Author Topic: 30-06 (Read 692 times)

Don Fischer · « **on:** March 22, 2005, 02:22:29 PM »

I've got a very old 30-06 that came from a friend that died. He used a lot of corosive primer's in it and the barrel is pitted pretty bad. It does shoot jacketed bullet's extremely well but I'm thinking I want to make a cast bullet gun out of it. Never been a big 30-06 fan but absolutely love this rifle. the question is is all the pitting in the barrel going to cause a problem, ie excessive lead buildup? I'm going to hunt the Cascades this year and don't need a flat shooter so wanting to use this rifle with probally 180 gr cast bullet's.

Mikey · « **Reply #1 on:** March 23, 2005, 02:51:17 AM »

Don - why don't you drop on down to Veral Smith's forum with this question. He might recommend firelapping the barrel for better accuracy with cast bullets. I understand from previous posts that firelapping may help reduce leading due to a pitted bore. Possibly Veral can help more with this. HTH. Mikey.

Vern Humphrey · « **Reply #2 on:** March 23, 2005, 10:18:23 AM »

I'd recommend not firelapping -- wrapping a patch tightly around a patch and coating it with a fine abrasive will do about as much, and is much more controllable.

I'd simply clean and shoot the rifle before I did anything -- see if it NEEDS any polishing, lapping or other treatment

Don Fischer · « **Reply #3 on:** March 23, 2005, 10:25:54 AM »

I've done those things and the rifle shoot's fine. But the gunsmith says the barrel is pitted. I thougth about a rebore to 338-06 but would ruin the value of the rifle.

Vern Humphrey · « **Reply #4 on:** March 23, 2005, 10:41:21 AM »

Quote from: Don Fischer

I've done those things and the rifle shoot's fine. But the gunsmith says the barrel is pitted. I thougth about a rebore to 338-06 but would ruin the value of the rifle.

If it shoots fine, what more do you want? Or, as the man said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Don Fischer · « **Reply #5 on:** March 23, 2005, 10:53:21 AM »

I'm just wondering what shooting lead thru it may do. Will it get ahold and become impossible to clean out? Or maybe just fill in the pits and nothing happen's?

Vern Humphrey · « **Reply #6 on:** March 23, 2005, 11:09:30 AM »

Quote from: Don Fischer

I'm just wondering what shooting lead thru it may do. Will it get ahold and become impossible to clean out? Or maybe just fill in the pits and nothing happen's?

Clean it thoroughly with Ed's Red, or some other lead-fighting substance, or make (or buy) a foul-out. Instructions for making one cheaply can be found at http://www.geocities.com/kemays/foulout.htm.

Or you can do what I do -- plug the breech with a vaccuum line cap (from any auto-parts store) and pour a 50-50 mixture of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide down the bore. Don't get any on the finish, and pour it directly down the sink when the scum forms. Then dry and oil as normal.

Flash · « **Reply #7 on:** March 23, 2005, 12:17:34 PM »

I've got an old Savage 32-20 that has a chamber throat looking like the surface of the moon. I scrubbed the barrel out with Sweet's 7.62 and a bronze brush and it shoots much better than I expected. I'm not sure if the pits are being filled in with lead but the accuracy hasn't dropped off at all.