Cleaning up the bore on a BP revolver

[Doc Hoy]

Experts,

I recently acquired a barrel and cylinder for a .36 cal 1851 Colt replica. both parts are in pretty rough condition. I fear that the bore is beyond help. (Pitted from corrosion too badly.)

But lets assume that a) the barrel is salvageable. and b) I am willing to apply a little effort in order to retore it to a shootable condition.

I am pretty good with hand tools and to a slightly lesser extent with machine tools. I have a shop with a drill press, lathe, milling machine, and several different size hammers.

Can you give me some options for cleaning up the bore on this pistol while restoring the shooting quality and retaining the .36 caliber? (Abrasive based and machine based)

To what extent does one harm the barrel by removing the sharp edges of the rifling? (I think simply shooting the barrel does this anyway.)

[James K]

I am not sure I understand. Do you have just a barrel and cylinder or do you have a complete gun? Or do you have a gun you want to install the barrel and cylinder on? The reason for those questions is economics. It wouldn't make a lot of sense to clean up a barrel and cylinder alone because you can't easily buy the rest of the gun and if you did it would cost more than just buying a complete gun in the first place.

But to try and answer your questions about cleaning.

First, I would spray the inside of the barrel with a good penetrant/cleaner (I like G96 Gun Treatment), and use normal patches to see what comes out. Then obtain a stainless steel brush in .45 caliber (.38 is too small). Spray again, and force the brush through the barrel. Do this a few times and see if there is any improvement. If the barrel is really badly corroded, you can't "restore" it and the cylinder won't let you rebore to a larger caliber even if you were willing to pay a lot of money to have that done.

Lead balls and bullets require sharp rifling for accuracy, so very aggressive cleaning is not the answer either.

Jim

[Doc Hoy]

All very useful answers. Thanks.

It is just a barrel that I am working with. It is not earmarked for any specific frame. The cylinder is too far gone for anything but a wall hanger. The parts came from a steel frame pistol in which the frame and internals are in remarkably good condition. It required cleaning but the condition of the parts is excellent and the action is very smooth. I used a relatively new barrel and cylinder on that frame and it made up a good looking and good shooting revolver. (I accept that the parts came from different sources which limits the value of the piece, but since it was a project, I don't really care about value. The main goal is that I learn from it.)

The answer on the sharpness of the rifling was welcome as a validation of what I thought was as true of BP revolvers as it is in pistols that make use of a harder bullet.

I ran a patch through it with some bore solvent (I think it was Hoppes') and came out with a bunch of rusty goo. I went to work with some wool from a Scotchbrite pad. The bore still looks terrible. I don't mind the time and I am willing to buy some tools if there is such a thing that I could use to smooth out the rough spots. I am under no illusions about this barrel. I have accepted the fact that beyond training, there is little value in moving forward.