Shotgun barrel pitted?

fat tony

fat tony

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I shot some loads through my 870 barrel, probably left the cleaning too long :redface:now there is a ring of what appears to be pitting in there about half way up the barrel, I don't know for certain if it's just leading, I fired about 50 rounds of winchester, remington and some challenger slugs through it. I have heard the Challenger slugs use cheddite primers which I heard were corrosive. Should I try to hone the bore to get rid of it if it's indeed pitting. :(
 
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First really clean the barrel, a good way is to use a jag and then wrap some copper 'Chore Boy' scouring pad (Not steel wool, not SOS etc - just copper) around the jag and pass it through several times. The harder it is to push through the better, you will be amazed at how much lead and grit it will take out of a 'clean' barrel. If you don't have a jag then wrap it around a bronze bore brush.
After that you will see if it is still there. I have seen some very neglected 870 barrels and never one pitted, but I haven't seen everything....yet. ;)
Also lightly run your fingers over the barrel at the point to make sure it isn't a slight bulge...unlikely but worth checking as well.
Good luck and hopefully it is just lead
 
Thanks what I did was push a bronze brush through and it got a lot of crap out, then used a jag with 2 patches(sort of makes things tighter), then used some hoppes on the patches and smeared some jb bore paste on the patch, whatever it is it's still there so I guess I'll get some choreboys and try it on a jag like you said and push it through a few times. Best regards Tony. :wave:
 
fat tony said:
I have heard the Challenger slugs use cheddite primers which I heard were corrosive.
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Cheddite primers are not corrosive. They are used in a variety of loaded ammo including Kent and Challenger.

It sounds like what you have are some rough spots in your barrel that are causing a plastic build up which is not unusual in recently produced Remingtons.

The copper scouring pad is a good idea and to make the job faster put your cleaning rod into a hand drill and use it to clean the barrel.
 
not to change the topic, but can pitting in a scatter gun affect accuracy like it can in a rifle? i have a old Stevens 820 which has a borwe like a sewer pipe, but still patterns beautifully.
 
By the way this is the jag I used, pretty neat little dealie!

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/productdetail.aspx?p=7694&st=509100012&s=19327

509100020.jpg
 
Tampons to clean a shotgun!? Now I've heard of everything! I wonder does that "The Box O' Truth" guy buy his own, or just pilfer his wifes supply?? Anyway......

Paper towel works quite well for swabbing out a bore after brushing, and you can buy it without getting any strange looks.

For stubborn stuff like plastic, lead or rust in a 12 ga bore I prefer to use a 10 ga brush with Rem-Clean on it, then chuck the cleaning rod up in the cordless drill. Works every time for me, all the junk is gone in short order and the barrel is nice and gleaming.
 
To the question about roughness in a shotgun bore, with plastic wads it has no identifiable effect on patterning. My opinion is based on old a5 barrels with identical chokes, some have pitted bores and some are mirror and they throw identical patterns.

I dont know what the effect would be on slugs.

Jeff
 
I don't clean my smoothbore shotties more than twice a year. I give the barrel a quick look down the pipe to make sure a rat hasn't crawled in there and died from lead poisoning and commence shooting activities.

It's not like you're trying to pick off a groundhog at 200 yards with sub 1MOA.

Before i deer hunt with any smoothbore with slugs i give em a cleaning though before sighting em in just to be safe.

EDIT** Oh yea. Bore snakes are a super idea for someone who plinks thousands of rounds a month and dosn't have time for a thorough cleaning. They work very well and are washable and available on ebay cheap!
 
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