How does YOUR Omega barrel look? (I'm afraid I ruined mine!)

[duck911]

Hey folks,

I have a synthetic & blued T/C 50 Cal. muzzleloader.

It was purchased NIB this summer.

I have shot a grand total of 30 Powerbelts down the muzzle of the gun, the powerbelts are pushed by 777. It has always been cleaned between shots, and very well cleaned after shooting. (T/C cleaner saturated wet patches multiple times, followed by dry patches, repeated, then bore butter.)

The 2nd week of December, I ML hunted but didn't fire a shot, and figured I'd be back out, so left my charge in. The gun sat in the safe (it was not in and out of the house multiple times) so I highly doubt there was any condensation in the barrel for the last 3 weeks. (Many of my buddies with the same guns leave their charges in all season - I don't)

Anyhow, I pulled the bullet today and went to clean the gun. I noticed that the barrel seems rough inside. The rifling is not mirror smooth like it would be on one of my centerfile rifles. I seem to recall the barrel not being mirror smooth right out of the box, but I don't recall if it looked exactly like this or not.

The problem area seems to be only in the middle 3rd of the barrel. I can't really tell if it's pitting, it actually just looks like rough machining marks in and around the rifling. Actually, some of the areas seem to almost have positive relief. At first I thought maybe it was plastic from the power belts, but wouldn't swabbing the barrel remove it?

Question is, how smooth are the bores on your Omegas? Are they supposed to be MIRROR smooth? Are the generally a little rough out of the box?

Although I use 777 I've been afraid of corrosion so I have been meticulous about cleaning the gun. Considering the low round count, the young age of the gun, and the care I've taken after firing, I have a hard time believing that I have already allowed my beloved Omega to corrode.

Yet, I have a sinking feeling in my gut that this is not normal.

Any ideas?

If it is some corrosion, how much will this impact accuracy from a ML?

Thanks,

--Duck911

 

[Mark whiz]

I hate to say this.....................but Bore Butter is bad JU-JU on modern barrels - I highly advise staying away from it as it tends to trap moisture against the metal, especially in humid conditions. Modern ML barrels should probably be treated like any other rifle as far as preservative oils go.
Personally, I clean with a 50/50 Simple Green & water solution, followed by a patch or 2 of de-natured alcohol to remove any moisture, followed by a patch or 2 of a good gun oil. Then before I shoot it again, I run a couple of alcohol patches thru it to clean the oil out and all is well.

As far as your barrel is concerned - I think it is salvageable. Clean it out good with soap & water patches, dry it, and then start working the bore with some type of polishing paste like J-Bs, Iosso, or even some Semi-Chrome or Mothers wheel polishing cream will work. You need to work patches of the cream quickly in short strokes up and down the bore (speed, heat, & friction are the friend of these paste polishes). Follow each paste patch with 2 dry patches worked the same way. You will need to do this with at least 6 patches I would think to get your bore cleaned out and polished up well. These patches will come out Black & nasty - this is normal. When done with the polishing, clean it like normal (personally I am NOT a fan of the TC cleaners or bore butter), and then dry it and oil it like I described above.

For the record, most all ML barrels come a bit on the rough side and I recommend the polishing proceedure right off the bat for all of them. Shooting a bunch of lead conical bullets (no sabots) can accomplish much the same effect, but takes a lot longer.

Until I polished the bore on my Knight like described above, it was a mediocre shooter - but now that little ol' beginner USAK is a dead tack driver out past 100yds with the right load. I think you'll see accuracy improvement from your rifle after you do it as well.

 

[duck911]

Well, I think I figured out my problem.

I started in on a new pack of patches for this cleaning and they were too small!

I just went to the store and picked up a .50 cal bronze brush, and ran that through with the old patches, scrubbing pretty good.

4 more passes and the barrel looks like new! Nice and shiny!

--Duck911

 

[arcticap]

I went to a Dick's recently and noticed a newer TC Solvent named TC #17 777 Solvent which I didn't notice before. The label said that it's formulated especially for 777. Any reports about how it works?.

 

[sundowner]

I have just started using it , it dose seem to do a very good job . I have used it on both my Encore and Omega . I shoot both guns using 777 and I am done cleaning in about 10 minutes . They also make another patch that is a bore seasoning patch I have both so when I have used them longer I should be better able to answer questions on them .
Charlie

 

[gezzer]

Dump the bore butter. Use a good oil or use Rig for storage. Personaly I use Rig after cleaning every time. I have been shooting ML competition and have never had any problems doing this.

 

[arcticap]

Thanks sundowner.
Hoppes Black Powder Solvent seemed to do a fairly good job dissolving 777 residue resulting from small to moderate loads, so I didn't buy any of the new 777 solvent to try out yet.