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barrel seasoning
redhead71
Member Posts: 2,337 ✭✭✭✭✭
what is the best way to season a 50 cal hawkins rifle barrel? thanks
Comments
Hey PA knows his history. Cool! Glad to know there are real enthusist around.
Red,
If it's a TC Hawken or some similar with the original barrel. It seasons by sending rounds down rage. Like Swearengine said, they aren't cast iron. If it's one of the high end replacement barrels with a chromed bore, you'll actually ruin it by trying to season it.
If you're shooting a patched round ball, I pre soak a bunch of patches in a mixture of half Joy or whatever the wife has around and half water. You should be able to fire a 100 or so rounds without much more than a quick patch swab every 25 rounds or so. Makes clean up a lot easier too.
Don't think trying to season a barrel would be a good ideal though. Anything you do might effect the metallurgy of the steel or soften the edges of the lands and grooves. Not good either way. ;~)
chiger,
Unless the barrel is made from cast iron, there is no need to season it; unless you plan to use it to cook pizza.
Well I must be cooking pizza's in mine
I don't care what chuck hawk says, Both my encore and hawken have been seasoned the first 20 shoots and are noticeably easier to clean and reload
just like braking in a rifle barrel every one has there way of doing I season
to each their own
quote:Originally posted by swearengine
Unless the barrel is made from cast iron, there is no need to season it; unless you plan to use it to cook pizza.
Well I must be cooking pizza's in mine
I don't care what chuck hawk says, Both my encore and hawken have been seasoned the first 20 shoots and are noticeably easier to clean and reload
just like braking in a rifle barrel every one has there way of doing I season
to each their own
Are they pepperoni or Canadian Bacon?
I apologize for infuriating you with my glib answer.
Barrels are made from steel and steel is not porous enough to absorb butter; like CAST IRON is.
What rifles did you have before your Encore and your Hawken that you failed to season and were so extremely difficult to clean and load?
I am most curious about your comparison.
Breaking in a rifle barrel is to remove burrs left from milling of which the techniques are many and varied. Using grease on a patch is not one of them.
I and my wife hunt with original 1861 and 1863 Springfields which would not have been seasoned except in battle and we do not have any difficulty in cleaning or loading. We also have modern reproductions of an Enfield and a Kodiak double rifle which neither one has been seasoned and both of these load and clean as easily as the originals.
All I've ever heard is hearsay from people who say they do it, but I just follow the manufactures instructions. And given what I know about steel, I wasn't going to spread rumors for things that may or may not work.
Like Red, I'd be interested in hearing your method?
chiger,
Just as you would break in a rifle barrel
shoot,clean,lube & repeat
swearengine...
Perhaps you are hung up on the term "seasoned" which to me means broke in and always cleaned and lubed for storage. I personally have not had another smoke pole that wasn't "seasoned"
I have how ever shot with friends that cleaned their guns like modern rifles and never store them with oil in the barrels and they always have a hard time cleaning in between shots and after a shooting session
Oh and I like Canadian Bacon on my Pizza's[:p] But Roni will do in a pinch[;)]
I kind of figured there was a terms thing going on. Send rounds down range.
Although I've heard some crazy stuff from old timers and the miss informed. Burning green hickory so the smoke goes up the bore...I'm not kidding, swabbing with a wad of steel wool soaked in Rem oil on a ball puller and tons of other such craziness.
Glad you didn't go there. I would have accused you of having been in my old BP club back in the 70's. ;~)
Oh, and I'd add to your excellent instructions to always store oiled...always thoroughly swab out the bore of oil before the first load and shot. Reduces unspent fowling.
And I like mine with everything but those stankin' little fish!
chiger,
Yep, I've heard that one too. If you want to test that theory and you have a modern carbon steel knife, bearing shaft or bearing race you can. Rub a little linseed oil on it and hit it with a propane torch for a several seconds to simulate shooting. Or even light a little black powder on the spot. It will stick to the oil for sure. Not to much or too long if you like the knife though! ;~)
Then clean it with alcohol or soap and water. See if you can tell any difference.
I'm betting you won't be able to. Other than maybe the blacking you'd get from the heat alone. Steel just isn't that willing to take on chemicals once it's cool and finished. Linseed oil is pretty sticky stuff though. I'm not sure I'd want it latching onto burnt or unburnt GP residue and changing the geometry of the lands and groves to truth. Might effect the next shots.
Never tried it, but if you do let us know how it goes. I'd be interested.
chiger,
I tried everything in the book as far as cleaners & such. Finally, I removed all petroleum with mineral spirits, warmed the barrel up, swabbed heavily with lube and let sit. Then began shooting with natural lubes. It takes a while and helps if the barrel is warm. Clean with warm water and ballistol diluted 1:10 with water. Finish off with straight ballistol and my lube. In my experience if you try to ram a second shot down the tube with a very tight ball/patch combo you will run into difficulty unless you wipe the bore. For matches, I used spit patches for relay and then re-lube between targets. In hunting, my speed loaders are charged with a relatively loose patch/ball combo as sheer accuracy is not as important as the ability to load a second shot if needed. Using spit patches only, I once fired 38 shots without wiping in a seasoned bore. I could not do that prior to seasoning.
Why all this? I wanted to do it like great-grandpa did for one thing. The other was I was dang tired of the very hard and difficult to clean carbon buildups under the nipple. These problems disappeared after seasoning. Cleanup only takes 15 minutes or less and I've never had any other problems.
There are a lot of pro and con views on this subject and seasoning is not for everyone. If you fire a few shots a year, I wouldn't go to the trouble. If you have one of the new super slick barrels with mirror bores, it's probably not necessary. I'm fairly convinced though that with deep cut rifling it makes a big difference. All I know is that it works great for me. Each to his own, experiment, and use the technique that works best for you.
No super lube, no monkey grease or Aunt Lucy's home-made mystery
grooving grease, just ballistol.
chiger...
Just as you would break in a rifle barrel
shoot,clean,lube & repeat
swearengine...
Perhaps you are hung up on the term "seasoned" which to me means broke in and always cleaned and lubed for storage. I personally have not had another smoke pole that wasn't "seasoned"
I have how ever shot with friends that cleaned their guns like modern rifles and never store them with oil in the barrels and they always have a hard time cleaning in between shots and after a shooting session
Oh and I like Canadian Bacon on my Pizza's[:p] But Roni will do in a pinch[;)]
Your friends problem was not, not breaking in the barrel. It was using modern petroleum based cleaners and oil in the bore. First shot of black cooked that oil on in a sticky mess that's nearly impossible to remove, especially after multiple shots. It leaves a tacky varnish in the bore that really screws up future attempts to load the rifle.