Would you shoot this?

[Rick300]

A hunting buddy wanted me to clean his rifle after I gave him crap for rarely doing so. Last years hunt was in very snowy, moist conditions and he just put it away without cleaning it. This is the best pic I can get, but the chamber and bore are severely rusted and pitted. Do you think it's safe?

 

[joshb]

I wish I could see it better. Best to give it a good scrubbing and bore scope it. If you don’t own a scope, take it to a good smith and have him look at it.
I collect the occasional old military guns. Some come with horrible looking, pitted barrels that still shoot surprisingly well.
Give your buddy a smack on the head and a stern talking to, by the way!

 

[Rsadams]

I think Josh nailed it on advice.... I just don't understand how people can treat guns that way... I used to have an uncle who when done hunting would just throw the rifle or shotgun in the bed of his truck and away he went... I guess scratches , dings etc don't matter but it's not for me.... I have rifles that are 50 years old and they don't get shot alot I will say that , but look brand new still....

 

[olddav]

I have fired one just like it. The brass flowed into the pits and refused to allow the bolt to cycle. After skinning my knuckle I resorted to gently tapping the action open. The brass was a mirror image of the chamber. Unwilling to repeat either the skinning of another knuckle or tapping the action open again I put it aside and warned the owner of the problem. In conclusion, firing a rifle with a pitted chamber ain’t worth the effort.

 

[Rick300]

Here are some pics after scrubbing with Boretech C4, Cu2, and Iosso. You should have seen it before! Looks like I need to clean the mirror!
One pic of the chamber, the other two of the barrel.

 

[Danoh]

Ouch! That’s a shame!

 

[sdean]

The deer probably won’t care what it looked like.

 

[garandman]

CRAP shoot to shoot that. Literally.

 

[garandman]

Here are some pics after scrubbing with Boretech C4, Cu2, and Iosso. You should have seen it before! Looks like I need to clean the mirror!
One pic of the chamber, the other two of the barrel.

Was he shootin' black powder? lol

 

[joshb]

Was he shootin' black powder? lol

Given the way he put it away that time, I bet he’s done it before.
I had a kid out shooting with me, this summer. He brought his AR and wanted some tips. It had a mild cycling issue and didn’t shoot too well. After looking it over, I asked him when he had last cleaned it. He got sheepish and said “Last Summer”. He got a 15 minute talking to, mimicking Gunny.

 

[Shawnba67]

Ive got a muzzleloader that lost a foot of one land to rust. Still holds 3" 200yd groups.
I dont think you have a safety issue, you will have a fouling issue. But shoot it, it may hold
Minute of deer.
Cant get worse! lol

 

[ebb]

Might be time to try some of those Tubbs bullets with the grit on them. I had a Ruger with a factory CM barrel and it some how got pits in the barrel about 2 inches back from the muzzle (deeper than those). It was once a very accurate rifle. Started shooting 5 inch groups at 100yds. Try it and see how it does , don't waste much time.

 

[Rick300]

I think I'm going to try to talk him into re-barreling or a new rifle. We spend a lot of money and work hard on these hunts so I just don't see a reason to have a sub-standard rifle.

 

[Ggmac]

I think I'm going to try to talk him into re-barreling or a new rifle. We spend a lot of money and work hard on these hunts so I just don't see a reason to have a sub-standard rifle.

See what it shoots like first . He will probably just ruin another gun then ask you to clean it , at least you know this one in and out now .

 

[snert]

Here are some pics after scrubbing with Boretech C4, Cu2, and Iosso. You should have seen it before! Looks like I need to clean the mirror!
One pic of the chamber, the other two of the barrel.

Looks like a varmint rifle i shooot

 

[Rick300]

See what it shoots like first . He will probably just ruin another gun then ask you to clean it , at least you know this one in and out now .

Yeah, I'm going to shoot it next weekend as it sounds like there isn't a safety issue. If it were mine I think I would at least re-barrel it

 

[joshb]

Yeah, I'm going to shoot it next weekend as it sounds like there isn't a safety issue. If it were mine I think I would at least re-barrel it

Get a good stainless steel barrel. It’ll help.

 

[Rick300]

Get a good stainless steel barrel. It’ll help.

He feels terrible, I doubt it will happen again, but good suggestion

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I see nothing dangerous here, and I have seen worse that shot fairly well. There are plenty of take off barrels for sale.

 

[243Lapua]

Had a friend bring me this. Told me he wanted it finished with the original finish. I laughed at his face. Told him I'd give him $100.00 for it.