Light Pitting and accuracy

[powdergun]

I have a Black powder inline rifle with what appears to light pitting in the barrel. The rifling looks clean and sharp though. Will this have much of an impact on this type of rifles accuracy ?

Thanks

 

[Tumbleweed]

No.

I've had (and have) barrels that look plain awful, but shoot very well indeed. One in particular, a Venezuelan Mauser in 7x57, shoots way under MOA with a bore that looks rough as a brick.

Don't let a rough bore scare you. Just shoot the hell out of it; it might surprise you.

 

[Big JD-From the hills]

You won't notice a difference, especialy if its at the rear.

 

[rodagra]

Back in the late 1800's this topic was discussed at length and it still goes on. A gunmaker of the time stated that only the last inch of rifleing is important, and to prove his point he made a spiral rifled barrel...that is the whole barrel was bent around a mandrel so it looked like a big corkscrew. The last inch was left straight, and the rifle shot as well as any of the era. It was a high velocity air rifle, but the principal holds.
I own several c.f. handguns, and one of them has a fair bit of pitting in the first 3/4's of the barrel. It is the most accurate of all I own for some reason. I'm certainly not saying the rough bore will improve anything, but at least in this case it sure hasn't hurt.
Pitted bores will lead faster shooting cast, but a few rounds of jacketed bullets clean them up nicely.

 

[mooncoon]

Best answer is to take it to the range and bench it although balance the results with what you know of your own accuracy with similar sights etc. Several of my muzzle loaders have lightly pitted barrels and still seem to shoot accurately.
If the pitting is causing torn patches, try polishing with a very tight patch and valve grinding compound, being sure to allow the rod to turn with the rifling.

cheers mooncoon