Barrel pits

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penpusher

Barrel pits

Post by penpusher » Fri Oct 13, 2006 5:01 pm

There are shallow pits in the barrels of a shotgun.The max depth is .04mm. Should I bother getting them removed or leave them as they are.What would be the best way to remove them? Makes the job of cleaning the barrel a lot harder though. The gunsmith from whom I get my guns repaired says that the only way to remove them would be to rebore the barrels.

Got the dents removed from the barrels.Saw a hydraulic dent raiser for the first time.Considering the ease with which the dents can be removed, can't understand the prices quoted for this on the net.

Take care,
penpusher

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Grumpy
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Re: Barrel pits

Post by Grumpy » Fri Oct 13, 2006 11:22 pm

penpusher .04mm is only 1 1/2 thou so the pits are hardly deep. To remove the pits you`ld have to lap the bores NOT rebore the barrels. Whether you have it done or not depends upon the wall thicknesses. If you were thinking of selling the gun then having nice, smooth bores is a good selling point - otherwise I wouldn`t bother.
Use a proprietary nitro/plastic solvent/barrel cleaner to clean the bores - soak a jag with the solvent cleaner and push it through. Then use a bronze brush, then a light machine oil. The combination of the solvent and brushing will remove the muck from the pits.
Yes, the use of a hydraulic dent remover is very easy and the price charged ridiculously expensive.

penpusher

Re: Barrel pits

Post by penpusher » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:43 pm

Grumpy,

Thanks for the reply.It belonged to my grandfather and will never be sold.Its just a plain jane WJ Jeffery hammer gun sold by Lyon&Lyon.I plan to get it back to as good a condition as possible.Now the next step is going to be to restock it.The original stock had cracked and my grandfather got it replaced.The fellow who did the restocking did not do a very good job.

How do you lap shotgun bores?Just curious.Have no plans of messing around, doing something I have no idea about.Have a family to take care of.Would make me feel knowledgeable when discussing it with my gunsmith :lol:

Checked to see if the gun is off the face or not.Held it against the light.Could see light about 1/4th of the way from the bottom to the top, where the barrels meet the action face.Wriggled the barrels with the fore end removed and they do move a fraction.What do you say.Is it off the face?Should I get the hinge pin changed?Is it safe to fire?

Take care,
penpusher

Grumpy
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Re: Barrel pits

Post by Grumpy » Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:10 am

penpusher, the gun will be safe to use even though it is slightly off the face but if you use it a lot the problem will worsen quite rapidly. Recoil becomes very uncomfortable when a gun is badly off the face. So yes, have the gun rejointed by a competent gunsmith sometime - there`s no rush however.
A barrel lapping/honing tool is a strange looking device. They have multiple ( usually two ) heads, each with an abrasive stone and are powered by an electric drill. There are also more conventional looking cylindrical types. The lapper/honer is inserted into the bore, and pushed up and down whilst it spins rapidly. You have to be very careful when using them as they can remove a heck of a lot of metal in a very short time !
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ ... ARREL+HONE
is an example from the Brownells catalogue.

penpusher

Re: Barrel pits

Post by penpusher » Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:38 pm

Grumpy,

The gunsmith from whom I get my guns repaired has the honing tool but is not very comfortable using it nor is he happy with its end result.Would a bronze brush coated with rubbing compound achieve the same result? Have a lot of free time and would not mind the exercise.
Last edited by penpusher on Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Grumpy
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Re: Barrel pits

Post by Grumpy » Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:31 pm

Barrel lapping/honing requires patience and care - also at least two sets of stones ( coarse and fine ) to do the job properly. End results are immaculate.
Yes. you could do the job yourself - but not with a bronze brush as it wouldn`t hold the abrasive material at its` extremities - a cloth on a jag would do the job - and not with rubbing compound as it is too fine, you`ld need a coarser abrasive. You could use the rubbing compound for finishing though.
Technique is the same - pushing up and down whilst turning - but requires a lot more effort to do it manually. You should put the abrasive through the chokes as well because if you remove 1 1/2 thou from the tubes without working the chokes you would effectively increase the choke constriction by 1 1/2 thou......inconsequential in practice however. The problem is that the cloth jag, being tighter through the chokes tends, to remove more material relative to the bore. I wouldn`t bother - just do the final polishing in the chokes. That polishing would benefit the patterning slightly however as you are effectively regulating the chokes.

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Post by andy_65_in » Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:54 pm

Can anyone suggets some good gunsmith at DEHRADUN . i have some work on my shotgun to be done

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