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Rusted bore Q

asphalt cowboy
I've got an Armi Sport 50 rifle that a friend of mine brought me to try and salvage the bore. I have the course scale out and have it to where I can run two TC pre lubed patches down it with the range rod, but the bore still feels rather rough.

What I have in mind is rubbing a small amount of lapping compound into one of the TC patches, seating that over a 60-70 gr powder charge and then firring it.
And uh, no, I don't have a ball puller. I've always used a CO2 discharger.

Do y'all think this might help smooth the bore, or does it just sound crazy?

Oh, yeah, the finest grit compounds I have are 600 and 800.
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Comments

13 comments

Date Votes
  • grizzclaw
    Try some cutting oil and a bronze brush on an old rod clamped in a drill. I do that with an old Knight rifle I have that is pretty bad.
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  • hillbille
    quote:Originally posted by grizzclaw
    Try some cutting oil and a bronze brush on an old rod clamped in a drill. I do that with an old Knight rifle I have that is pretty bad.


    +1 cleaning rod and drill.
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  • XXCross
    Give it a good soaking with "Kroil" and let it set for a few days then clean it again.
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  • Chief Shaway
    Pull the breech. Plug the front. Pour hot lead down the barrel so you have about 3" worth. Then force the lead out of the barrel with a ramrod.
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  • dandak1
    quote:Originally posted by Chief Shaway
    Pull the breech. Plug the front. Pour hot lead down the barrel so you have about 3" worth. Then force the lead out of the barrel with a ramrod.

    Watch out! Maybe this works sometimes (or so I've heard), but with bad pitting you may never be able to move the lead at all despite immense pressure. The pits just lock in the lead! Ask me how I know!!!
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  • asphalt cowboy
    Yup, already done the bronze brush and #0000 steel wool routine with it. Have also soaked it with Brownells Steel White so I'm fairly confident I've gotten the rust out. I'm now just looking for a way to smooth out some if the pitting to ease loading and see if it will still shoot decent. If it won't shoot minute of deer it won't be worth cleaning up the exterior.

    I had considered pouring a lap in the muzzle Chief, but this thing sat for better'n a year without cleaning. Not quite a sewer pipe, but it ain't purty either. Don't think I could get a poured lap to budge.
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  • navc130
    The method you describe has been recommended in M/L magazines. I would think it would act on the lands most and not get into the grooves very much unless you use a very tight fitting ball. A champion M/L shooter wrote that he smoothed / trued his barrels with 320 grit abrasive paper. Of course, this would not get into the grooves either. Looks like the only way to get into the grooves is to cast a lap or screw a oversize ball onto a rod, coat it with abrasive, and force it into the bore. If it comes off you have to pull the breechplug to get it out. Or you could load and shoot it out each time, i.e., without a patch. An interesting project.
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  • wpage
    Some success using the 3m green and red plastic scoring pads...
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  • Winston Bode
    Load it and see how it shoots, you may be going to a whole lot of trouble for nothing. I have an old Thompson Hawken .50 that the barrel was left after shooting and rusted up. I cleaned it as best I could but could see that the barrel was pitted really bad. I loaded it and fired it and at fifty yards you could consistently hit a deer without any problems. It won't ever win any accuracy contests but it will hit a deer or hog in the woods where I hunt.

    Bode
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  • asphalt cowboy
    I've already tried that Winston. At 50 yards it had five all over a paper plate. That and seating a PRB is like trying to shove a badger in a bucket.
    I'll have time tomorrow to try a few abrasive patches.
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  • 44caliberkid
    Stainless steel sponge from Brownells + Balistol. Or lapping compound on a patch, over a jag, thick enough patch to be very tight fitting, so you have to drive the rod through the bore. Just some things I've done before.
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  • dsmc1
    Some good ideas here.

    Thought I remember someone on here suggesting for this problem, to tap a slug thru, like you were slugging the barrel to measure the diameter, then being VERY careful to realign the slug to the rifling,push it thru with your ramrod several times coated in lapping compound, then make sure you clean it REAL good afterwards.

    The brush in a drill will clean the lands, but not the grooves. maybe do that first, then the slug and lapping compound to get into the grooves.

    Soaking with kroil for a few days first wouldn't hurt eating thru the rust, either

    Good luck
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  • asphalt cowboy
    Thanks guys, got her all lined out.

    Some of the pits are still there, but it's not shredding the patches like it was. Even got four into a 3" group at 100yds.
    Now I need to take care of the external rust.
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