Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Advice on a bad barrel.

I bought a barrel for a 223 Encore recently. 26" with a.810 muzzle diameter. Only problem is the blue looks like 10 miles of bad road. The outside is near perfect. Some minor wear. Cleaned thoroughly. Pitted. The seller sent me another one as soon as I made him aware of the situation.
Now, what to do with it.
1. Tent stake.
2. Rebore / rechamber. Thinking somewhere 6x45 and up.....
3. Ideas

Have you shot it?

Yes. 5" group.

Edit - your post beat mine, so disregard the following.

I've got an old ex-mil Maurser with dark pitted bore and weak looking edges on the rifling lands, you can easily see some of the "pot holes" at the muzzle end, but it shoots good. I guess that because the crown is good and rifling still puts a spin on things it still maintains accuracy. I've never been able to clean it down to a clean patch (I don't get too aggressive or spend too long cleaning it though) but at least always get the copper out.

Wouldn't hurt to fire a few shots out of yours - you might be able to turn a blind eye to bore condition if it still shoots okay.

That'd be a good idea.

I might swap scopes just to verify. The vortex has been a good one.
Good reason to shoot some more.....

+1. Shooting a bad group is more fun than not shooting at all.

Proposed calibers for rebore.... After changing scopes and one more test...
6x45; 257 AI; 6.5x55; 25-35; 30-30; 300 Blackout; 357 max; 300 H&H; 45-70

Suggestions, or advice......

Changed scopes.
13 shot group, shot on Friday the 13th. 1.75"
Handload: 69 grain slug.
Keep the barrel?
Sell it?
Rebore / rechamber?

It's your barrel, do with it what makes you happy, you won't get a definitive answer here.

I'm confused. You have two barrels, correct? Do both shoot poorly? If so, you might try shooting some bullets from David Tubb to smooth out the rough spots. I have a Savage Axis which wouldn't shoot, and I bought a box of his loaded 308 firelapping ammo and shot it per instructions. The accuracy has improved, and I am happy with the rifle. You could also recrown the muzzle.

Wizard....
It's all about the conversation and fellowship!!!

Jerseyboy,
It's just one barrel. I think I had a bad scope on the first group.
I worked on cleaning the barrel. Changed scopes.
The results are in the picture.
Sure wish I had a bore scope.

Send it to JES rebore and have it made into a 35 Legend. http://www.35caliber.com/

Talking to JES now.

Sounds like a good plan to me. He's done great work for me so far.

That IS the definitive answer.

The only problem is that now you owe the manufacturer for the second barrel. Nothing "wrong" with a barrel that puts thirteen shots in under 2".

Wasn't really looking for a definitive answer. Just sage advice from wise individuals. The 55gr group was 5". However that may have been due to the scope. It's been moved to another rifle to verify if it's good or not.

After three shooting sessions and three cleaning sessions the verdict is in. Old eyes. The bore is clean as a pin. It was just extremely filthy.
It prefers 62gr slugs. It shoots 55gr at 1.25". And those were factory seconds. Monday will be a trip to the gunshop to pick up some 45 & 50gr Nosler, or Sierra slugs to try.

Fire lap it, can't hurt except maybe the throat, I've heard. But it sounds as if you,ve got it figured out.

https://www.neconos.com/category/PRESSUREFIRELAPPING-20

I wouldn't fire lap it. I would clean it with a fine rouge paste and stroke the bore 30-40 times. That will keep your throat from eroding. Rifling is important, no doubt, but the best rifling won't help accuracy with a bad throat.

Thanks, Dinny

The best I can tell is that the bore is fine. Tough to tell on the throat. I just installed a Mike Bellm spring kit. Dropped the trigger pull from 2.75 lbs to 1.75 lbs. After a retest I'll make further adjustments. She's shooting pretty good right now. Around 1"@ 100 yards.

I would try some JB Paste on a bore mop. Then Nano coat it.

Oooops, double tap