Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Maybe Cerakote in my bore?

GEORGIABOY-

what have you got against tubs final finish system?

I've got nothing against them. BUT, (In my experience/opinion) I would never use that system on a new, premium barrel without giving it a chance to prove itself first, and even then I would give it a careful exam before resorting to 'slugging' or other procedure to clean/smooth the bore and lands. Using the Tubbs system on rough factory barrels sometimes helps, but that would be a last resort for me and only after calling the barrel maker.

The cerekote in the barrel is unfortunate, but should clean up with a range session.

It is not the Tubs Final Finish System...It is the Tubs Final Finish System in combination with a "hand lapped" premium barrel.

If you look at the premium barrels with a bore scope you will see they don't need much as they are lapped smooth as glass.. Somthing about slamming an abrasive impregnated projectile at 3000 fps into a hand lapped bore doesn't make me feel to good...

Cerakote should shoot right out.

The problem is that Cerakote is sprayed over an abrasive blasted surface. If they blasted the metal without plugging the barrel...Oh, $#it!

The shop responded over the weekend and I was impressed with the owner's consideration and his in-depth explanation. Good customer service, in my opinion. Here's his response to my query, in which I did indicate that I didn't know exactly what I was looking at and would appreciate some insight.




I would be really impressed if we were "good" enough to put that even a coat of cerakote down a bore without it building up excessively on the face of the crown. I bought Sata detail guns for our C/K work. They'll adjust down to a fairly narrow spray pattern, but not that small. This would take an airbrush and although we have one, there would be no reason to use it on a barreled action of a single color.

In the photo you sent us showing the discoloration you can see a very faint edge break right at the intersection of the crown and the bore. That edge break is the result of the silicone plugs we put in the muzzle end of the barrel when we blast/degrease/spray. The plugs are tapered slightly and when compressed in the hole the immediate exposed portion bulges slightly, creating the faint edge of uncoated steel.

I imagine there are folks out there who have goofed with C/K and accidently applied material up in the chamber/bore area. To date, we've never had this happen.

You also mentioned that the chamber is shiny while the muzzle is not. Consider that we conduct 90% of the machine work when fitting the barrel on the chamber side. One would expect to see a bright surface finish on any of the features we machined. The muzzle however is very innocuous by comparison. All we do is indicate the bore and cut an 11* crown. Had we not cerakoted the face of the crown, you would see a bright finish there as well.

I'm sorry but I don't have an explanation as to why your barrel is fouling or where the discoloration is coming from. Rock Creek's stress relieving process may have something to do with it. If the barrel is "cooked" after final lapping it would be expected to see a change in surface color. -The fact that the breech end is bright/shiny is clear evidence of this as we would have been removing the "stained" portions during fitment to your receiver.

As for the copper fouling I look at it like this.

1. Is the fouled bore creating any sort of issue with the overall functionality of the rifle?

1a. -Accuracy problems
2a. -Pressure indicators on brass, specifically primers going flat/cratered or ejector marks
3a. -Is there any sort of functionality problem such as hard extraction, sticky bolt, difficulty chambering?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then I don't see the problem and I continue to shoot the rifle. I personally don't subscribe to this notion that guns have to be cleaned with the obsessive/compulsive behavior so common to the firearms community. My PRS rifle goes between 600-800 rounds before I ever put a patch down the bore. -And even with that I only do it because I start to feel guilty for "neglecting" it. The rifle shoots very well and has done so since it was first built early this past spring.

My gut says that you don't have a problem. Go shoot the piss out of it. If it runs the numbers then its not broke.


So, I'm going to go shoot it this week and see what's happening. The black bore thing really threw me, but maybe it does have something to do with a process used by the barrel maker. I'll report back with how things go.

We expect critter photos also

Shoot the piss out of it and let us know. I'd love to hear your opinion after a while at the range.

I thought I saw a youtube video a while back with Lilja barrels and it looked black with some copper fowling...I own a Lilja and love it. Not too sure if it's your same issue...

I would send it back to the Cerakote applicator!

Duhh...would be the better response. An old gentleman once told be, "Be carfull of what you ask for...you might get it."

What would be the point? The guy has already given him a tactful "we are done" response.

Well I still don't know what was up with the black bore, but I went after the copper with Montana Extreme Copper Killer and it got out quite a bit more than the Pro Shot Copper Remover. It was still black after cleaning, but felt way smoother when finishing up. I then loaded up about fifteen 6.5x47 rounds with some oddball bullets I only had a handful of (100gr NBT and 129gr SST Blems, all over moderate RL15 charges and .010" off lands) to get it on paper and see what was what. It took three shots to get on paper at 100yds. The next three NBT's went in half an inch. Shot two three-shot groups with the SST Blems and both were about 3/4".

The bore now looks quite different, being much lighter in color and with a much more typical amount of faint copper indicated. Not caked on like how it first appeared. I'm going to scrub it again and start load work-ups with better bullets and a chronograph. I don't know what the deal was with the condition in the pics above, but it looks like the rifle is going to shoot. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to mention it. Thanks for all those who offered insight to this unusual situation.

The rifle is going to shoot fine. If there is an issue, its not going to be because of a little over spray in the muzzle. Its a rifle barrel, not a rolex swiss movement.