Author Topic: Bore .54 bbl to .56/.58??? (Read 431 times)

mike_h · « **on:** December 12, 2004, 12:13:02 PM »

I have a .54 Renegade that was given to me that has a severly pitted barrel. Could the barrel be safely bored out to a .56 or .58 caliber? And does anyone know of a company that does this and what to expect on the cost? Just curious if anyone has ever had this done and how it worked. Thanks.

Will Bison · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2004, 02:07:03 PM »

A rebore and rerifle on a low end gun would cost more than the gun is worth. But you might have a machine shop bore it only and make a scatter gun out of it. You could go to .62/20 ga.

Buy a bbl from TC or an after market drop in or send the whole works to TC and see what they might do as far as repair work.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2004, 02:46:44 PM »

I had the same problem with a .50 cal Renegade. I bought a new Green Mountain Barrel from Track of the wolf, and so far with limited shooting I'm very pleased with it. I think you can get a new barrel for about the same money........

mike_h · « **Reply #3 on:** December 14, 2004, 01:48:35 PM »

Yeah I plan on getting a Green Mountain barrel for it....I just hate to see the original barrel go to waste. The shame of it is that 2 years ago the bore on this gun was immaculate. Then, the owner (my Uncle) loaned it to a guy last deer season to hunt with and it didnt get cleaned right. The guy who borrowed it swore up and down he cleaned it right and that it was completely clean...my Uncle took his word for it. When I brought it home and cleaned it the first patch came out solid red with rust and there was still unburned powder soaked with oil in the breech when I took the nipple out. Such a waste of a 30 year old barrel that had a perfect bore.

roundball · « **Reply #4 on:** December 14, 2004, 02:54:37 PM »

That's really a shame...the average person just has no idea how critical the cleaning & lubing regimen is on a muzzleloader compared to a modern rifle shooting modern ammo.

Boring it out to a .56 probably wouldn't get rid of the pitting anyway...it would simply remove the .54cal lands making it a .56 bore...going to a .58cal would work, but as others have said, it would probably cost as much or more as a new barrel...if you could even find a place that could do it properly.

Make a wall hanger out of it, or a floor lamp, etc?