Trapdoor help/opinions needed

[wrench]

I have what I think is a really nice rod bayonet Trapdoor rifle. Exterior is great, wood is great with clear cartouches. Still some case color on the tang and under the breachblock.
Bore is shiny and sharp.
But....there is an area of pitting in the chamber, about the last 3/4" before the rifling, maybe just into the throat??? Very hard to see in there. There is no damage on the outside of the barrel.
I shot it once with very mild cast handloads, and it shot well, but it leaves quite a bit of damage on the brass. I am still able to extract the brass normally, but it's not optimal.
My camera isn't good enough to get a good pic inside that chamber area.
Here's my dilemma.
1. Retire the old girl from the range.
2. Shoot it the way it is, and accept that the brass won't last as long as it probably could. I use only light cast loads, probably won't be shot more than 50r per year. Biggest worry is damage to the rifle.
3. Have the barrel relined. Fixes the bore problem, but is it too nice a rifle to mess with???

Could really use another set of eyes on this, I appreciate your help.

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[wrench]

few more pics...
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[Dick Hosmer]

Option 2 - hands down.

I'd leave the rifle alone because it is a good, solid, un-fooled-with, matching date specimen. For the amount of shooting you plan to do, it is NOT worth ruining an antique.

Just my $0.02.

[Fred]

Have you got a photo of the brass with the damage on it?

[Dick Hosmer]

Do you have an angled bore viewer? The kind that was issued with the M1 Garand works extremely well in a trapdoor if you have a good light source into the muzzle.

[wrench]

Here's a few pics I shot of the brass. I will try again to get some bore pics tomorrow when I have light.
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[Fred]

Is that where the brass expanded out into the corroded cavity on the chamber wall?
Wow. Yea, that'd be a concern for me.

[Dick Hosmer]

Not pretty, but if it still extracts, the problem might not be as severe as the light and shadows on the pics would seem to indicate.

My fall-back position would be option 1, never 3.

[wrench]

OK, got some pics of the chamber area. Sorry for the poor quality, they are the best my little camera will do.
The rifle shoots well, and I'd be sad if I couldn't shoot it anymore. My main concerns, though, are to not hurt the rifle, and of course not hurt me!
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[Tom Trevor]

Do not try and polish the chamber as the taper in it would be lost and shells would be very hard to extract. As Dick said for occasionally shooting a little shorter case life is not the end of the world. I see no safety issue in the shell being a bit rough.

[Fred]

Yea, go ahead and shoot it. It's safe.

[wrench]

Thank you guys, for taking the time to read and reply about my rifle. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge here, and your willingness to share it.
Regards,
Susan

[Tkacook]

I have a model 1884 with a chamber like that. The brass irons out fine when I run it through the press and I have shot many rounds through it because it is still accurate and fun to shoot. Never had an extraction issue. I have never worried about it.

[jon_norstog]

Too bad about that chamber. Shoot it anyway, just anneal your brass once in a while and use the sizing die much as necessary. I would advise shooting nothing but black powder and using a 20/1 lead/tin bullet.

Good luck!

jn