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#17878985 12/07/22
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I picked up a Knight Bighorn off Gunbroker that showed up with a rusty bore. The seller has been great about it so no complaints but now I have a project.
It’s rusty all the way to the breech plug like shown in the picture.
My plan is Kroil, JB paste, and elbow grease.

Any better ideas?

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Evaporust. Plug breech, pour in and let soak. DO NOT let it get on bluing.


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Perfect! Looks like I can pick it up at Harbor Freight too. I’ll give it a try.
Thanks!

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O'Reilly or other parts stores as well.


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Saw this in the Gunsmithing forum...........

https://www.big45metalcleaner.com/


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I would bore brush it good then fill with evaporust, as said do not get on bluing.. more then likely barrel is toast but if you can see rifling still will probably shoot decent just sucks to try to keep them clean and pretty much have to swab every shot as crud builds up quicker.


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The most extreme rusted barrel I took on was a custom percussion gun made in San Francisco in 1858. A lot of collector value, it had a Whitworth style hexagonal bore. The owner wanted it cleaned up enough to show the rifling style and have some eye appeal. I fought it for several days, finally went on YouTube and studied the videos of electrolysis cleaning with a battery charger, washing soda solution. It did a remarkable job without displacing any metal. I used a 1/4" steel rod with nylon washers/insulators as the + anode and the barrel itself as the - cathode. I mixed the water and washing soda ....about twice as strong as recommended at 1 tsp per quart. 6 hours it was done. Changed solution every couple hours. In spite of my advice, the owner shot the thing, it's a wonder the breech plug didn't blow out the back.


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Yep, the real issue is whether or not the rust got into the breech plug threads. Wouldn't be the first rusty muzzle loader to blow its breech plug.


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Originally Posted by flintlocke
The most extreme rusted barrel I took on was a custom percussion gun made in San Francisco in 1858. A lot of collector value, it had a Whitworth style hexagonal bore. The owner wanted it cleaned up enough to show the rifling style and have some eye appeal. I fought it for several days, finally went on YouTube and studied the videos of electrolysis cleaning with a battery charger, washing soda solution. It did a remarkable job without displacing any metal. I used a 1/4" steel rod with nylon washers/insulators as the + anode and the barrel itself as the - cathode. I mixed the water and washing soda ....about twice as strong as recommended at 1 tsp per quart. 6 hours it was done. Changed solution every couple hours. In spite of my advice, the owner shot the thing, it's a wonder the breech plug didn't blow out the back.
Welcome to the Outers Foul Out. Those things flat worked and fast. Too bad they never really caught on.


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Depending on the age of the Bighorn, the bore may be Dura Coated, and the rust is more residue than damage.

I’ve had three or four used Knight purchases that have cleaned up way easier than I first expected.

I start with a 20 gauge Boresnake on a .50 Knight, and go from there, depending on the condition after a couple of passes.

I have one barrel that has been cleaned of rust, but the bore surface is still somewhat lightly pitted. The rifle is accurate, but it won’t take more than one or two loads without a complete scrub of the bore, the residue builds up up much more than the others. Not unexpected, but definitely makes it non favorite at the range.

Last edited by AH64guy; 12/07/22.
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Once cleaned with Evaporust be sure to flush it water, let it dry thoroughly then apply a quality lubricant like Corrosion X. Be sure to keep the breech plug out of it during the off season. I have been surprised by some surface rust in my Huntsman barrel and doing those things have it shooting great from year to year with very minimal maintenance.


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This is good advice, after the Evaporust use the Kroil, JB paste,
You'll be surprised at how clean it will be.

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Thanks for all the feedback folks!
I’ll buy some supplies and let you know what the results are.

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Good luck. Yeah, somewhat common fate with muzzle-loaders. I’m always Leary buying a used one without seeing it in person.

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You may be really surprised after you clean it up how well it shoots. I have picked up several TC rifles extremely cheap looking just like that. I made my own electrolysis rust remover. After that I did some fine lead lapping with some diamond paste. They all shoot really well. Just have to clean them a little better than ones that have perfect bores.

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Please post an after picture.

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I found that bore butter and muzzleloader safe products don't do well cleaning or preventing rust. I clean my muzzleloader the same way I clean my rifles. I use Butches Bore Shine and after cleanup, follow up with breakfree (CLP) for storage (leaving the breath plug out). Before I shoot, I spray the breach plug with carb cleaner and run a dry patch through the bore, then fire a primer. I'v never had a problem loading the muzzleloader the night before opening day and it firing it 3 or 4 weeks later.

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[Linked Image]

~24 hour soak with evaporust made a big difference. I’ve got penetrating oil working on the breech plug while I wait on the mail to bring bore brushes. The breech plug could be a real pain as it is the old style slotted kind and the nipple really needs to come out to get a good tool in there to turn the plug. We’ll see

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Encouraging, looks much better than the first picture


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