cornfork

I just bought a used Hawken and when I got it home I noticed it has what appears to be surface rust in the barrel. Yes I forgot to bring my bore light when I bought it and the guy said it didn't have any rust. Anyways, I've attached some photos and wondered if anyone had some tried and true ways to clean it up. I also wondered if I should remove the breech plug to clean it. Some google searches said I should leave it be.

Thanks!

stripercrazy

it don't look bad...use some bore paste clean it up.....good rifleing .... its j-b bore paste .....i used it on my guns and it cleaned up really good...works great.....ed

cayugad

JB Bore Paste will take that off. Or you can use a brush and some solvent and see if its just surface rust and rolls right off. Then some solvent patches. If you have no patches, take the barrel out of the stock. Get the wood stock away from this.. and spray a good does of brake cleaner down the bore then start swabbing with patches saturated with brake cleaner. That too will take that out.

nys-buckstalker

run a couple patches of T-17 down it and a couple dry patches. see if that cleans it up. Then run a patch of TC lube down to coat it . Doesnt look to serious.

cornfork

Thanks guys,

I was a little worried that I had thrown my money away.

Does anyone unscrew the breech plug on these models. I started to try and unscrew mine but it was pretty tough. I went online and some folks said to leave it alone. The online manual for the T/C Hawken mentioned removing the breech plug. I didn't know if this is something I should worry about or not.

cayugad

No, on some of the very first rifles, you could actually take the breech plug out with the correct tool. I never seen one, but heard of them at a Rendezvous. All my T/C Hawken, Renegade, New Englanders, Black Mountain Magnum, and PA Pellet the breech plug is LEFT ALONE. You mark that up trying to get it out, it will not fit in the tang properly and might effect accuracy.

cornfork

Ok.. I will leave it alone.

The other funny thing about my gun is the manufacture date. Of course before I bought the gun I ran across all the bad press about the 1995-1996 inline CVA guns. Well I went to look at the serial number on my Hawken and it ends in - 95 which means it was made during the same time as the recalled guns. I know its not an inline gun.. but man.. I would have to buy one that was made during those years. I won't overload the gun so I should be fine. I just wish it fell outside of those recall years.. Other folks online said that they never heard of a failure with a Hawken so that was reassuring.

cayugad

The older CVA Hawken rifles are a VERY GOOD rifle. They shouldered real well, and shot well. The big thing with them is before you load it, make sure the fire is moving through the drum of the rifle. If it is, you will have very few problems with them. Although... my friend has a CVA Hawkins. Not sure of the year. He came to me because it had ignition problems. I changed out the nipple, made sure the barrel was dry, just about everything. But I found that his problem was in the powder. He shot Pyrodex RS and always had a hang fire it seemed. I switched him to Goex and it went off like a dream.

lemoyne

I have cleaned up many guns for people always the same way in the last few years.
Off to the auto-parts store for a can of Evapo-rust seal the bottom of the barrel stand it up fill with Evapo-rust next morning scrub with hot water and dish soap all rust will be gone. Check for sharp edges if there are any pits use cotton ball test, if any cotton hangs up in barrel, then lap.

cornfork

thanks for all the suggestions.. I went to Walmart and picked up some foaming T-17 cleaner and other cleaning items. After letting the T-17 sit for an hour and some scrubbing, the bore looks nice and shiny. I still see a little surface rust color on a few parts of the bore. I will go over these a few more times. If needed I will try some JB bore paste, Ecapo-rust, or brake cleaner to get those minor stubborn spots.

Now I'm just itchin to get out to the range and shoot this thing!

I've actually had a lot of fun hanging out in the garage and cleaning this thing. The weather was nice and cool today (Fall on the way), which makes hanging out in the garage even more enjoyable.

I think muzzleloaders are my new gun hobby.