Pitted Barrel Project

[Cobra6]

Went to trackofthewolf and found the section for Hawken replacement barrels. Unfortunately, they are all sized in 15/16 inch. The 54 Cal that I have is a 1.0 inch across the flats. I did get lucky and found a 50 Cal Hawken in 1.0 inch on ebay. Fits right into the stock on my 54 Cal. Cleaned up the 50 and going to shoot it today. Additionally, I might bring the 54 over to the local gunsmith and have him give me an evaluation of my 54s condition. Thanks for all the advice guys...let you know how I make out.


Cobra 6

 

[SDSmlf]

TC fifties have such shallow grooves that they will often clean up with very little increase in caliber, which offers the opportunity to design a bore.

Interesting comment. The button rifling process used to rifle the TC barrels work hardened the the steel to the the point that refreshing was very difficult, at least based on those that tried to refresh TC barrels that I have talked to. Told by by people like Bobby Hoyt that refreshing TC barrels was a waste of time and reboring was the way to go if you wanted a smooth finished barrel.

 

[Cobra6]

Thanks for the reply Dphar1950. That lead casting and re-cutting the grooves and lands would be an interesting project. I'm going to look for more information on the process. Need pictures. If I screw it up no big loss on a barrel since it's already toast. Question......Is there a tool or device that I can buy to refresh my 54 Cal barrel. I know that gunsmiths have all this equipment as part of their trade. However, if an average person can make in a shop a simple device to refresh their own barrel, then I bet there is a company out there that makes a simple cutting tool for this purpose. Maybe just some wish-full thinking.


Cobra 6

 

[M. De Land]

Interesting comment. The button rifling process used to rifle the TC barrels work hardened the the steel to the the point that refreshing was very difficult, at least based on those that tried to refresh TC barrels that I have talked to. Told by by people like Bobby Hoyt that refreshing TC barrels was a waste of time and reboring was the way to go if you wanted a smooth finished barrel.

I've cut and crowned TC barrels in my lathe and couldn't detect any appreciable hardness change from button rifling work hardening as button barrels are usually normalize once or twice in a heat treat oven after each button pass. This normalization is done in 1200 degree F range from what I've read of the buttoning process. It is not done in once pass as far as I know. I've not tried refreshing a bore but would be really surprised if a groove cutting saw/ tool fashioned with a piece of carbide would not cut TC barrel steel like hot cheese.
I use carbide tooling quite a bit in lathe,drill press and milling machine on hardened tool steel and can assure you it is much harder and tougher than is TC barrel steel.

 

[SDSmlf]

I've cut and crowned TC barrels in my lathe and couldn't detect any appreciable hardness change from button rifling work hardening as button barrels are usually normalize once or twice in a heat treat oven after each button pass. This normalization is done in 1200 degree F range from what I've read of the buttoning process. It is not done in once pass as far as I know. I've not tried refreshing a bore but would be really surprised if a groove cutting saw/ tool fashioned with a piece of carbide would not cut TC barrel steel like hot cheese.
I use carbide tooling quite a bit in lathe,drill press and milling machine on hardened tool steel and can assure you it is much harder and tougher than is TC barrel steel.

I have crowned and altered barrel lengths of TC and other manufacturers’ barrels on a lathe without difficulty. I was referring to the reported difficulty refreshing button rifled barrels, ‘refreshing’ being something I have not attempted.