Marlin Buckhorn,SASS 51727 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Heading pretty much says it all. I have a couple of non-collectible pocket pistols with dark chambers and bores. Question is how do you brighten them. Thanks in advance for your help, Marlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Lathe and liner..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Use the JB Bore Bright or Bore Cleaner with some Kroil => http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/k=jb+bore/t=P/ksubmit=y/psize=96/Products/All/search=jb_bore depending on how crudded up it is. The stuff also works great to smooth out machining marks and will improve accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Frank Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I've salvaged a few milsurp bores that looked like sewer pipes. If Sweets 7.62 won't get it clean, there probably isn't too much hope for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I've used valve lapping compound lightly, and then followed up with fire lapping using whitening toothpaste worked into the lube grooves.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Bullweed Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I have several guns with dark bores that shoot well as long as I use lead bullets at moderate velocities. If the guns shoot well as they are, I would not worry about trying to brighten them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockridge,SASS #8763 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Use the JB Bore Bright or Bore Cleaner with some Kroil => http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/k=jb+bore/t=P/ksubmit=y/psize=96/Products/All/search=jb_bore depending on how crudded up it is. The stuff also works great to smooth out machining marks and will improve accuracy. Old Monkey Pi$$ (Kroil) is Great stuff for getting under and loosening fouling. JB isn't aggressive enough for me for heavy fouling. Rem Clean is a little more so. I'd like to also suggest using the heavy black nylon bore brushes for scrubbing with solvents. I think they work better than bronze. Sweets is great for copper because of the ammonia but not as good on lead. I've used GM Top Cylinder Cleaner to get out heavy carbon fouling before going after copper or lead. You can also put a chamber plug in the chamber and fill the bore with solvent and let it set overnight then scrub it. I've had some old guns I had to repeat this with several times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakey Shooter, SASS# 33849 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I could have sworn that he said DARK BORE and CHAMBERS and not dirty or fowled bore and chambers !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Coles SASS 1188 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 A true dark bore (rather than simply a dirty bore) is the result of rust pitting. It might be possible to polish very light rust frosting with a lapping compound, but, this is not possible with pits of any real size. The best you will get are pits with clean tops. As others have pointed out, many "dark" and even badly pitted bores will shoot just fine in cowboy calibers and at cowboy distances. Some calibers (like 32-20) are very intolerant of less than perfect bores. All in all, your best bet is to make sure the bore and chambers are as clean as possible, shoot the guns and see how they do. The process of shooting and cleaning the guns will, over time get them about as clean as they will ever get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockridge,SASS #8763 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 A true dark bore (rather than simply a dirty bore) is the result of rust pitting. It might be possible to polish very light rust frosting with a lapping compound, but, this is not possible with pits of any real size. The best you will get are pits with clean tops. As others have pointed out, many "dark" and even badly pitted bores will shoot just fine in cowboy calibers and at cowboy distances. Some calibers (like 32-20) are very intolerant of less than perfect bores. All in all, your best bet is to make sure the bore and chambers are as clean as possible, shoot the guns and see how they do. The process of shooting and cleaning the guns will, over time get them about as clean as they will ever get. Good advice. My only comment is that sometimes folks don't realize that the bore is so fouled and filthy that it appears worse than it really is after you get all the years of accumulated crap out of it. I've seen some ugly stuff that cleaned up quite well. Happy Trails, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tennessee Stud, SASS# 43634 Life Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Squirt some metal-flake silver spray-paint down the barrel.... swab it with a model-car brush... That ought to do it.... (joshin'...) ts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Coles SASS 1188 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Good advice. My only comment is that sometimes folks don't realize that the bore is so fouled and filthy that it appears worse than it really is after you get all the years of accumulated crap out of it. I've seen some ugly stuff that cleaned up quite well. Happy Trails, Quite true. It has to be clean to know what you are dealing with and a good cleaning never hurt anything. Like you, I have seen many bores that improved greatly with appropriate cleaning. I am currently working on an 1876 SAA that looked terrible at first glance, but several weeks of patient cleaning revealed a surprisingly strong and shootable bore (not that the gun will see much use, at its age). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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