Liner Time?

[TXGunNut]

Have a sweet little 1902 (or is it 1907?) vintage 1892 Winchester rifle (not carbine) in 32-20 that isn't much of a shooter. Slick action, 60-70% condition and excellent mechanically. Bore looked a bit rough when I bought it but sometimes rough bores shoot just fine, this one doesn't. I want to shoot BP and lead (of course!) in this rifle and the bore is badly fouled after 10-20 rounds. Doesn't shoot SP any better, just less fouling.
Bore has moderate pitting especially in the bottom. Has what appears to be longitudinal scratches for at least 10-12 inches near the center of the barrel. Rifling is pretty good. Collector value is not a big consideration for me, I seldom sell a rifle and bought this rifle as a shooter.
Re-boring doesn't seem to be a viable option and I really like the 32-20 cartridge. Any things I need to consider or check before I ship it off to be re-lined? Who around here does this kind of work on a regular basis? I've outlived the gunsmiths that have done the best work for me in the past.

[Larry Gibson]

Nothing to lose by fire lapping that bore to try to smooth it out. Might do fine with BP loads then(?). Never know if you don't try.

Larry Gibson

[Leslie Sapp]

I've not done any experimenting along this line, but I've wondered if shooting paper patched boolits through it might clean it up some over time. I've got an old 1889 Marlin in similar condition. It still shoots pretty good, but it's not real pretty when you look down the bore.

[TXGunNut]

Good ideas! I once polished a frontstuffer's bore using a jag and ordinary brown paper, PP boolits may work as well. Suspect firelapping will be quicker.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I have fire lapped several barrels that were not so great shooters. Fire lapping did not degrade any and did help one to be very usable.
You have nothing to loose but maybe 30 cast boolits, some lap compound and an hour of time shooting. Sort of a no loose enjoyable time.
Mike in Peru

[reed1911]

I third (or forth) that. Lap it out and see what she'll do. Much less expense than a re-line and all the value is retained. I know you said that was not a concern, but hey no sense tossing out value if you don't need to.

[John Taylor]

All this stuff about ruining the value. I work for many collectors and they all say the same thing, if the bore is shot out or rusted they don't want it. I was at a pawn shop a while back and every 94 Winchester was priced at around $1100, even the one that had a model 64 barrel on it. I think the owner was smoking something. I had a rifle sent to me a while back that had rust in the bore and the rifling was gone. The owner was told he would loose all collector value if I put a liner in so he asked for the rifle back. He sent it to me to make a shooter out of it, not to try and sell it to a collector. I get people all the time thinking that a 40% finish is collectible, don't want to re-blue because all collector value is gone. I try to tell them there is not much collector value because collectors are looking for better guns. What really gets me is that if the repair was done 100 years ago it still has collector value but if it was done last year all collector value is gone, who makes up these rules?
Rant over.
If the rifle in question cleans up with lapping, great. If not, a reline will not hurt the value but improve it's value by making it a shooter.

[texassako]

You don't really have anything to lose by fire lapping since you are already considering a liner. I am doing the same thing with a rifle. I have a box ready to go fire lap a #2 rolling block in the hopes it will shoot well enough to be a 25 yard plinker. If it works, I can use the couple hundred dollars on another project. If it doesn't, I get a nice shiny bore to shoot with.

[SOFMatchstaff]

I can recommend the fire lap, I did a 1893 Marlin in 25-36 that wouldnt hold a dinner plate at 25 yds, and the lapping got it to a 4" group at 100.
I cant shoot cast in it but the 117gr RN are ok. I then counter bored the muzzle an inch or so to good rifling, to get rid of the taper, used a
.264 dia piloted tool I made up. the group shrank to 2.5" at 100yds. the bore still looks like a mile of bad asphalt, but it shoots, and the muzzle still looks pretty much stock.

I also used a batch of Heavily Moly'd pills as the first loads down the tube after the fire lapping figuring it would fill the remaining pits and such with a bit of lube to slow the inevitable fouling. Seems to have been a good idea as the rifle shoots well even after some fairly long strings of fire.

I am going to do a 1892 in 38-40 next, but I dont have high hopes for it as a lead shooter, plated .40s might be the savior. It doesnt have any huge pits like the Marlin did, more consistently rough the full length of the bore.