Steel wool?

[Renegade Dan]

I have a T/C hawken rifle that I believe has a bur about half way down the barrel. when I clean my gun I hit a rough spot about half way down. It tears my cleaning patches and the accuracy of the gun isn't even close to my Renegade. I was going to use some fine steel wool but I've had a few people tell me that it wouldn't be a good Idea. any suggestions on what I may use? Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[rabjr]

Sounds like someone short started it and then shot it, causing a ring there. If thats the case, it's pretty much ruined accuracy wise. So go a head and scrub the hell out of it, you might be able to get it shooting better than it is.

 

[JayDee Flohr]

Check to see if the rough spot happens to line up with one of the under rib screws. Hope that it isn't.
If it's a rough spot only, not a screw sticking through, a scotch brite pad will work better than steel wool in my opinion.

 

[Zonie]

The ringed barrels I've seen don't get harder to load below the ring than they are above the ring.
As the ball/bullet passes thru the ringed area it gets much easier to push.

If something is tearing patches half way down the barrel it sounds like something like a rusty pocket or perhaps some lead from a bullet is in the area.

I don't know who said that using fine steel wool wool would be a bad idea unless they are the sort of people who don't like to work hard.

Using a cleaning jag wrapped with steel wool in the bore will remove anything softer than it.
Lead and rust are both softer than steel wool so it will wear both of them away if they are in the bore.

Steel wool will slightly round off the sharp edges of the rifling if any sharp edges are there but this is not a bad thing if your shooting cloth patched balls. You really don't want sharp edged rifling cutting the cloth patch.

As for actual wear of the bore in the place where steel wool is used I'd venture to say the steel wool will wear out a lot quicker than the bore will. In other words after 1 or 2 thousand strokes the bore might become one thousandths of an inch larger.
As one thousandth of an inch is about 1/3 the thickness of a human hair the small increase will never be noticed.

The removal of sharp edges or rust or lead will be instantly noticed though.

 

[rabjr]

don't get harder to load below the ring than they are above the ring.

Thats fine, I've never ringed one myself so wouldn't know, however I didn't see him say the above, just that it felt like a bur half way down. A ringed barrel was the first thing that came to mind.

 

[zampilot]

Scotchbrite pads contain aluminum, don't know if you want that stuff in there.

 

[410-er]

I have never owned a ringed barrel but have looked at some that were.Sure sounds like one.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Just for the record I started giving any new barrel 25 or so strokes (as Zonie described) with steel wool....to clean, polish, and just for good measure.

 

[RickD]

I`ve steel wooled a couple of older barrels and it cleans them up just fine inside

 

[ohio ramrod]

The first thing I would try is some buffing coumpound mixed with oil on a bronze brush or scotch brite. The main thing is to not get carried away and over do things. . Twenty five strokes from the area in question down towards the breech and just once in and out at the muzzle should help if it is a rust problem. Like others suggested make sure you don't have a screw sticking up from the underrib.

 

[nkbj]

One thing about scotch bright material, it's springy. It works great as a backing to whatever you may be trying to press against the bore.
I cut a strip of dollar store scotch bright and spiral wrap it around an old bore brush and then put steel wool or a polishing compound patch over it.
Speaking of which my 40 STILL has a sticky spot. Needs to be shot more.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

A second on the buffing compound. It comes in two grades a coarse, usually red or brown in color and a fine, usually white or light gray. Comes in tins like old fashioned auto paste wax. I wouldn't use it on a brush though, just on a thick flannel patch, so the abrasive can work on the lands and grooves.

My guesstimate is that the coarse stuff is about the equivalent of 320 grit abrasive and the fine stuff closer to 600 grit. J&B bore cleaner may also work, same for Flitz, which can be very hard to find. Lacking all that some fine pumice mixed with a thick oil or grease on a patch.

Steel wool comes in several grades from fine to coarse. Anything over 4-0 (0000) would be too coarse and will eat the rifling. In addition, steel wool leaves all that metal splinter lint in the barrel. a SOB to scrub out.

The gun will need a very good cleaning regardless, but that steel lint is a particularly rough problem.

Unless it is a very noticeable burr., shooting may be the best cure. The pushing the ball down bends the burr one way, firing pushed it the other. Eventually it shoots out and all the shooting burnishes the barrel.

I would not expect a "ring" to create a rough spot, just a swell. If it is tearing the patch like a cut, it is probably a burr. On the other hand a serious pit will also tear the patch. But is probably a more serious problem.

Some times a pin pushed through a dowel can be used as a guage to "feel" the extent of a pit. The pin point will catch in the pit.

 

[hanshi]

One of my rifles has a visible (barely) rough spot that I've steel wooled with success. It collected fouling and is now much improved. Another rifle has a ring in the barrel that may have been there all along; at least I don't recall anything that may have caused it. You can feel it when cleaning with patches. This rifle barrel is extraordinarily accurate producing some of the smallest groups I've ever fired. In general, a ring in a barrel doesn't necessarily degrade accuracy. As long as it isn't near the muzzle it usually has no effect.

 

[kodiak777]

I bought a 50 cal. TC at a pawn shop this week and when running a patch half way down,it would drop about a quarter inch. Never had a barrel do that. But no bulge on the outside. Used a straight edge to check. hmmmm. A rust pocket? Took it back because I didn't I need another project. So does a ringed barrel always have a slight bulge on the outside? Even with a bore light I could not see a thing.I am going to spend the 150 or so bucks and buy a Provision 36 inch bore scope. .243 and up die. And also use it around the house.

 

[mr.flintlock]

I have examined a few barrels over the years that have been damaged from short starting a bullet. None of them had a visable bulge on the outside. Instead of feeling a rough spot on the inside they all felt like a slick spot at some point down the barrel. By using a micrometer on the outside you may be able to see a difference in dementions aven though it wouldn't be visable to the naked eye.

 

[Zonie]

I agree with the "slick spot" feeling. That describes a ringed barrel perfectly.

With the thin walled barrels used on modern guns or shotguns you can see the bulge on the outside of the barrel if it is ringed.

With the heavy walled muzzleloader barrels there is usually no noticeable bulge on the outside.
Although the bore is definitely larger at the site of the ring the heavy wall tends to spread out the deformation over a longer length making it hard to see.

 

[kodiak777]

The drop spot on that barrel I talked about makes perfect sense for a ringed barrel. Thanks for the info. And yes, it does take a few passes to get the feel of reading the bore. I practiced with about four or five barrels one day,it's all about steady pressure, repeated again and again.Each barrel is a little different than the next.Instead of a dry patch on a dry barrel,I like a oiled patch,dry is to jerky for me. This last ringed barrel taught me a lesson on future buying of BP rifles.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Unless that bulge is in the last 8 inches behind the muzzle, the barrel may still shoot okay. Don't throw it away before trying it. The most critical area of any barrel for accuracy is the last 8 inches, according to Phil Quaglino, a retired barrel maker and champion shooter.

 

[Maven]

The green (kitchen) and maroon Scotch Brite pads are too coarse for your barrel, as is steel wool that's 00 or 000 (0000 is perfect). Since steel wool introduces problems of its own (mentioned in an earlier post), try the grey (000 SW equivalent) or white (0000 SW equivalent) Scotch Brite pads, which you'll find in the paint & stain section of your favorite big box hardware store.

 

[kodiak777]

About 14 inches down from the muzzle is the slick spot. I'll try shooting it and see what happens. Thanks for the input, didn't really want to buy another barrel.