I acquired a TC Omega .50 cal front loader that had been neglected. The owner fired it and put it away dirty. Well, the bore was in very sorry condition, and was rusted up. I got it quite clean however I believe there was still a little rust towards the muzzle portion. The gun fires fine, however I haven't fired for accuracy. I can't be sure, but I believe there is some pitting in the bore that i'd like to get rid of. Can anyone either point me to some online resources, or give me some advice on what I need to do to finish the bore up nice and shiny??

In the process of removing the rust, I had used blue and rust remover to help out, and the blueing is removed from the muzzle of the rifle, and i'd like to refinish it myself. Not looking for it to be perfect, and professional, just want to get the job done. Any recommendations on kits for that?

Thank you for any and all help.

Branden

You describe a hardcase Brandon. Is too bad.

I might try to suspend the barrel in boiling water for awhile. Then allow to dry while hot. Boil in oil after that. Then see what you've got?

Cheezywan

If it's pitted bad, chances are it's never going to be very accurate but sometimes bores can be ugly and still shoot half decent. The only way to get rid of the pitting is to lapp the bore out until you grind all the good metal down to the bottom of the pits and to lapp a bore that far is pretty much a complete waste of time since it won't shoot for crap anyway. Personally, I wouldn't sweat the pits much, just makes sure the rust is stopped. You could plug the flash hole and fill the bore with Naval Jelly and let it burn the rust out but it'll also cut the good metal somewhat too so I'd only use this as a last ditch effort once you've proven the bore will not produce any accuracy. If it shoots half decent, I would not try the acid burn, if it ain't worth crap to start with, you've nothing to loose trying the acid.

As for the outside, there are several rust & blue removers, I've used the Birchwood Casey & Brownells with mixed results from both. A good scrubbing with steel wool will help get the old blue off. NEVER use a brass, bronze or coated brush of any kind or you'll end up with a complete mess - always use plain steel or stainless steel brushes. If the outside of the barrel isn't highly polished, you can save alot of aggravation by simply sanding it down, that'll cut the blue off in a hurry without needing to use any chemicals.

Once you get it clean and ready, cold blue would be the easiest. BC is the cheapest and will give decent results if you pay attention to what you're doing but can be a pain in the butt and produce blotches if you're not careful. Lots of people brag about Brownells 44/40 creme but I haven't tried it myself.

Thank you for the help. I know i've gotten the rust out. I shot it last night at midnight (of course) and looked through the bore before I fire it and it looked good, however it did have rough spots that I would likely describe as pitting. Before I fired it I ran a dry rag through that came out clean. Then ran a oil soaked rag through and let it sit for a little bit, then rag a few dry rags through again and there was no red stain, and no other stain for that matter.

I'm cleaning it right now again and i'm wondering if a lot of lead filled up the pits as it's taking a while to clean. I get the BP residue and salts out with water and simple green, and now i'm trying to get the lead out. I fired one shot, and it's still got a lot of gunk in it. Could old slugs with old lube in them cause a bullets to lead really bad?

I've always been a little more old fashioned minded when it came to ML's, and I wanted to only use full bore slugs over 500 grains. I don't want to use sabots at all, I prefer heavy and slow over light and fast. I'm really hoping it'll still be a shooter.

What kind of accuracy do normal ML's shoot at 100 yards with open sights? I was a sniper in the army so I know how to shoot well, however front stuffers are a new breed of rifle for me. I ask about the accuracy because when I get this rifle to the range, and shoot 6" groups at 100, I need to know if that's normal or not, otherwise i'll think that's normal for a weapon of a primitive nature. My .308 shoots 1/4", however it's state of the art technology (when you compare the two) plus it's got a scope.

Branden

My favorite cold blue is G96 and it usually gives very satisfactory results. All the best...
Gil

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/48

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/48

I think that's just what I needed! Thank you. I think i'm going to try that, however i'm going to try some other things first. I'm also thinking of bore lapping some of my other guns too if it'll make them easier, and quicker to clean!

Branden

Branden,

The traditional ML's I build will shoot 2" or better at 100yds with PRB's but I use custom made match grade barrels that have single point cut rifling. The conical shooters are different critters because the barrel is only half the battle, the bullet itself is the other half. I started using standard 0.460" BPCR bullets and got some decent results but having to deal with the false muzzle makes it a pain in the buttstock for use in the field. Since my primary concern was hunting, I decided to design my own bullet to get the maximum effectiveness at creating a wound channel rather than worrying about punching sub-MOA groups on paper. The initial design wasn't too bad, 3" - 4" @ 100yds but I wasn't thrilled with that or the wound channel. I modified the design and had another mold cut, this shrunk the groups to 2" - 2.5" with an okay wound channel and penetration but I still wasn't thrilled with the results. Mold number three was all around better but the project got sidelined at that point for lack of time and now that I've got some time, I lack the funds. After putting more thought into it, I have some additional modifications to make that will hopefully improve the results yet again.... as for how your Omega is going to shoot, that's anyone's guess.

I sent you an email too.
Mark

If it's pitted bad, chances are it's never going to be very accurate but sometimes bores can be ugly and still shoot half decent. The only way to get rid of the pitting is to lapp the bore out until you grind all the good metal down to the bottom of the pits and to lapp a bore that far is pretty much a complete waste of time since it won't shoot for crap anyway. Personally, I wouldn't sweat the pits much, just makes sure the rust is stopped. You could plug the flash hole and fill the bore with Naval Jelly and let it burn the rust out but it'll also cut the good metal somewhat too so I'd only use this as a last ditch effort once you've proven the bore will not produce any accuracy. If it shoots half decent, I would not try the acid burn, if it ain't worth crap to start with, you've nothing to loose trying the acid.

As for the outside, there are several rust & blue removers, I've used the Birchwood Casey & Brownells with mixed results from both. A good scrubbing with steel wool will help get the old blue off. NEVER use a brass, bronze or coated brush of any kind or you'll end up with a complete mess - always use plain steel or stainless steel brushes. If the outside of the barrel isn't highly polished, you can save alot of aggravation by simply sanding it down, that'll cut the blue off in a hurry without needing to use any chemicals.

Once you get it clean and ready, cold blue would be the easiest. BC is the cheapest and will give decent results if you pay attention to what you're doing but can be a pain in the butt and produce blotches if you're not careful. Lots of people brag about Brownells 44/40 creme but I haven't tried it myself.
I use toothpaste with a dry patch to polish pitting out! I've used the 44-40 blueing for touchups for over 30 years.

For touch up bluing I like Oxpho Blue available from Brownell's, it will blue thru oil and is polished out with steel wool. The link to firelapping is what I was going to suggest. Bottom line is you could just replace the barrel, that might be the best way to go to regain top accuracy cost wise. It sounds like your getting a lot of really good info. You can make a lead lap and use the same lapping compound as you use for firelapping, but fire lapping is a lot easier.

A lot of shooters who are new to muzzleloading are under the impression that the "substitute" powders are non-corrossive. This is definitely not true. The rifle needs to be cleaned that very evening after shooting.