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Pitted Barrel Project

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I don't see in the original post that RM ever stated that he is or was using a black powder substitute.

This gun was a "gift" from my uncle to my brother that he acquired a number of years ago. We got it, scrubbed it, lubed it, and it sat happily in a temperature controlled environment until Thanksgiving. Odds are that gun never saw a cleaning patch til we got ahold of it, so theres no telling what powder was used and for how long the gunk of that powder had been working on the inside of that barrel.

RM
 
I would lap it first and see how it shot.
You don't say how it groups?

3"-ish at 25yds. The nipple was stupid, so I didn't fool with it more than I had to.

50grs Pistol P'dex (black powder blew the hammer to half-cock), .490 ball, .018 patch.

This rifle will be more of a plinker than anything else, so unless I can get decent accuracy at 50 yds. it won't be used for hunting.
 
3"-ish at 25yds. The nipple was stupid, so I didn't fool with it more than I had to.

50grs Pistol P'dex (black powder blew the hammer to half-cock), .490 ball, .018 patch.

This rifle will be more of a plinker than anything else, so unless I can get decent accuracy at 50 yds. it won't be used for hunting.
If the charge with black power is blowing the hammer to half cock then the nipple is shot out and should be replaced.
 
That looks good compared to the New Englander .50 that is part of the estate we've been busy trying to liquidate. Sadly someone fired a brand new rifle and never cleaned it. We are talking 98+% new with a rough bore. Thinking of reaming to .60 fr use as a shotgun.
 
Upon initial scotch brite-ing it seems the last 4 to 6 inches of barrel have the worst pitting. A good scrubbing revealed shiny lands almost to the breech with mild to moderate rust spots/pitting. Tight patched valve compound lapping starts tonight, so we'll see what happens.
 

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Consider seating a bare patch on the powder first with this rifle and then seat the patched ball on that. A fire wall of you like. It may just do the trick.
 
What about coning the end of the barrel? The rifling there is trashed anyway. A combo of rifle freshing and coning might just get this bad boi back in shape with minimal out of pocket cost. Maybe.
 
I rescued a TC 45 cal that was pretty messed up. A shooting buddy wins local matches with it. The bore surface hardness from the rifling button was not noticeable.

First, soak the bore with Evapo-rust. Do not use any other rust remover. Then remove the breech plug. The breech plug may require a real barrel vice and real barrel wrenches. Scrub the snot out of it. Use scotchbrite and steel wool. Never-ever spin a brush with a drill, don't laugh I see it done and recommended. IT will destroy the bore in seconds.

Once it is clean, assess. IF it still looks nasty lap it. Work form the breech only. Cast a lead slug on all tread. Use a steel rod. I make a leather washer and put it between nuts to prevent the lead from leaking past. Make a rod guide to screw in to the plug threads. Cast from the muzzle. Heat the barrel to make a wrinkle free slug. Oil the lap and work it back an forth until it moves smoothly. Charge the lap with a little 120 valve grinding compound. Yes, 120. Anything less and your palm will blister before you cut any real metal away. When the lap loosens add more compound. Use plenty of oil. When it will no longer tighten cast a new lap. Repeat. Try to make a choke, don't exit the muzzle when working the lap. Eventually you will not be able to exit the muzzle, this is good. When smooth feeling and choked, switch to 220 grit then 320 grit. You will use about 5 laps total. This will take most of the day to do right. A smooth choked bore is an absolute pleasure to shoot.


Or send it to Bobby Hoyt! :thumb:
 
Upon initial scotch brite-ing it seems the last 4 to 6 inches of barrel have the worst pitting. A good scrubbing revealed shiny lands almost to the breech with mild to moderate rust spots/pitting. Tight patched valve compound lapping starts tonight, so we'll see what happens.
Glad it's not as bad as you initially thought.
 
I tried some Pyrodex many years ago and found it would not reliably fire when the temperature got close to 0
F. in a 50 cal percussion.
 
Hey Rich ,no disrespect but a through cleaning is in order after use....Pdex or Real Black,
Have the same T/C barrels for 25 years and they are still pretty good.
I think that most of the ones we see here were neglected.
SM
Pdex will rust a barrel before you can get home from the range. BP is more forgiving and where I live its not even corrosive if the humidity is low less than 30%. The corrosive subs are corrosive not matter what. Its FAR worse than any thing previously seen. I used to work for a arms maker who would void the warranty if pyrodex is used. If you have guns you have used the stuff in I can tell just by looking. I used to do the inspections when people sent back guns with "bad barrels" after about 2 weeks and the bores were already micro pitted. Once this is done its near impossible to prevent further rusting and if BP is used it will foul horridly.
 
Pdex will rust a barrel before you can get home from the range. BP is more forgiving and where I live its not even corrosive if the humidity is low less than 30%.

Sez you!!!

In 2000 i bought a cheap old CVA muzzleloader. That rifle has fired over 3,000 rounds of Pyrodex. The bore remains pristine. No micro pitting, no nothing.

Black powder and Pyrodex are about equal when it comes to rust and corrosion. IMO: The extreme corrosiveness of both is caused by the sulfur residue. None of the other black powder substitutes contain sulfur and they are not unduly corrosive.

For many years i attempted to clean up and restore the accuracy of muzzleloaders that had been neglected. Before deer season every year i would receive a bunch of neglected muzzleloaders whose owners expected miracles.

After a spat with the owner of an expensive Knight rifle that had been trashed and was no longer capable of the accuracy the owner expected i stopped doing that stuff.

Those who clean their guns properly and in a timely manner have no problem with either black powder or Pyrodex.
 
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I shoot only black now but I am sure I started using pydrodex as soon as it came out but don't remember the year. Later a local guy opened a frontier shop that stocked black and I went back to it. I leave my rifle loaded all season if I don't get a deer, back in my early days and when I shot pydrodex I loaded my gun in the morning before I went hunting and shot it empty every evening and gave it a good cleaning. Consequently I never had a problem with pydrodex eating up my barrel but I have see some horrible examples of what it can do.

Like this one;

roached out barrel.jpg
 
I shoot only black now but I am sure I started using pydrodex as soon as it came out but don't remember the year. Later a local guy opened a frontier shop that stocked black and I went back to it. I leave my rifle loaded all season if I don't get a deer, back in my early days and when I shot pydrodex I loaded my gun in the morning before I went hunting and shot it empty every evening and gave it a good cleaning. Consequently I never had a problem with pydrodex eating up my barrel but I have see some horrible examples of what it can do.

Like this one;

View attachment 21642
Can happen to any using any powder.
 
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