Black Powder Barrel Pitting

Hogdaddy

St. Petersburg, Florida
Bought a Thompson Center Encore with 5 barrels. One of them is SS .45 cal black powder. Great condition except for one serious problem - looks like someone left 2 pellets in the barrel and over time it pitted that area. Rifling is perfect. My question is how much this will affect the accuracy, etc of the barrel. Any corrections available or is it just trashed???
 

Ratdog68

LSB Official Story Teller
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I'd shoot it first and see how it shoots before contemplating ditching it.
 

Hogdaddy

St. Petersburg, Florida
For sure, plan on doing that this week. I kinda like to know what to expect however, :rolleyes:cause I ain't always that good of a shot. :(
 

RattlesnakeDan

San Antonio Texas
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One thing about those T.C. Encore black powder guns is that you have to clean between shots or they won't hit the same place twice.
 

Oso Grande

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One thing about those T.C. Encore black powder guns is that you have to clean between shots or they won't hit the same place twice.
Sounds like those two pits will be the least of his worries....

Some of those can really get an incredibly light trigger worked up if desired. A buddy had one that would go off if you closed the action in any way but gently without a thumb on the hammer. Great target trigger, but always made me nervous!
 

Drift

LSB Member
I would like to see a picture of the "pitting" to give a really good answer. But..Black Powder is low pressure compared to smokeless powder so it should be safe enough to shoot. I once cleaned up a buddys rusted out poc T/C smokepole and it shot 1.5 inch groups after that. I suggest cleaning well with soap and water and a stiff brush, then maybe a little flitz for polishing out the pits ? I suspect your choice of a primer will hurt your accuracy more than the pits.
 
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