I have an 1873 Springfield. The rifling is very clearly defined and there appears to be very little pitting, but the bore is dark. No amount of scrubbing will clean it out. I've even gone so far as to attach copper pot scrubbers to a wooden dowel and running that up and down the barrel with a drill. No matter what I do, patches always come out dirty. is there some way to clean it out once and for all?
Cleaning a dark bore
- Thread starter Papaclaude
- Start date
Birchwood Casey makes a product called "Blue Wonder" which is the best I have ever found for these problems. It is not a hazardous product and it will not remove any bluing but it will remove rust and corrosion. I don't know where you would get a tube in Ottawa. I bought my last from Gun Mart in Brockville. It is swabbed into the barrel with a bronze brush and left sit for five minutes then a good scrubbing with the bronze brush and cotton patches until they come out clean. Repeat if necessary. It works wonders....probably why they gave it this name. It is a bit expensive but worth saving a lot of grief. I use in on all the metal parts and outside and inside the barrel to remove rust from pitting and surface rust. Completely safe. Tiriaq has a good idea as well. I have never needed to use the electrolytic method as I stear clear of most that are in very bad shape. The darkness in your bore should be easy. Good luck. Dave
As long as it shoots straight, why worry? I think that might reduce accuracy with using rotary abrasive methods. You could try using a the abrasive surface of a scotch brite pad as a patch on a ram rod with cutting oil but too much abrasion and you will be rounding the rifling
If you think about the outside surface of guns with no finish and which have rusted, you usually end up with a smooth but dark colour to the surface (bluing in a sense) that takes sanding or draw filing to remove. At the same time that outer surface is smooth even though dark. I think the same thing applies to the bore of a gun
cheers mooncoon
If you think about the outside surface of guns with no finish and which have rusted, you usually end up with a smooth but dark colour to the surface (bluing in a sense) that takes sanding or draw filing to remove. At the same time that outer surface is smooth even though dark. I think the same thing applies to the bore of a gun
cheers mooncoon
If It was my gun I would shoot it, to see how it shoots. If it produced bad groups (within reason for its age) then I would proceed to try and clean it.
Some guns shoot better with a slightly fouled bore. You remove too much and they turn into a shotgun, flinging bullets all over the place.
my 2 cents
Some guns shoot better with a slightly fouled bore. You remove too much and they turn into a shotgun, flinging bullets all over the place.
my 2 cents
Try this site; ( http://www.trapdoorcollector.com/restoration.html ), scroll down to "Restoration "
Try fifty rounds rapid fire, clean while still warm. Can work wonders on some bores.
cant_rope_the_wind01
CGN Regular
- Location
- West central Alberta
have you tryed boiling hot water???
Have had good results with 'EVAPORUST' if your problem is scale or oxides.
The volume of crud this stuff will flush out of a dark bore is an eye opener.
Get all of the fouling out first, then degrease well before using the juice. And surely keep it off of the bluing. I cork the muzzle and fill the bore with a hypo.
A bore bad enough to need this treatment will always show dirty on as many patches as you care to push through, however it'll likely shoot reasonably well, considering.
Have a very old .22 lever that was so rusted it at first appeared to be 'bout .17 cal., no visible rifling. After de-rusting it goes into 1.5" @ 25yds.
$10.00 or so at CTC.
The volume of crud this stuff will flush out of a dark bore is an eye opener.
Get all of the fouling out first, then degrease well before using the juice. And surely keep it off of the bluing. I cork the muzzle and fill the bore with a hypo.
A bore bad enough to need this treatment will always show dirty on as many patches as you care to push through, however it'll likely shoot reasonably well, considering.
Have a very old .22 lever that was so rusted it at first appeared to be 'bout .17 cal., no visible rifling. After de-rusting it goes into 1.5" @ 25yds.
$10.00 or so at CTC.
