Freshening a barrel

[red owl]

There are a fair number of new shooters that have been given a replica rifle to shot that has a badly rusted barrel.  The typical question is about re-boring to a larger caliber. I've read some historical writings about original period gunsmiths that freshened barrels.  I was told that this wasn't to remove rust but rather lead fouling that had, it time, clogged up the rifling. Maybe but that doesn't sound right as with a patched ball there should be no lead fouling.  In any event, as much as I could find, a wood ramrod/dowel or rod was slotted and some sort of cutter fitted in.  The cutter was aligned with one of the grooves and then rammed down the bore. This was done for all grooves and then the cutter removed and a shim, possibly a single layer of paper put under the cutter to move it out a little and the process repeated until all the grooves were bright and shiny.
   Does anyone know anything on this process? What was it used for and how it was done?

[Dennis Glazener]

Here is a good article on Freshening a barrel from Gary Brumfield's website (now deceased but not forgotten)
http://flintriflesmith.com/ToolsandTechniques/freshening.htm

[smokinbuck]

I have a riflling machine from the shop of WV and Ohio gunsmith George Brammer and along with it I received over 100 freshing heads that he made and used in his shop, perhaps with this machine. In the day, it was a whole lot easier, quicker and cheaper than making a new barrel. Would be glad to forward some pics if someone wants to post them.
Mark

[Bob Roller]

I have a riflling machine from the shop of WV and Ohio gunsmith George Brammer and along with it I received over 100 freshing heads that he made and used in his shop, perhaps with this machine. In the day, it was a whole lot easier, quicker and cheaper than making a new barrel. Would be glad to forward some pics if someone wants to post them.
Mark

Bill Large supplemented his school teachers salary by recutting old barrels.The term REcutting means to rerifle an existing barrel that was rifled to begin with. He had a BIG drawer full of rifling heads that probably went with Jim McLemore when he bought Bill's shop.The recutting process deepened the grooves and the tops of the lands be then dressed and Bill usually concaved them. Bill did not actually MAKE a barrel from solid bars until 1958 when his shop was finished. He had a small garage size shop at first and a car port now stands there in its place. He bought round,rifled blanks from John Buehmiller in Montana and then planed them octagon after altering the rifling to his own ideas.He also breeched them with a flint style plug because the drum and nipple
were the ignition of choice back then.
There were others like Claude Turner and W.C.Porter and Wynn Wood that also did a good job of recutting old barrels. These were all Ohio gunmakers and repairmen.
Today with the abundance of new barrels there is little need for the recutter's skills that were common not that long ago.

Bob Roller (proud new great grandfather of Lillian Grace Jenkins)all 4 pounds and 15 ounces of her.

[Old Ford2]

Here is a good article on Freshening a barrel from Gary Brumfield's website (now deceased but not forgotten)
http://flintriflesmith.com/ToolsandTechniques/freshening.htm

Thank you Dennis for a great post.
Gives great insight into freshening a good but tired barrel.
Also removing the stress of setting in a new barrel into a fine older stock.
Thanks again!
Fred

[Hungry Horse]

 Freshening the riflings in a barrel was so common not so long ago, that I read in Muzzle Blasts magazine, that a few competitors at Friendship,back in the day, freshened their riflings in the evening before the next days shoot. The reasons guns were freshened so often in the past are simple. The barrels were made from iron, not steel, and they were soft by todays standards. They shot their guns all the time, for food, and sport, which put a lot of wear on those old iron barrels. These old iron barrels would lose the sharp edges of the rifling pretty quick, and would shoot slick. But, a few passes with a freshening rod would bring them right back.
 I knew a guy that had an old Dixie  Gun Works York county rifle. These guns weren't a bad rifle, but they had pretty shallow riflings, and got worn out pretty quick. He was talking to an old neighbor that showed him how to freshen his gun out. He freshened that barrel out from its original rifling depth of about seven thousandths, to about twelve thousandths, and whipped us like a red headed stepchild, with it.

