I recently became the owner of a pitted Encore 209x50 barrel that was not originally mine. I have never had the barrel of any firearm I have ever owned rust at all what so ever so I have no idea how to go about removing the pitting in the barrel.

I do not even know how to determine how badly it is even pitted. The pitting is visable to the naked eye. It is in three areas that wrap around the bore. I will say that except for the pitting the rest of the bore is mirror bright and spotlessly clean.

So as I see it I have one of two choices on how to try to fix this barrel.
#1-try to remove it my self with Jbs.
#2-send it to T/C and have them remove it and hope its free or for a not to large a fee.

I have one last question. I it even worth doing as I can get a Bergara after market barrel for $160.00? In other words if I or T/C can remove the pitting what are the odds based on anyones experiences, that the Encore will shoot well or as well as it did prior to the pitting?

Thanks for anyones help on this.
Arthur.

If it's pitted, nothing will remove the pitting. Don't bother sending it to T/C as they can't fix it either and I can't see how they would be responsible in any way for pitting. That said, I would try shooting the barrel; it might not shoot all that bad.

I would say your barrel is probably a blued one. I would never buy a muzzleloader barrel in anything but stainless steel since what's frequently used in muzzleloaders is somewhat corrosive. Yea, I know that if you clean them properly you shouldn't get rust or pitting but if I'm in the middle of nowhere I might not have the ability to clean and stainless steel isn't as much trouble (I also know stainless steel can rust).

My last comment may raise howls of protest. I don't have nor do I ever intend to get a Bergara barrel. I've always been satisfied with T/C quality and extremely satisfied wth T/C's no hassle lifetime warranty for defects in material and workmanship. I think the only advantage Bergara barrels have is in price and that you get what you pay for.

I would clean it with J&B, and then shoot it.

Unless the pits are real bad it might not effect the accuracy at all.

Thanks for the advice so far. Grumulkin, I realize that in no was is T/C responsable for this error, things compleatly beyond my control were. I only expressed my hope that T/C might fix this screw up at little or no charge as they are famious for their CS, and I know first hand just how good it is. I once had aproblem with my first run Encore barrels forearm attachment screw shearing off. This happened about 25 day befoe I was to leave for a ML hunt in NM for elk. I called T/C and said I realy do not have time to wait for me to 1st send you the problem barrel and then get a new one as I can only shoot on the weekends. They 3 day UPS it to me (before the next week end) free of charge and said just send the problem barrel to us when you get time and wished me luck on my hunt.

I guess the most simple/cheap thing to do at this point is clean it as well as is possable (already done that) and shoot it and see what happens.

Thanks, Arthur.

You may eventually get all the crap out of the pits, but you'll never remove the pits, unless, of course, you have the barrel rebored. Clean it, shoot it, you might be quite surprised.

Graig, that is what I figured the pitting is permanate. I will do as you and others have advised.

Thanks,
Arthur.

quote:

I have never had the barrel of any firearm I have ever owned rust at all what so ever so I have no idea how to go about removing the pitting in the barrel.

From what you said above I assume you mean that you want to remove the rust "scale" not the pits. I would use a steel brush. I know that bronze brushes are preferred as they are gentle, but they are too gentle to remove the scale. Brush the scale out then try to shoot it. Don't order another barrel unless you know this one is bad!

I will quote myself from another thread:

quote:

The thing about any damaged areas in the bore is that all bullets will be more or less affected the same as they travel over or through it. So sometimes accuracy can be amazing.

I have seen barrels that have had sections if the rifling missing and they still shot well.

A poster by the name of Silwane(sp?) had a very accurate custom rifle that developed an area in the bore that was so loose that it would not grip the patch as a jag was pushed down the bore. The rifle still shot well under MOA.


Jason