Sanding rifling

Has anyone here ever sanded the rifling out of a gun? I've got a .50 barrel that presently doesn't have a lock to go with it and seeing as I already have a .50 in that twist I don't really have much use for a second..... However I don't have any smoothbores so I was wondering if anyone had sanded the rifling in a barrel smooth and if it's worth the effort and what the easiest way to go about it was..... I'm considering getting a 17/32 reamer and trying to open it close to .54 Cal on thet lathe also which might be easier but I don't have a rod presently to make my reamer long enough to cut the whole bore. Just looking for experience and advice doing something similar.... Also the bore is in useable but rough shape.... This would be the first time I've messed with a muzzleloader but I have built multiple moderen cartridge rifles.

One of the followers to my blog had his Hawken turned into a smoothbore, but he had it done for him in a machine shop. I can't imagine the cost would be that great.
Keith.

I'm a machinist and have a shop at dads. I've built a lot of guns and it was my main source of income for a few years just not muzzleloading firearms. I've got the skill and know how to bore it to .54. mostly I'm just looking for experience with sanding a bore since I wouldn't have to buy anything I don't have and should still be able to use .490 balls which I have a mold for.... Also I'm curious and like to tinker with stuff.... It's a 1" cva barrel so it doesn't have drilled and tapped holes. I could line it I've lined several barrels I could even build one from stock and line it but that's all money I don't have right now I do however have a dowel rod and a lot of sand paper....

Instead of wasting your time, get a part time job and put the money towards the tools you need! You will be dead before you sand out the rifling!
Nit Wit

IDK it will take that long can't be more than .015 but I figured it would take a while.... I'm going to see if I can't find what I need at work I know we have a reamer but I need to find something to make it longer

Ream it. That's the proper way to do the job. Aside from that, you would likely sand yourself into exhaustion and old age before you removed .015" deep rifling. And, since you will likely be using a reamer not actually designed and made for barrel reaming, you will likely find it wanders in its trip through the barrel, as well as leaving a pretty rough finish. Modern barrel makers use pull-through reamers designed for the job, and continuous flood of coolant to clear the chips, which method, if properly done with a rougher and at least one finish reamer, leaves a properly straight and smooth bore. Alternatively, you could study-up on the oldtimers' methods for doing the same job, and make the tools they used, though that would take more time than the job is likely worth. Still, it's your time, and your project.

mhb - MIke - barrel maker, retired

I figured it would need a lot of care after reaming. I've thought about grinding a little off the nose of the reamer and putting a bushing on the nose so it doesn't cut right there and forces it to follow the bore with possibly one behind the cutting surface to keep the whole thing tracking straight. Also considered removing the breech plug and using a pull through but as it's a patent breech it would be a pain.... I'm sure it's doable just not sure I want to try that hard... Also thought running the reamer by hand would help minimize it's wondering possibly. But I'm also just taking enough to barely remove the rifling since I found a 33/64ths reamer. If I ruin the barrel I'm not going to be upset it's just junk as it sets now anyways. The only reason I have it is the lock broke and then a bunch of parts went missing so all I have is the barrel and the stock anyways. Thanks much though Mike it's really nice to get an opinion from someone who actually knows something most people just guess.

Methinks sanding would result in a lot of high and low spots.

Rat said:

Methinks sanding would result in a lot of high and low spots.

Click to expand...

I could be something new, serial jug chokes.

Here is a similar thread I responded to in this forum a few days ago.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...smoothbore-shotgun-sizes.111822/#post-1521892

I think sanding with full length strokes would be pretty consistent if you were spinning the sanding utensil then maybe....

I reamed one out once. I drilled it first to get rid of the Lands first, then used a adjustable reamer from Grizzly tools to smooth it out. Then I took a polishing reamer to remove the tooling marks. but it ended up being larger than the original caliber by a lot. I don't think you will be successful at just removing the lands.

It started out a 50 cal barrel and ended up being .525 Smooth bore. I never did anything with it though. I moved on to better projects! Hind sight, I would have gone all the way out to .54 to be able to readily feed it!

Post pictures when you finish!!
Good Luck!

Found a reamer that will just barely take the lands out and got it started about an inch down the bore by hand. So now I'm going to have to grind a pilot on the nose so it will track straight and figure out exactly how I'm going to turn it. I was thinking about grinding a 1/4 or 3/8 sqaure on the end and driving it with ratchet extensions.

If your a machinist you should know sandpaper is far to inconsistent for such an operation. Not to mention it will create high and low spots as the paper progressively wears faster in various locations and compresses. Do it right by reaming it, however since it's an el-cheapo barrel just give it a go if you feel the need, look on the bright side you'll certainly get a forearm workout!

Also take the breech plug out.