      Hungry Horse

[Old Ford2]

Ya shudda adjusted his sights, fer him.
Fred

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

There was quite a long posting on this topic a few years back.  The title is "Barrel Freshening - HDTDT".  Here is the link:  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=19962.msg188827#msg188827

[Bob Roller]

Freshening the riflings in a barrel was so common not so long ago, that I read in Muzzle Blasts magazine, that a few competitors at Friendship,back in the day, freshened their riflings in the evening before the next days shoot. The reasons guns were freshened so often in the past are simple. The barrels were made from iron, not steel, and they were soft by todays standards. They shot their guns all the time, for food, and sport, which put a lot of wear on those old iron barrels. These old iron barrels would lose the sharp edges of the rifling pretty quick, and would shoot slick. But, a few passes with a freshening rod would bring them right back.
 I knew a guy that had an old Dixie  Gun Works York county rifle. These guns weren't a bad rifle, but they had pretty shallow riflings, and got worn out pretty quick. He was talking to an old neighbor that showed him how to freshen his gun out. He freshened that barrel out from its original rifling depth of about seven thousandths, to about twelve thousandths, and whipped us like a red headed stepchild, with it.

      Hungry Horse

You can tell a rifle had been "freshed out" when it had a 50 caliber bore and 32 caliber ramrod pipes.

Bob Roller

[JBJ]

Southgate used to fresh barrels as well - I had him do one years ago. I wonder how 12L14 compares in softness to older barrels. There are  alot of 12L14 barrels out there. I'm too old to shoot enough to worry about it but trusts there are others still able to burn a lot of powder. ??
J.B.

[red owl]

Since this is all new to me I have a lot of questions.  The wood plug is gouged so when the lead is poured into the bore the wood has enough purchase to pull the lead out- is that correct? The lead plugs- there are other metals that melt at lower temperatures- can they be used?  The lead plugs in the photos look pretty rough. If the bore was badly pitted it seems to me the poured in lead might cement itself in place. Is the bore heavily greased before pouring the lead? As I understand you have say a 3" plug and you cut out a section (land or groove) and fit in a cutter with teeth at a 45 degree angle. This cutter needs to be of the exact width of the groove. I suppose the land isn't as critical.  You run this cutter down one groove at a time. The shape of the plug- with the other lands and grooves- it acts as a guide for the cutter. If you make multiple passes you add a paper shim between cutter and plug to move the cutter out a little to cut deeper.  What holds the cutter in place? Just hold as it is being fed into the bore? I suppose when the major cutting has been done and the pitting removed that a lapping compound could be used to polish up the bore. I think then another casting could be made and miked to figure new bore size and whether the same ball with a thicker patch should be used or a slightly larger ball.
   I can see why the cutter should cut in both directions. If you push a wire brush down a bore all the bristles get slanted back towards the muzzle and then jam when you try to pull the brush out. You obviously don't want that type situation.

[ottawa]

NO GREASE !! before pouring the lead that barrel needs to be clean and grease free or you will have a dangerous situation of hot molten lead exploding on you . 

[red owl]

Thanks- I had wondered if the pitting on a badly rusted bore would form a mechanical lock with the lead and make it difficult to pull the plug out.

[Hungry Horse]

A bore that badly rusted is beyond freshening. If you can't clean the bore up enough with a lead lap to keep it from a mechanical lock up, it is beyond freshening.

    Hungry Horse

[red owl]

Hungry Horse- that was my main interest. On another forum it is pretty common to have someone post that they inherited or bought a used muzzle loader with a badly rusted bore.  They are often thinking of having a gunsmith re-bore the barrel. This obviously can get expensive.  I know you can lap a barrel to smooth it out but on the freshening that removes .002 or more of metal. I wasn't sure whether that could be used to fix a rusted bore.  I've been told that old guns had a lot of fouling, etc. and all the freshening did was remove fouling and clean things up but if a patched ball was used there shouldn't be much lead.  I figured it had to be rust.  I don't know that much about it, hence my questions.

[Daryl]

Taylor and I lapped a .40 12L14 barrel that was badly flash-rusted by it's owner through many years of cleaning it with boiling water.  The effects were accumulative, as we've noted from time to time right here at ALR - yet some still disbelieve it. oh well - horses and water

Well, we used my .35 cal Dewey rod with the ball bearing handle and cast a lap on a screw threaded to fit it. Taylor used that lap until it wore out then tried the rifle - back to the shop and we cast another lapp in the barrel and used that one up as well. The rifle is now quite serviceable - however not a favourite to shoot - it's a very light weight rifle - with an "A" taper barrel, seems to me.  the "B" is much better for an offhand rifle.

So- you CAN lapp out a mildly pitted barrel- pits perhaps 1 1/2 thou deep. They are not removed, just smooth considerably. Re-cutting a barrel by a barrel maker is usually the same price as a new barrel. If the barrel is engraved and inlet with gold bands fore and aft as this one was, well, lapping might save it - lapping saved this one - otherwise- just replace it with a new barrel.