My rifle (a 1976 Pedersoli Plainsman .45) has very shallow rifling and I would like to deepen it or at least refresh it.
I’ve enquired with several barrel manufacturers in Australia but they all say they don’t do that kind of work including reboring and re-rifling. So my options are to try to do it myself or to import an after-market barrel from the US, which would likely cost more than the value of the rifle.
Other muzzleloaders I’ve had had rather prominent rifling (CVA and Thompson Centre). I could load those rifles many times without having to wipe between shots, and accuracy remained decent. My old Pedersoli has shallow rifling (likely from the factory). Accuracy is very good but it must be cleaned with several patches between shots or it loses accuracy and becomes hard to load. I suspect the deeper rifling grooves in the other barrels helped contain fouling.
My thoughts about refreshing the rifling is to plug the bore about 6 inches from the muzzle and pour lead into it, making a slug of the bore. Withdraw the slug and with the highest quality emery cloth I can find, glue it to the high spots on the slug, which corresponds to the grooves in the barrel. Then with patience and a light oil, move it little by little down the bore.
Any ideas? Maybe I have just demonstrated my foolishness?
I’ve enquired with several barrel manufacturers in Australia but they all say they don’t do that kind of work including reboring and re-rifling. So my options are to try to do it myself or to import an after-market barrel from the US, which would likely cost more than the value of the rifle.
Other muzzleloaders I’ve had had rather prominent rifling (CVA and Thompson Centre). I could load those rifles many times without having to wipe between shots, and accuracy remained decent. My old Pedersoli has shallow rifling (likely from the factory). Accuracy is very good but it must be cleaned with several patches between shots or it loses accuracy and becomes hard to load. I suspect the deeper rifling grooves in the other barrels helped contain fouling.
My thoughts about refreshing the rifling is to plug the bore about 6 inches from the muzzle and pour lead into it, making a slug of the bore. Withdraw the slug and with the highest quality emery cloth I can find, glue it to the high spots on the slug, which corresponds to the grooves in the barrel. Then with patience and a light oil, move it little by little down the bore.
Any ideas? Maybe I have just demonstrated my foolishness?