Extreme cleaning advice

[muzzleloadmuggle]

For Christmas I was given an American Night muzzle loader in .50 by a relative. It came used and extremely poorly maintained. What measures can I take to resurrect this gun, as I believe that a simple cleaning out will not do. I have never seen a bore this rotted threw before, but then this is my first plunge into black powder. I have included a an attachment of a picture of the muzzle;



Thank you for any advice you can give.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Ouch... Looks can be deceiving, but that looks rather bad.
Make sure it's not loaded. The breech plug may be frozen as well. I would get a bore brush and spray it with Kroil and scrub it to get as much of the rust off as you can. It will also help to loosen up the breech plug. Saturate patches with Kroil and get the bore thoroughly coated, plug the nipple/primer hole on the breech plug and let the Kroil work. The stuff is amazing. No better penetrating oil out there.
Anyway, keep cleaning it until you see steel. Once the plug is out you can evaluate the bore. Expect pitting. Probably bad. Sometimes pitted bores can still shoot minute of ribcage. You can use JB bore paste or Iosso to smooth things up a bit.
The American Knight was a budget rifle. Had one myself, did all I asked of it. I hope it turns out well for you.
Unfortunate as it is, its a good project.

 

[GoexBlackhorn]

Three products to try-out. Use in the same order that I display them-here.

http://www.evapo-rust.com/?gclid=CLHK6MeSg8MCFRQQ7AodIFUAxQ

http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleani...mbedding-bore-cleaning-compound-prod1160.aspx

This one below works in-conjunction with the J-B Bore Paste. The directions on the J-B include the use of oil.

http://www.kanolabs.com/penLub.html

Happy New Year!

 

[Widude]

That does look bad, sadly lack of care is the demise of many muzzle-loaders. I'd try the above mentioned techniques, unlikely to ever be pristine though.

 

[bronko220002]

I would plug the breech and fill the barrel with Evaporust and let it set for a day. That should remove all the rust in there. Just be careful not to get any on the external surfaces of the rifle as it will remove the bluing.
You can pour the Evap into another container for reuse if you desire. After you empty the barrel give is a good swabbing with some dry cloths followed by alcohol patches and then a patch of good gun oil. That is if you can get the breech plug out. If that is stuck re-plug it (a toothpick works) and dump some liquid wrench into the bore after removing the evaporust. Let that set for another day.

 

[Trophy 2000]

Beast of luck with your project, let us know how you make out.

 

[edmehlig]

I had a ML that had rust in the bore. Per a tip from a fellow ML on this forum I tried Evapo Rust that can be purchased online from Walmart https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=e ... ahead=evap. If you do a search, you may be able to find it else where?? I just plugged the vent hole removed the bbl from the stock stuck it in a bucket and filled the bore to the top. I let it stay there for a few days and all of the rust was gone. Just be careful as it will remove the blueing if left on the outside of your bbl. It won't solve the problem of pitts in your bore, but the rust will be gone. Naturally you'll have to follow normal procedures in cleaning and keeping your bbl coated with oil to prevent the bore from rusting again.

 

[GoexBlackhorn]

Ed is correct!
A good follow-up oil to rust concerns is necessary. Many remedies are out there and non-runny oil is whats used nowadays for rust concerns..... and also with pocket pistols. I keep a Ruger CLP in my front pocket unholstered for a year now and not a drop of oil exists in my pocket over the past year.

So, you want a good protection oil, but also one that does not run up & down the barrel, or in your front pocket. You want an oil that stays-put during storage. There are many out there. I currently use Slip 2000 EWL, but doing a Google search on the top pistol oils will produce 4-5 other good ones on the market.

To me, pistol oil and a bore that's just been cleaned-up from heavy rust, is a perfect marriage. If you are storing for more than one year, gun grease works real well too, to keep the rust from re-occurring.

 

[WV Hunter]

Well the pic looks bad, so I can imagine how it is in person. You can try your best, but honestly I wouldn't spend a ton of time or $ on it. The American was the bottom end rifle and they are dirt cheap on the market today, even in quite good condition. You'd probably be ahead to keep the good parts and hunt for a better rifle. A really nice LK93 which is a step up can be had for about $100 give or take.

Not to deter you... by all means, give it a go. At least you know what you have. I've seen some rusty ol rifles that end up still shooting pretty well. My guess is the plug will be a bear to get out of that one. Its a shame how some folks treat their guns. Good luck with her.

 

[Okie Hog]

Well the pic looks bad, so I can imagine how it is in person. You can try your best, but honestly I wouldn't spend a ton of time or $ on it

Exactly. IMO: That bore is beyond salvage. I've tried to clean up rusty neglected bores for other folks but gave it up. Evapo Rust will remove the rust and you are left with a badly pitted bore.

Sometimes you can get somewhat decent groups from a badly pitted barrel. However, it's not really worth the effort. Look into getting the barrel re-bored to .54 caliber.