A little barrel work
#1
A little barrel work
I should have taken some before and after pics but didn't. That Renegade that Semisane found for me that I put the .58 barrel on had a .50 cal T/C barrel that was pitted a little. So tonight, with nothing better to do I decided I would try and clean it up some. But how? I decided to lap the bore. So I dug out a worn .50 cal brass brush and cleaned it and fluxed it up. Put a heavily bore butter greased patch down the bore about 3" and slid the brush in leaving about 1/2 sticking out. Melted some lead in my ladle with a soldering torch. When it was good and hot I poured it down around the brush then pushed the brush down farther and poured in more molten lead until the entire brush/bore was filled. Pulled out the plug and the patch and oiled the bore good. Scrubbed the bore with J-B paste for a while then cleaned it out. Still rough in the bore. Hmmmmm? I know, I re-oiled the bore and broke out a bottle of liquid Lava hand soap. Pulled the lapping plug out about 3/4 of the way and applied a liberal coat of the Lava on it. Worked the plug up and down the bore about 100 or so times. The plug was black. I ran a few patches through and they were also coming out black. I gave the bore a good rinsing with hot water, alcohol patches, dried and oiled the bore.
It looks pretty darn good. Almost all the pitting is gone. Bore still looks a little rough but I think it will make a nice RB shooter. We'll see. I guess I have to dig around for some .490 balls. Been so long since I used them I forgot where they are at.
It looks pretty darn good. Almost all the pitting is gone. Bore still looks a little rough but I think it will make a nice RB shooter. We'll see. I guess I have to dig around for some .490 balls. Been so long since I used them I forgot where they are at.
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
I thought that barrel might clean up fairly well. The bore was really cruddy when I picked up the gun. I wish I had taken a picture of it then.
The picture below is after I ran a few alcohol patches down it that came out really nasty, followed by a patch of Montana X-Treme bore conditioner. After the bore conditioner sat for a few hours I ran a few clean dry patches. I just couldn't ship it to you without at least a little cleaning.
The picture below is after I ran a few alcohol patches down it that came out really nasty, followed by a patch of Montana X-Treme bore conditioner. After the bore conditioner sat for a few hours I ran a few clean dry patches. I just couldn't ship it to you without at least a little cleaning.