I have a couple of muzzle loading shotguns, one with a spare 50 cal barrel and another that is a 50 cal rifle.
The combo barrel unit is in good shape as is the rifle. The Knight has a lot of issues with the barrel, the choke was left in place and has some pretty ugly looking fouling in there-may have been shot and not cleaned :(. I have loaned them out to several folks and my gun cabinet had some moisture in it (since fixed).
I am going to try cleaning with a bore cleaner and try to lube and remove the choke. Should I just find a gunsmith or attempt to do this on my own? I want to get them all cleaned up and sell them. I don't use them and probably never will again. I will offer them to family first and may get them sold, but as there is a lot of smarr folks on here I thought maybe someone could start me out with the cleaning process. It may not be as bad as I think. But it could be worse.
Not sure Larry. I'd PM Clark from All About Shooting and see what he thinks. He is very knowledgeable. His user name is allaboutshooting.
I remember you using that Knight mzzl the time we went wood duck hunting in the flooded timber. :fud:
Deep clean it! If it was only shot once you can get by with cleaning it with a foam bore cleaner until the end of the season. Then break the gun down and clean it with good hot water and soap with a cleaning rod with a shotgun brush on it, you can put the rod in a slow drill and work it back n forth to really get the fowling out, then pull the breech plug and soak that in soapy water also. Dry the barrel out and pull the choke tube out and soak that in soapy water and scrub it clean and dry it. DO NOT OIL THE THREADS, use choke tube grease on both the choke tube and the breech plug threads when you put it back together. Oil and black powder don't mix, it actually cause it to rust faster if it isn't perfectly cleaned. Very lightly lube the barrel with a spray lube and you'll be good to go.
Thanks ya'll. I don't think it is as bad as I was afraid. I used Bore Butter when I was using it back in the day and think the barrel must have been pretty well seasoned (like a good cast iron pan). I got the choke tube out without much effort and I have the stuff on the way to polish the barrel on my 870, so I should be able to do a good cleaning.
I used Clenzoil Hith Pin jelly on everything, so that makes a huge difference in the threads. No oils for me!