Worth it to save it?

[Cajun72]

So as I keep looking into this old .40 cal percussion rifle. The lock broke today. So I took the lock off, it needs work. Then I took the barrel off the stock to try and remove the nipple, it's stuck. The bore looks decent, it has some run out at the muzzle. Also barrel is only finished on the top, bottom is rough and still has file marks. Someone restocked this rifle in the past and did not do a good job. Should I get the lock repaired, get it all repaired and restock? I have a few dollars into it but not a ton. Opinion's and advice needed.
Thanks

 

[Flintandsteel]

Bore looks pretty rough. Could be rebored. Seems like a nice barrel.

 

[Cajun72]

Bore looks pretty rough. Could be rebored. Seems like a nice barrel.

I need a better bore light. The green one always makes it look worse. If I use a white light it doesn't look that bad.

 

[russellshaffer]

It depends entirely on your emotional investment. From a straight dollars and cents viewpoint, you should junk it. If it was me, I might just fix it up. You could spend a whole lot to get it really nice or spend less to get it to a good shooter. I personally would play around with it and do what I could with it. If you are paying to have the work done, well, good luck. You are the final judge. Do what makes you happy-don't let a bunch of other people decide for you.

 

[Cajun72]

It depends entirely on your emotional investment. From a straight dollars and cents viewpoint, you should junk it. If it was me, I might just fix it up. You could spend a whole lot to get it really nice or spend less to get it to a good shooter. I personally would play around with it and do what I could with it. If you are paying to have the work done, well, good luck. You are the final judge. Do what makes you happy-don't let a bunch of other people decide for you.

Well for starters, I am going to get the lock fixed. See how it shoots and go from there.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

Well for starters, I am going to get the lock fixed. See how it shoots and go from there.

Exactly what I was going to suggest.

 

[Songwriter]

What broke, exactly?

 

[rich pierce]

It’s fun to restore these old guns to shooting condition if they are not of much collector value. Usually it will take me 20 hours of work to re-cut the rifling, and make and install a new drum and nipple (advised if you can’t get the nipple out or if the nipple threads are shot), and assorted other repairs. You may find that unless you recut the rifling, a 3” group at 35 yards is the best it will do.

 

[Eric Krewson]

If it were me, I would have to try to make a shooter out of the gun, just to see if I could. You can fix a bad restocking job with added wood and a dark stain to cover the repairs. The barrel doesn't need to be drawfiled on the flats that don't show.

The rifling doesn't look that bad and would probably clean up with a lead lap.

After fixing the worst pre-carve on the planet, I know anything is possible.

Success with this project depends on your gun building skills and experience.

 

[Cajun72]

If it were me, I would have to try to make a shooter out of the gun, just to see if I could. You can fix a bad restocking job with added wood and a dark stain to cover the repairs. The barrel doesn't need to be drawfiled on the flats that don't show.

The rifling doesn't look that bad and would probably clean up with a lead lap.

After fixing the worst pre-carve on the planet, I know anything is possible.

Success with this project depends on your gun building skills and experience.

The only problem. I don't have any gun building experience.

 

[TCMonts]

Looks like a good opertunity to gain some.

 

[1950DAVE]

I’m with TCMonts. I think you have a great project to build confidence with.

 

[The Appalachian]

The only problem. I don't have any gun building experience.

If I were you, this is where I would start.

Get stumped on something, ask questions here. Plenty of building experience that will help you through any of it.

Get that rifle shooting and looking good with your own two hands, and you will have gained tons of experience.

 

[Moonshine Joe]

I agree with all who said "go for it!" At the worst outcome, you'll have a good old wall hanger. Hopefully you do a lot of research and find out not only how the old guns work, but how they were built. I am in that process right now with several estate sale original guns. My most intriguing one has the butt of a Joseph Long Pennsylvania rifle, with a dozen brass and silver inlays and a vintage.flint lock. However the front half has been replaced with spliced-on wood and a 36" barrel from a halfstocked rifle. How can you tell? By all the screw holes for a former under-rib.

Sometimes the old gunsmiths took considerable shortcuts too. I repaired an Ohio long rifle whose forestock had twisted and split. Turned out that the original barrel channel was simply gouged out as a round channel, divots cut oversized and sloppy for the tennons, and the octagon barrel pinned in. The wiggle room may have been quick to produce at the time, but 150 years later, the wood had twisted a quarter turn around at the muzzle!

 

[stephenprops1]

The only problem. I don't have any gun building experience.

There is plenty of information on the internet. You have many resources on this forum. If you don't attempt it, you will never gain any experience. My first muzzleloading rebuild came by happenstance. I was in a gun store and a fellow customer was trying to sell the store a badly neglected muzzleloader. They didn't want it. I got it for $35. It was a 1970's FIE, 45 caliber, Plainsman, percussion rifle. It had a badly dinged stock, a pitted bore, a rusty barrel, a broken ramrod, the trigger/hammer assembly would not lock open, and other little issues, (missing screws and such). I brought the gun home and started working on it. The first thing I did was to totally disassemble the gun. I cleaned each part individually and then I soaked all of the metal parts in EvapoRust to get rid of the rust. All of the parts were stripped down to the bare metal. I used Emery-cloth and then steel wool to remove rough spots on the metal. I had to let the barrel soak in the EvapoRust for 3 days. Using a scouring pad on a jag I got most of the pitting out of the bore. I had to accept there would always be some pitting in the bore. Keeping it oiled will reduce or halt any further pitting. While I was letting the gun soak in EvapoRust, I stripped the stock of the terrible/worn finish and got to work on it. I used steam to make the dings swell, so I could sand them even with the good wood. This did not remove all of the dings. However, the little dings were removed, and the bigger dings were reduced. I bought a new ramrod and cut it to size. I got replacement screws from a local hardware store for next to nothing. After sanding all of the wood I then applied 3 coats of stain, lightly sanding the wood between each coat. I finished the wood with TruOil. I had never browned a gun before, and since this was a learning experiment, I decided to brown the metal. I had to read about it and buy the necessary stuff, but I did it. After all of this was done, I reassembled the gun. To my amazement the trigger/lock assembly worked perfectly. I test-fired the gun using powder, cap, and tinfoil crumpled into a makeshift musket ball. After a couple of glitches were resolved I took the gun to a range and proofed it. Double-charging the loaded barrel, I secured it withing an old tire, tied a string to the trigger and cocked the hammer. Getting back about 50 yards and standing behind a stone wall I pulled the string. The gun handled it well. I proofed it twice and was satisfied. I then put the gun to use and shot it a few times. I eventually sold it to a fellow for $200. --- Since then, I have built a couple of pistols and restored 4 other guns.