Rusty Barrel

I was checking out my favorite store (pawn shop) and found an extremely used T.C. Big Bore .58 cal. The percussion lock functions properly and is in good order. The barrel, however is a different matter. As far down inside as I can see, there is no rifling... Just lots of rust. I figure it goes all the way to the patent breech. The outside of the barrel looks good, just a little surface rust. The stock is in good shape. It does not have the same type trigger guard as the Renagade and has only a single trigger. Trigger guard is just around the trigger. Since this barrel is 1" inch across the flats. I'm figuring it could be bored out to say 12 ga. or at least 16 ga. I kinda got a hankerin for one of them "canoe" guns. I figure this would be less dollars than getting a new barrel and still be as functional...Sorry to be so long winded. Your opinions are most welcome.

Draw a fine bead on em son!!! Bobby

It all depends on the price. You can use that rusty bore in your favor, to get the lowest price. I love finding guns just like that to see how well I can clean them up.

Buy it, and post pics so we can better assit.

You should be able to get it for well under $100. Hard to sell a gun that is not in good working order.

I agree that it is worth pursuing provided you can buy it right.
I should probably be shot for doing so but neglected a CVA rifle and found the bore to be quite rusty when I reclaimed it from a corner of the shop. However with some serious cleaning including polishing with JB Bore paste the barrel was remarkably clean and usable.
So if the price is right you may be able to save it.

The bore may well be shot and needs either to be drilled and relined (a Bobby Hoyt job), drilled to be a smoothbore (still will cost you some ducats) or replaced. Use that as a basis to negotiate a better price.

Well guys, I bought it. Figured that the stock and lock were worth the $45.00 dollars I paid for it. I do not know Mr. Hoyt. Please advise of contact information. Took piece a part and started on barrel. It is really bad. Poured penetrating oil down barrel and let soak. Took the nipple out and nothing came out... No oil. Ran two patches down barrel (very rough all the way down) and when I pulled them out, they were torn to shreds. I figure the barrel will have to be bored out at least. If this is cost prohibative, I am just going to put my .62 smoothie Green Mountain barrel on it and call it good to go. I can salvage the sights.

Draw a fine bead on em son!!!! Bobby

Use a wire down the flash hole after removing the nipple to see if you can feel an obstruction. There may be powder and a ball in that barrel! a Pipe cleaner should clean the flash hole out, using a good solvent, to cut the oil, and grease, that may be in it. If you get " Black " on the tip of the wire, or pipe cleaner, you may actually be through to the powder chamber, and in that case, you can neutralize the powder with later poured in, or just by sitting the end of the barrel in water in a bucket for a couple of hours. Then find a friend, and use a ball puller to pull the lead ball or conical out of the gun barrel. Once you clean the barrel, a better appraisal of its condition is possible. If it is a T/C, you might send it back to the factory for them to fix. It may or may not be covered by Warranty, but it can't hurt to ask.

Good Catch ther Paul!
Before you do anything make sure the ramrod bottoms out on the breach!
Ya don't want to be playing with a loaded gun?

Now I'll tell the rest of the story on my CVA Barrel. I poured CLR down the barrel and almost abused it with a 12ga bronze brush.
Then went to bore cleaner with a patch wrapped around the brush.
After patches were coming out fairly clean I went to patched around the brush again with JB Bore Polish. Called it good when I could drop a light down it and only saw a few very small pits that would not impede it's use and otherwise shiny as a new nickel.
Might take a long evening but you might be surprized?
Congratulations on the buy, at the very worst you got more than $45 worth of parts. :grin:

YOu can try " fire-lapping" the bore, now, by putting JB Bore Cleaner on a patch that you use around a lead ball and just fire the gun using that patch and the JB BC instead of patch lube. You can dampen the patch material before putting the JB BC on it, to help the patch make it down the barrel.

A few shots with the lapping compound on it should remove any remaining rust spots. Then just give the barrel a good cleaning with soap and water, dry it, and go back to shooting it with your normal lube on the patch.

So when is the rifle ready for the rebore, good call on the loaded gun paul...I bought a renegade a couple weeks back the seller at the gun store says he has a half dozen ml usually inlines come in every year loaded....anyway the barrel had some what I call light pitting about the size of ground pepper in the rifling but I have shot guns in this condition and they shooot great, you can see the rifling is still sharp. With using green mountain barrels on 2 of the thompson centers I have a ended up with spare 50 cal and 54 cal barrel and would like to find guns in the forementioned condition to put them on $45.00 is a good deal. but how do you tell when a barrel is gone without shooting it a few times?

I had already run the ramrod down the barrel. This is why I mentioned the patent breech.. as the rod would not go all the way to the breech plug. I to have found loaded ML's in stores for sale. But this was different. Anyway, I wrapped steel wool with penetrating oil around a .50 cal jag and had at it for about 10 min. I then ran patches till it was dry. I then ran rod with jag down the barrel and it did not feel right. Something was just wrong. I got my flash light and low and behold It was kinda shinny down the bore. The light was reflecting back off of "LEAD". I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that it "was" loaded. Got my ball puller and pulled the ball. Just the ball. No patch, no powder just the ball. That is why the rod went past where it should have been if it was loaded. Never seen that before, Just a ball in the bore. Might have been why the feller that owned her got rid of it. Sure wasn't gonna shoot that way. By the way the steel wool did make a difference. Might be able to make her shoot. I'll keep ya'll advised. Thanks again for the info. You guys are great....

Draw a fine bead on em son!!! Bobby

Short of shooting the gun barrel, only various obvious wear on the bore-- seen at the muzzle can give any kind of hint that a barrel is " shot out ". With today's modern steels, its very unlikely that a barrel will be shot out unless its been totally neglected or abused. Is someone poured acid down the barrel and let it stand, I suspect enough damage might still be done to ruin its ability to shoot.

A friend told my brother that if the last 8 inches of a barrel are okay, the gun will still shoot. That is the first time I had ever heard anything like that, but the friend is a retired barrel maker, and if anyone should know something about barrels, he is the guy.

If I were trying to find " good deals " in pawn shops, or flea markets, or wherever on barrels, I would be concerned with just how much time and energy its going to take to put a barrel back in shooting condition. Dry-balling a barrel is a common problem, and most men don't want to admit they have joined the " Honorable Society of Dry- Ballers ". So, they put the gun aside until they can dump it off on someone. I know how to remove a dry ball, so such a barrel would be a good deal for me, if the rest of the bore is okay, and the price was right.

Don't hesitate to take a solid cleaning rod with you when you go shopping, together with patches, and cleaning fluid, so you can clean the bore, and then use lights and or bore mirrors to let you see the condition of the bore.

Adding to pauls comment about taking a cleaning rod with you, also take a brass cleaning jag for the calibers your interested in. Take a few lightly oiled cleaning patches too.

When your running the cleaning patch down the bore, notice how much pressure it takes.
If there are any places in the barrel where the cleaning patch suddenly becomes much easier to push and then returns to the previous pressure, the barrel has been "ringed" or bulged.
This is caused by someone not loading the projectile all the way down to sit firmly on the powder charge (short loading) and then firing the gun.

While a barrel with a slight bulge may not be dangerous to shoot, it totally ruins the barrel. It will never shoot accurately.

zonie