What can be done to refit a smoothed out barrel?

[gunnar26]

Hi all, Bought a rifle the other day with a heavily etched barrel. It's a bit overdone for my taste. I am thinking about filing it back smooth. My question is will that noticeably affect the inletting, which is quite snug right now? If so what can be done to gain back some ground?
Heres a pic for ya.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Well....you bought it.
Methinks it is what it is. Browning might make it easier on yer eyes.
Leave the files alone.

 

[Col. Batguano]

You might be able to swell the wood a little by steaming, or a build-up with finish, like varnishes.

 

[gunnar26]

Yeah I did buy it! No complaint here! Its a nice rifle, fun to shoot, and the price was right. Everything I own is subject to alteration. I love tinkering with stuff and learning new things, even from my mistakes. I joined this forum to be among likeminded individuals and hope to learn what I don't know from elders and peers and encourage those same people in the things I know.
"leave it alone" or "find a professional to do it" are 2 modern mindsets that disgust and disappoint me to here from this crowd. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has some serious suggestions or clever alternatives.

 

[gunnar26]

That sounds feasible. Not sure what kind of gap I'll be looking at, maybe .010 to .015 combined side to side. Applying coats as needed may work plus protect wood that rarely sees the light of day.

 

[MFordney]

I would do some very fine sanding to try to reduce the roughness as much as I could without really creating much of a gap... maybe use like some 400 grit. Get it as smooth as you can, then start browning it with LMF. Card between coats with denim. You'll probably still have some aging... but it should be less obvious, and will likely look better to your eye. I'm still a novice builder... but that's what I'd do. :hatsoff:

ETA: You can also get a little more aggressive with the top 3 flats... since obviously those aren't inlet into the stock. You'd only have the small, visible portion of the side flats above the stock showing... would likely not even be noticeable if you got the top 3 flats fairly smooth.

 

[kaintuck]

That sounds feasible. Not sure what kind of gap I'll be looking at, maybe .010 to .015 combined side to side. Applying coats as needed may work plus protect wood that rarely sees the light of day.

you can file it smoth then re-brown it. order the gel type of accuglass from TOTW, use as directed, filling the barrel channel, and if you get it tinted brown to match the wood....you'll not see the 'seam' and the wood to metal fit will be perfect......just use the release agent in the kit properly!!!!
or you can use some heavy darkened wax to fill the sides after refiled and re-browned barrel won't snug into the channel.......

 

[jdkerstetter]

Likely the pitting isn't as bad as it appears as your barrel is magnified 4x on my laptop.....6x on my desk computer. Refinish if you wish, I don't think the gap will be all that much, if you don't go crazy.

If the rest of the gun has some aging then I would take it down until little pitting is left, cold blue it and rub it back with scothbrite. It will give it a pleasing gray finish with the remaining pits left dark. The well cared for 200 year old gun look. :wink:

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Beeswax makes a good and p.c. corect "filler " for inletting gaps. :idunno:

 

[necchi]

Your going to have to re-Brown it, Right?

Go after the top 3 flats either draw file or 220 grit on a block.
Then I'd mark the side flats with a pencil while it's in the barrel, make a measurement so you have an idea where it's at and only sand (block sand) that section of the barrel that's above the stock.
I would not do the entire side flat,, the part of the barrel that meets and is below the forearm isn't seen anyways.
If a tiny amount of the original rough browning is above the rail it won't be that noticeable.

As said you probably won't have to take that much off.
I would not take so much off the sides that' I'd have too try to build the channel back up again,
That, would be noticeable.

 

[hawkeye2]

Epoxy bedding compounds will mechanically lock into those pits and make the barrel difficult to impossible to remove without damaging the stock regardless of how much release agent you use. Finish the exposed 3 sides to your satisfaction and leave the rest. It doesn't look like much of the sides are exposed above the wood and with a brown finish I doubt it would be very noticeable.