ROUGH bore in .50 cal ML NEF Huntsman

[badge176]

So I picked up a pawnshop NEF Huntsman for a low price. I could see a dusting of surface rust in bore and there was a charge (and copper bullet) in the bore, hence the low price! The breech plug turned out nicely(thank you, Mr. Kroil!) and I picked out the matted lump that I recognized as Pyrodex. The bullet drove out nicely and then the fun began... Eventually cleaned up as best could be done with "bore bright" mild abrasive till the rust stopped coming out. By that time I suspected that things were a little worse than I had hoped and while the rifling is strong the bore has light pitting throughout.

O.K., so my mistake being made already, any suggestions? What could you suggest I try first as I am going to try to get this beast to shoot well (minute and a half of deer under 75 yards)? I cast MaxiBall, MaxiHunter, Lee Improved Minie, and Lee light REAL in this caliber, any ideas?

How expensive would it be to get this barrel rebored to .54cal? Or lined to .45?

You can refrain from telling me I was a fool, as I have already done so repeatedly. First real gun buying screwup in a long while (most have been guns I wish I hadn't sold though!)[smilie=b:

[badge176]

But at $5.00 an inch, it'll be cheaper to get NEF/ H&R to put a new barrel on it at the factory:sad:

[badge176]

I have the stuff to try this and I'm considering clipping off the last .75 inch off the muzzle- cut & crown.

[405]

Well,
If it was cheap... little harm, no foul :)
You probably will not get rid of the pits. All you can do is smooth the edges, so no matter what is done, from now on it will foul quicker and be harder to clean.

Now, it might shoot fine if you swab often. To smooth it out a little, I'd try some lapping compound. I use Wheeler's. I've done it and it seemed to help some. I start with 220 grit compound smeared on a cloth patched roundball as per normal patched roundball shooting. Shoot, clean, shoot, clean... a few times. Then switch to either 320 grit or 600 grit compound and do the same repetition a few times. Then finish off with a few repetitions of JBs on a patched roundball.

Don't know about the cost of another barrel?

[mooman76]

Have you even fired it yet? I'd fire a few rounds first. It may surprise you. Then if you're not satisfied try the fire lapping route. Some times they get barrels for sale on auction arms and a few other sites.

[wgr]

i would try the maxi balls they are more forgiving than most in a pitted bore. is that one of the older h&r,s if so i think they have a slow twist.if it has a faster twist shoot a maxie or sabot

[Gtek]

+1 with 405- I would polish by hand to start, no back and forth though. I hate to read that on JB can. The projectile goes one way, I polish that way. The back and forth has to make weird spots in my mind. Then if it is more than rubbing will cure - Clover compound or the like, roll maxi's or saturate patches. Most of the lower end BP barrels were not super smooth to begin with and you may end up with super sweet. Do not beat yourself up man, your in a club of many. Firearms have a majical effect on the adult male brain that causes impulse! Gtek

[Good Cheer]

Bobby Hoyt has rebored TC Hawken / Renegade barrels for me. Believe the cost was like $65 or so plus shipping. You might get even lower priced going with a smooth bore and have an optional smooth rifle / shotgun. You be plenty good for deer out to sixty yards.

Did it develop nasty rust down by that copper?

[largom]

Well,
If it was cheap... little harm, no foul :)
You probably will not get rid of the pits. All you can do is smooth the edges, so no matter what is done, from now on it will foul quicker and be harder to clean.

Now, it might shoot fine if you swab often. To smooth it out a little, I'd try some lapping compound. I use Wheeler's. I've done it and it seemed to help some. I start with 220 grit compound smeared on a cloth patched roundball as per normal patched roundball shooting. Shoot, clean, shoot, clean... a few times. Then switch to either 320 grit or 600 grit compound and do the same repetition a few times. Then finish off with a few repetitions of JBs on a patched roundball.

Don't know about the cost of another barrel?



This is what I would do, only I would shoot at least 10-15 shots of each grit.

Larry

[725]

See how it shoots. Hand lap /fire lap, see how it shoots. If your efforts aren't up to the task, let Bob Hoyt bore it out to a .54. I've had him do some for me and have seen several others he has done. Outstanding. You will purely love that H&R in .54. (I have one) It's worth the expense.

[10 ga]

I've done some pretty rough bores for people. Lap it by hand or fire whichever you choose. Don't over lap. Go slow and do a little at a time. Then use sabots. In my experience with a rough bore the sabots will shoot to the accuracy you said you want. I'd use the black crush rib sabot and a soft lead .451 boolit in the 250 to 325 gr. range. I would also suggest you use BlackHorn 209 powder as it produces a LOT LESS fouling than BP or the other subs and that rough bore will collect foul like crazy. For plastic control with sabots I use Ed's Red about every 5th shot with rough bores and BP or subs. With the BH 209 you may not need swabbing that often. You should be able to get that gun shooting pretty good with only a minimum of trouble. Let us know how it turns out. Best, 10 ga

PS: If you get it bored out go to a .58, if you have enough metal, with a slow roundball twist. My 58 with patched RBs ahead of 85 gr. Swiss FF is devastating on deer and accurate far as I need to be.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

maybe a little Flitz on a thick patch run up and down a bunch with the jag and range rod then see how it shoots there are may a rough bore muzzle loader out there that were neglected that are still minute of deer at 75 yards

i would try a patched round ball with hydrogen peroxide /rubbing alcohol /Murphy oil soap mix for a lube it keeps fouling soft

then some mini's and sabots a few of each and see how it shoots you may not need to do much more.

[looseprojectile]

You have the equipment to cast a lead lap. Hand lapping has saved lots of pitted rifles for me over the years. With a lap you can make it good as new and smoother than it was when new.

Life is good

[troy_mclure]

shoot it first! my dad has a real old and beat up sears single shot 12ga with a rifled barrel, its so badly pitted that there is gaps in the rifling. it keeps minute of paper plate at 50yds all day long.

you can also try .45/.50 plastic sabots, they arent too sensitive to rough bores as lead, and plastic fouling is easier to remove.

[badge176]

First couple of shots were promising,
at least I was on paper at 50 yards after having replaced/ installed the sights!

Group was much larger than hoped:groner: but time, fading light and having forgot the cleaning stuff[smilie=b: precluded much load experimentation.

I started with the 80g volume Equ. as suggested on their web page for the 300g Lyman .458 Gould HP that I had sized down to .452 to run in the sabots (50/50 WW/ SO WW alloy to allow more softness= expansion?). I located two of the sabots down range; ONE was well swelled at the skirt and bore decent rifling tracks, the OTHER looked almost as unfired!. Next trip to the woods I'll go prepared and try 85, and 90g volume Equ. to see if there's a sweet spot the sabot likes...

On the bright side, I had shimmed my buddy's scope/ mounts on his Mosin Nagant M44(?) to fix the elevation-done-run-out syndrom and it was perfect the first effort! Win some, Lose some, go back and cheat till you win!