Latest Acquisition

[Skofnung]

Hey Folks.

I stepped into a local Pawn Shop today and waltzed out with a “Sporterized†No. 4 Mk1* for a song. This makes me happy, as I have been looking for a good truck gun for some time.

The only thing that concerns me is the bore. It is dark, but it is not “shot-out.†The lands and grooves are still there, and I would call them “sharp†even. So far, after a light cleaning though, it still looks “rough.â€

It will be at least another week before I can take her out and see what she can do.

My question is this, how many of you No4 owners that have slightly rough bores still get decent groups?

If this barrel does not work, I will probably try to find another barrel, and make a “Scout†rifle like the one Jaeger posts pictures of all the time… Man I like that Rifle! This one has already been “Bubbaized†so collector value will not be a concern… besides, I already have a pristine SMLE (No. 1 Mk 3) to fill that niche.

Thanks!

 

[DF357]

I got a good deal on a Nr4 mk1/2 a while back and the barrel was black. It had me worried until I took it to the range and could blast clay pigeons at 100 yards without a problem. I'm not the best shot in the world so I suspect a good shooter could do better than the 4" at 100 yards I get with it.

 

[ACP230]

It might just need a real good cleaning.
I have a Swedish Mauser carbine that wouldn't shoot well at all. Lousy groups, keyholing etc.
I finally cleaned it using an Outer's Foul Out electronic cleaner. It took quite a while but now it shoots into an inch and a half at 100 yards and the bullets go through the targets point first.

 

[bcbr]

rifle bore story

I bought a rifle and picked up several weeks later. I never checked it and put her away .
9 mo. past and was taking her out to go and finially shoot .
The bore was full of crud and crappy thick nasty whatever,even some rust.
Any way I was aquainted with a airplane modeler hobbyist and gunsmith .
He told me he plugged the bore end ,and fiied it up with Break Free and soaked it for a week and then cleaned on it for a couple hours.
It would never be new or a match accurate barrel but it cleaned up real good and will shoot 2-4 in groups at 100 yd off a bench with a good marksman and decent ammo, mini 30 . Sorry bout the long post.
The rifle was the gunshow horror layaway plan ripoff and a hard lesson for me . Clean her up real good as per someones exp and knowledge and I bet you have a shooter.
Safety first always.

 

[rbernie]

If you want it shiny, use Butch's Bore Bright.

 

[Cortland]

I have a Krag 1896 Rifle with a bore that looks like a sewer pipe. The bore is dark, heavily pitted and rusted with very little visible indication of rifling. When I received the rifle, I spent 4 or 5 hours scrubbing the living hell out of the bore with Bore Shine, Hoppes, bore compound, Kroil, Shooters Choice, Breakfree, etc. etc. I don't know how much good this did, but after a hundred blackened patches came out of the barrel, it still looked like a dark, heavily pitted, rusty sewer pipe with little discernible rifling. I had planned on replacing the barrel, but took the rifle to the range first. I fired my first two shots from 50 yards, walked up to the target, and there were two holes less than 1/2" apart. It's a very accurate rifle!

So, based on my experience you can still get excellent groups out of hideous looking bores. If the bore is really bad (like my Krag), you'll get the best accuracy out of very heavy bullets due to their longer bearing surface.

 

[cracked butt]

I have an M48 that has a true sewer pipe bore. The rifling is very rounded off and thin, the bore is horribly black and had what looked like orange peel shaped bits of metal stuck all the way down the bore.

I shot it with turk surplus, and it shot horribly.
I plugged the barrel, filled it with Butch's Bore shine and let it sit overnight.
I filled the barrel with brasso, and scrubbed on it for 1/2 hour with tight fitting pathes, yielding a blue/green/black mess.
After the brasso treatment, the barrel no longer shredded patches but still looked pretty horrible.

I tried a favorite 8mm handload of mine in the rifle one day at the range and was absolutely astounded as to how accurate the rifle was. a couple of 5 shot groups that I could have covered with a $.50 piece.

I also have a K98 with what looks like a brand new barrel that I shot with the same loads on the same day and it shot groups twice the size which were still respectable, but kind of disappointing when a neglected, shot out M48 did so much better.


Moral of the story- don't give up on those nasty looking bores, they might shoot alot better than they have a right to.

 

[Skofnung]

This may sound like a stupid question, but what is the best (safest) way to plug the barrel?

From what I have read so far, both here and elsewhere, plugging the barrel and soaking with something (from CLP to Brasso to Naval Jelly to BC Rust Remover) is the easiest and most effective way to get this job done.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I am having a very hard time finding replacement barrels online. I would hate to have to replace the one that's on there now.