Shotgun Barrel Pitting

[Meelosh]

Life has me in a holding pattern, so I’m having a real lazy Sunday. Watching Meateater on Netflix and cleaning all the guns in the house. And that got me thinking since we’ve discussed it before about cleaning the bore on a shotgun. Some have said it’s pointless, doesn’t affect the shot. But what I’m curious about is pitting in the bore.

I looked at an old Ithaca SxS the other day at a pawn shop that I thought I could refurbish until I looked down the barrels and it looked like a reverse 3D topo map of the boundary waters. From what I’ve read, the old black powder cartridges would have this effect commonly. But will modern rounds have the same effect with the proper amount of neglect? I haven’t found an answer the fully satisfied my curiosity. You guys go ahead and nearly come to blows over this while I polish mine to a mirror shine. I’ll check back in a few hours.

 

[LBrandt]

Choose your weapons wisely, and clean away.

 

[AR-15]

Have you ever looked in the barrels of some of the old American Legion Rifles after all the years of shooting blanks ,most are completely black, tried to clean one with no success,

 

[SDMF]

Pitting can be cleaned but not really “restored”. There has been a removal of material that you can’t put back unless you sleeve the bore. You see some sleeving of rusty/pitted guns and/or older shotguns that are Damascus or people want to shoot steel through.

Lots less pitting since bores have become chrome-lined.