1873 Trapdoor bore

[Reeferman]

After wearing out four .50 caliber brushes and about a 1000 strokes I think I got all the lead and what appeared to be cosmoline out of the barrel. Slugged the bore and had a local gun builders machine shop measure the slug.
Groove is .4608”and the lands are .4511”. According to Wolf that’s right on factory specifications so I’m pretty happy with it.

[bruce]

Excellent! Now ... on to reloading ... range testing ... pictures! Sincerely. bruce.

[Reeferman]

Excellent! Now ... on to reloading ... range testing ... pictures! Sincerely. bruce.

Working on it. Just waiting for the rest of what I need from Wolf to start casting for the first time.

[Sunray]

"...wearing out four .50 caliber brushes..." One of the reason you stop up the muzzle and fill the barrel with solvent and leave it there for 2 to 24 hours. Clean as per normal and repeat as required.

[Reeferman]

"...wearing out four .50 caliber brushes..." One of the reason you stop up the muzzle and fill the barrel with solvent and leave it there for 2 to 24 hours. Clean as per normal and repeat as required.

Did that as well. The best I used was what Koba49 used which is carburetor cleaner.

[45govt]

Hello Reeferman

Try using a TIGHT patch soaked with mineral spirits and push the patch through slowly, I have found that it will remove lead and you will see the streaks on the patch if there is any lead left in the barrel.

[Reeferman]

Hello Reeferman

Try using a TIGHT patch soaked with mineral spirits and push the patch through slowly, I have found that it will remove lead and you will see the streaks on the patch if there is any lead left in the barrel.

I tried pretty much everything except mercury. The carburetor cleaner really worked well as chunks of lead started coming out when using it. Scoped the barrel and it’s about as clean as the day it was made. There is a very small amount of pitting about 8” from the muzzle.