[husker]

ok my friend just left me his CVA Kodiak magnum. He gave up trying to sight it in about a year & 1/2 ago. he just threw it in the closet with out cleaning it. Even more he had a full charge still in the breach. got the plug out & the load & bullet. Looked down the bore. & well you no what i saw. its sitting hear next me loaded down with Blue wounder. But i dont no.BOAR it looked really bad!! You guys have any suggestions. im all ears Or should i say Im all eyes. Its a beautiful little rifle. He had no idea. :
"i only clean my shotguns maybe once a year"
"they dont rust." well my friend They aint black powder either.

[Loyalist Dave]

Well it's a CVA, and they recommend their power belt bullets, which are sort of a hybrid conical with a plastic gas check. So... you might be ok. It might also shoot traditional conicals like Buffalo bullets or T/C Maxi-balls or Maxi-hunters. My experience is that erroded rifling is sometimes still good when using conicals or powerbelts. Not for sabots. (Or there may be less of a problem than you imagine)

I would rinse it with a gallon of cold water and a 1/4 cup of baking soda (counters the acid in the fouling) Then..., rinse with plain cold water.

Then get 4-0 steel wool, 0000 steel wool, and run pieces of the steel wool from the breech to the muzzle, with a little balistol on it. You need to get rid of the rust, so it can be a bit tight. You won't damage the bore beyond what has already been done by neglect. After several passes, run a cloth patch down, to clean out and check for rust. If it's still brown repeat the steel wool treatment. Do this until done, and you get clean patches, then with a flashlight, look for pits.

Good luck.

LD

[TomADC]

You can use the toothpaste they use for dentures also. Used it on an old Lee Enfield bore looked really nice afterwards.

[Cosmoline]

Steel wool and some polish with some elbow grease. As long as the rust hasn't penetrated too deep you should be fine.

[Mark whiz]

First I'd hit it with bore paste of some kind - JBs, Iosso, Flitz, etc. This will scrubb out the worst of it, maybe most of it if your lucky. And it doesn't hurt the bore either unless you use a pound of the stuff over a day or two.

If it is still bad, there is a product called Evapo-Rust that you can get at auto parts stores, Tractor Supplies, etc that does some amazing things with rust. I soaked a couple of super-rusted undercarriage bolts in a bowl of that stuff over night and the next morning they looked brand new. The stuff doesn't seem to leave a residue either so it might work well if this barrel is that far gone. I would hit it with some more bore paste after using the Evapo-Rust to make sure though.

[husker]

thanks all

[Hawkeye748]

Blue wonder is good. You're on the right track.

[blackpowder bob]

I've used kroil oil on some old military rifles and it left the barrel nice and shiny.
Plug both end of the barrel, pour some in and let it sit for a day.

[arcticap]

If after scaling off the rust the barrel is found to be pitted, then try to smooth it out by lapping it with valve grinding compound available from any auto parts store.

[husker]

yes it has some pitting. i have to say i like blue wounder. it worked really good. But what a dirty mess. what do you mean by lapping ARTCAP? i lap old check valves & steam safety pops on my little steam train. not sure how you would do on a rifle barrel. just scrub it in. & work it= compound

[TomADC]

Don't forget some of the rust removers will also take off bluing.
Wonder cleaner and green scotchbrite should work also.

[arcticap]

what do you mean by lapping ARTCAP? i lap old check valves & steam safety pops on my little steam train. not sure how you would do on a rifle barrel. just scrub it in. & work it= compound


It wouldn't be quite the same as "lapping" if you don't have an assembled [wooden] jig covered with a tight fitting patch material, but the theory is the same in that the barrel would be getting an aggressive polishing treatment.
A real lapping assembly would have a stop installed to not over smooth the crown and to polish the bore evenly.
And also when lapping, some only recommend doing 20 strokes at a time.
But what else is there to do with a damaged muzzle loader barrel?

You need some kind of tight fitting fabric, leather or other medium like a 3M Scotchbrite scouring pad or a 3M natural bamboo cleaning cloth, work the medium grit water soluble abrasive compound by evenly stroking using a cleaning rod.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Scotch-BriteBrand/Scotch-Brite/Products/Directory/

Unless the barrel is significantly pitted and it really needs "lapping", you might want to try shooting it first to see just how bad it is. After shooting the gun, the pits can hold a lot of stubborn powder residue which makes it a lot harder to get clean. Plus that residue and the bumpy pitting can cause poor accuracy during shooting.
If you really like the gun you might inquire with CVA about how much a new barrel would cost.

NAPA valve grinding compounds:

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=430&Keyword=valve%20grinding%20compound&KeywordCat=Valve+Grinding+Compound&VehCode=N

Articles on real barrel lapping:

http://www.twincityrodandgun.com/PDF%20files/Rifle%20Bore%20Lapping.pdf

http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/st_lappingbarrel_200805/

[BCRider]

For a really, really bad rust issue on the exterior where you've given up on saving what is left of the blueing you can get a lot more aggresive. The blackish WetOrDry sandpapers lubed with oil work pretty nice for cleaning away rust and for removing a light amount of metal to aid in getting rid of some of the more minor pitting. But of course this is getting into a more serious metal removal than just getting rid of rust.

Lapping is actually a removal of metal as well. If you have some serious pitting inside that requires more than a polishing lap then it'll have to be decided if the pits are big enough to be an issue with shooting or not. If they are bad enough it may well be that you now have a wall hanger.

[husker]

well im glad its not mine. most of the pitting is just above where the bullet seats. on down the barrel. really looks good now. i will take it out Sunday & shoot it. I cant see this rifle missing a deer at 50 yrds. on in. & him being a bow hunter & only wanting to use it when they close bow for a week or so for rifle. Im thinking he will be right on top of them also.
Thanks guys.LYNN