I just had my muzzleloader barrel drilled and tapped, Not Happy

[SHOOTALL]

Screwbolts , I take issue as my gun smith has told me on several occasions that the screws were softer so they would not hurt the reciever or frame . Also Brownells list scope base screws as machine screws not grade 8 .

[Screwbolts]

Screwbolts , I take issue as my gun smith has told me on several occasions that the screws were softer so they would not hurt the reciever or frame . Also Brownells list scope base screws as machine screws not grade 8 .

Shootall:   this is copied and pasted from Brownells's  site,   http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=48/k=/t=P/mfg=/Products/Metals--Springs--Screws 

Please take notice of the section I changed font color to blue. there is 3 different copied and pasted sections here all from Brownells.

Best regards,

Ken

    *  Made in the U.S.A.

      Made In The U.S.A.

      Products marked with the Stars and Stripes are proudly made in the U.S.A.

      Many customers have asked us to show which products are made in America, and we’ve begun working with our vendors to identify them. This information, however, is not available for all items nor does it imply that foreign merchandise is of lesser quality. We will continue to gather this information to assist our customers in making informed buying decisions, and will keep our website current with the latest information.
    * Slotted-Head Screws For All Scope & Sight Mounting Jobs

This Kit has been extremely popular with our customers for many years. The gunsmiths and dealers who do any type of sight work have found that they do not like to be without it. The slotted-head screws included in the kit cover at least 99% of all scope and iron sight mounting requirements.

The Screw Kit is packed in a plastic box and contains 12 each of the most popular 18 screw sizes needed when working with scopes or sights. It also has a pair of chrome-plated tweezers with flat jaws for easily picking up the right screw and our handy, Checker/Shortener Jig that makes grinding screws to the right length fast and easy.

The screws are made of high strength, forged tool steel, feature slotted-heads and are tempered and blued to rigid specifications. We suggest that should a screw need to be cut and fitted, it should be treated with rust-prohibitive OXPHO-BLUE™ before it is used to give it a highly rust-resistant, tough, blue coat to make your job look and wear better.   The kit is available to you at a very substantial savings over the cost of buying the screws singly. It is an opportunity to have just the right, hard-to-find sight base screw when you need it, for only a minimal cost ... an advantage that will pay for itself time after time in repair or installation jobs.


Also from Brownells:


LEUPOLD TORX SCREWS

    * Mfr:BROWNELLS
    * Price:$11.22 - $20.99
    * Made in the U.S.A.

      Made In The U.S.A.

      Products marked with the Stars and Stripes are proudly made in the U.S.A.

      Many customers have asked us to show which products are made in America, and we’ve begun working with our vendors to identify them. This information, however, is not available for all items nor does it imply that foreign merchandise is of lesser quality. We will continue to gather this information to assist our customers in making informed buying decisions, and will keep our website current with the latest information.
    * Convenient 12 Paks Of The Most Useable Sizes For Scope Mounting Applications

Refill your Leupold factory screw kit or keep these extra-strong, heat-treated screws on hand for your customers and yourself. We’ve put together the most requested screw sizes in money-saving 12 Paks so it’s easier to ­convert existing rings and bases to Torx head without having to buy more than you need. These are the same screws used by ­Leupold but will fit many other brands of rings and bases.

Please notice that they make reference to grinding to proper length in this section, that is because they are hard!


TORX HEAD SCOPE RING & BASE SCREW KIT

    * Mfr:BROWNELLS
    * Price:$2.99 - $63.99
    * Made in the U.S.A.

      Made In The U.S.A.

      Products marked with the Stars and Stripes are proudly made in the U.S.A.

      Many customers have asked us to show which products are made in America, and we’ve begun working with our vendors to identify them. This information, however, is not available for all items nor does it imply that foreign merchandise is of lesser quality. We will continue to gather this information to assist our customers in making informed buying decisions, and will keep our website current with the latest information.
    * 240 TORX Screws To Fit Popular Rings & Bases; Includes T-10 & T-15 Heads

A TORX head lets you set a screw down tight without the bit slipping and damaging the screw slot. They give your work a clean, finished appearance. We’ve included T-10 and T-15 TORX sizes for use in different applications. T-10 gives you plenty of additional wall thickness where the head joins the shank; T-15 has a large socket that accepts the same driver supplied with many popular brands of rings and bases.

You get an economically priced assortment of 240 screws, all made right here in the USA. 1 dozen each of 20 different screws; 11 Fillister Head and 9 Weaver Oval Head styles in 3 thread sizes and 4 lengths, all in a sturdy, compartmented box. For those special jobs we have included a hardened steel, Checker/Shortener Jig that makes grinding screws to just the right length, fast and easy.

SPECS: U.S.-made, quality screws, with the same head/shape specs as the Slotted Sight Base Screws. T-10, T-15 TORX socket. Blued. Kit includes: (1) T-10 and (1) T-15 TORX wrench, 240 screws, compartmented kit box, Tweezers, Checker/Shortener Jig and Application Chart showing bases/rings/ribs/etc., that the screws fit. Refills sold 12 per pak. Screw Lengths: ¼": ¼" (6.36mm), 3/8" (9.5mm), ½" (12.7mm), 9/16" (14.28mm). Screw Sizes: 6-40, 6-48, 8-40 tpi.

