasses would not hurt.

Hawken Hunter 60

 

[J.D.]

It won't hurt to clean the bore to bare metal. Some patch lubes, especially the yellow miracle lubes, build up in the bore, eventually destroying accuracy. Home made lubes containing MOS can do the same thing, over time. Changing the liner or nipple won't hurt either.

 

[roundball]

I will try the new nipple and rebedding the barrel first before I do anything with the bore.

And if you don't mind the suggestion, consider trying a 'Hot Shot' nipple...outstanding.

 

[Many Klatch]

A buddy of mine shot out the barrel of his .54. By actual count it took about 50,000 rounds and the gun was never cleaned, ever, not between rounds and not after a shoot. He was testing to see how long a barrel would shoot accurately even if totally abused. Before I get people saying there is no way anyone could shoot that many rounds, he was burning up about 50 pounds of powder by himself per year.

I don't think a couple thousand rounds with the fanatic cleaning like most of us do will faze a rifled barrel.

Many Klatch

 

[Birddog6]

What is it doing at 50 yards with sandbags ? 75 yards ? If it has changed at 100 & not at 50 ? it is the shooter & his eyesight.......

You need to eliminate the shooter error part of the equation first. (IMHO)

:thumbsup:

 

[Rat Trapper]

I'd go with what roundball posted: new hot shot nipple. clean the barrel real good with a brush.
If you are not still using the same lot of patch material, that also could be the cause. Just for the record, a new crown job will never hurt a rifle. However the guy doing it needs to have a lath and know how to get the crown straight and true with the bore not the outside of the barrel.