Hi folks,
[Feel free to skip to paragraph three for my actual question.]
First, a little backstory. I've been wanting a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 bull gun since I first read Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter as a kid. There's a particular rifle described in that book and it is (largely) a work of fiction. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it. This project, however stupid and impractical (some might say wasteful), is my attempt to put together a custom "tribute" gun to that rifle and that novel, which first sparked my interest in long range target shooting. That's the context for what follows.
I recently came into possession of an original 28" bull barrel chambered in .300 H&H Magnum, made in 1955. I also have a pre-'64 target stock on order, and the current plan is to purchase a complete action from Paul Morgan at pre64win.com (assuming a .300 H&H Magnum set becomes available again; they are currently sold out) and have it blueprinted, and the stock accurized. This rifle is (hopefully) going to be a shooter, not a safe queen or "museum piece". That's part of the reason why I didn't just go out and drop $3,500-5,000 on a factory original bull gun. I'm already set up to handload .300 H&H.
The issue I'm currently fidgeting over is the condition of the barrel. I took a big chance and bought it at auction. It was described by the seller as a "clean barrel" with a "perfect bore". Heh. Heh-heh. Long story short, I borescoped it as soon as I could after taking possession, and I would not exactly call it 'perfect'. I'm fully aware that every barrel looks a lot worse under a borescope, have read countless admonitions about giving a lot of credence to borescoping in general ("go out and shoot it, only way to be sure", etc.).
Right now I'm just trying to understand where my baseline likely is for this barrel so I can manage expectations. (Yes, I know I could go out and order a newly manufactured barrel from various reputable shops...that's beside the point; see above re: context).
Any thoughts or feedback re: the following captured imagery would be greatly appreciated.
Stills of the chamber (after a basic initial cleaning with CLR only):
First 90° borescope video after initial cleaning:
Second video after cleaning with Boretech Eliminator:
(Apologies for the poor video stability and image quality; I only have a flexible Teslong scope at the moment and it isn't all that easy to control.)
My initial hotwash (feel free to correct or contradict any of the following assumptions):
~Super30
[Feel free to skip to paragraph three for my actual question.]
First, a little backstory. I've been wanting a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 bull gun since I first read Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter as a kid. There's a particular rifle described in that book and it is (largely) a work of fiction. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it. This project, however stupid and impractical (some might say wasteful), is my attempt to put together a custom "tribute" gun to that rifle and that novel, which first sparked my interest in long range target shooting. That's the context for what follows.
I recently came into possession of an original 28" bull barrel chambered in .300 H&H Magnum, made in 1955. I also have a pre-'64 target stock on order, and the current plan is to purchase a complete action from Paul Morgan at pre64win.com (assuming a .300 H&H Magnum set becomes available again; they are currently sold out) and have it blueprinted, and the stock accurized. This rifle is (hopefully) going to be a shooter, not a safe queen or "museum piece". That's part of the reason why I didn't just go out and drop $3,500-5,000 on a factory original bull gun. I'm already set up to handload .300 H&H.
The issue I'm currently fidgeting over is the condition of the barrel. I took a big chance and bought it at auction. It was described by the seller as a "clean barrel" with a "perfect bore". Heh. Heh-heh. Long story short, I borescoped it as soon as I could after taking possession, and I would not exactly call it 'perfect'. I'm fully aware that every barrel looks a lot worse under a borescope, have read countless admonitions about giving a lot of credence to borescoping in general ("go out and shoot it, only way to be sure", etc.).
Right now I'm just trying to understand where my baseline likely is for this barrel so I can manage expectations. (Yes, I know I could go out and order a newly manufactured barrel from various reputable shops...that's beside the point; see above re: context).
Any thoughts or feedback re: the following captured imagery would be greatly appreciated.
Stills of the chamber (after a basic initial cleaning with CLR only):
First 90° borescope video after initial cleaning:
Second video after cleaning with Boretech Eliminator:
(Apologies for the poor video stability and image quality; I only have a flexible Teslong scope at the moment and it isn't all that easy to control.)
My initial hotwash (feel free to correct or contradict any of the following assumptions):
- The free bore and throat show a definite degree of fire cracking. I expected some, assuming that this barrel had been shot and was not in unused condition, though I'm not exactly sure how to rate the extent of the fire cracking.
- There is also significant carbon and copper fouling, some of which has already been cleared out using Eliminator.
- I plan to continue cleaning this barrel and possibly carefully soak the bore with Free All to clear out what can only guess is surface rust in the chamber (or, perhaps, oxidation?), assuming I do not get cautionary advice to the contrary.
- You can clearly see the streaks of copper fouling all the way down the length of the barrel.
- The crown is looking a bit rough, though not the absolute worst I've seen.
~Super30