Catalog page 344, 427, 209, 345, 426, 399, 401, 42

[SHOOTALL]

Good point the holes should not be there and the smith that put them there made a mistake ? so he should make it right ! Which hole were correct ? the ones that punched thru. or the ones that did not ?
Sloppy IMHO .
As far as cleaning , do you remove them after shooting ?

[SHOOTALL]

Screwbolts heat treated does not mean case hard . Heat treated can be from grade 2(little harding ) to grade 8 (case hard ) so whats your point ? Forged steel means the structure of the steel is directional . If you find it nessary to remove a broken screw it would be better for the screw to be less hard than the base metal Which in the case of guns are most times heat treated . So again the screw are in most cases softer than the reciver . 

[gunnut69]

We worry about fouling in a rough barrel and disregard scerew holes drilled into the bore.. That's outrageious. The smith can't afford to replace the barrel? He's the one that ruined it. Guys you can argue all you want but drilling into the bore was a mistake and should not have happened. The fouling will accumulate there and black powder rust can do a lot of damage in a very little time. Screws are tempered but they aree not hard. They are indeed fairly soft, actually easily damaged by almost any screwdriver. Still the screw is a weakspot. It's threads are extremely tiny and the black powder fouling will attack and weaken them quickly. The barrel should be replaced. If you wish to keep it OK by me it's your choice... AND remember to keep the personnal attacks down..

[scott cudworth]

That barrels fine to shoot......I would probably use a depth gauge though to fit screws exactly to the right depth.Just to limit the crud fill in factor.

[rio grande]

That barrels fine to shoot......I would probably use a depth gauge though to fit screws exactly to the right depth.Just to limit the crud fill in factor.

Y'all scare me.

[SlowLeadBullets]

I don't know anything about barrel design or metallurgy, but what is the cost of a new barrel?  $200 - 300.  In todays shooting and medical prices that is pretty low.  Get a new barrel and that way you will be sure things won't go awry.  Why risk your well being on someones opinion in an internet discussion.

Rob

[MSP Ret]

I bought a .54 Cal TC Renegade barrel over the internet that the same thing had been done to in an attempt to mount a scope. Yours is salvageable by using screws that do not enter into the rifling, locktited in and screwed down tight. I did it to mine and it shoots fine and has been doing so for years. If I were you I would go back to the "gunsmith" and inquire, but if things do not work out there, the barrel is not ruined, not perfect, but not ruined....<><....

P.S. - if you don't want the barrel I would be HAPPY to buy it from you, cheap of course

[jcn59]

I HESITATE TO VENTURE INTO SUCH A HIGHLY CHARGED ARENA, BUT........I am willing, despite the risk, to take this ruined and dangerous piece into my own hands and perform a rigorous test, over the next 25 years, shooting black powder hunting loads only, and then I will report back to you the results,  providing I may keep the rifle for my own use after the experiment ends.

Is it a deal?

[Lowerboom]

Hooboy!

Been enjoyin this forum just readin for awhile until      this thread. Funny ain't it how 'Age of Reason', 'Age of Enlightenment', 'Renaissance', 'Industrial Age' and a bunch more things that were hallmarks of reason, just happend to other folks.

Science is science, facts and math trump opinion and superstition.

Was it a bad job? You bet! Should you with nervous hands load an shoot it? No.

Speakin of holes in chamber, once had a pressure barrel given to me, old type with copper crushers, i asked for it cause it just shot everything well. What to do? cut it shorter, alter dynamics, might not shoot so well, thread hole in barrel, and make a screw from drill rod, and you bet hardend, cut try and polish until you could only see the new chamber plug with a 45 degree angle mirror inspection tool.

I wore that barrel out with loads from 50,000-60,000 psi. Plug didn't move a bit. Seen my fair share of thin walled shotgun barrels with paper thin sections at bottom of screw holes OR with good screws finished to match to barrel interior. They didn't move either nor did the paper thin wafers at bottom of thread hole bulge out (Ain't enough pressure on 'em to do it)

This whole thread reminds me of Galileo, remember him? Inquisition? Hadda say publicly that the Sun moves round the Earth? After recanting he was supposed to have said bout the Earth 'And yet it moves'. Didn't matter what the the superstitious types had to say, fact is, the Earth does move. (Course, i've read, never met  YET folk who believe the Earths' flat)

NOW! afore anyone jumps me, gentlemen, might i just ask that we take a breather and agree to disagree?

[Swampman]

I don't know anything about barrel design or metallurgy, but what is the cost of a new barrel?  $200 - 300.  In todays shooting and medical prices that is pretty low.  Get a new barrel and that way you will be sure things won't go awry.  Why risk your well being on someones opinion in an internet discussion.

Rob

Well said