Refresh bore on Ruger .44 Mag

[hunter63]

Any one have any advice on possible refresh on the bore of a Ruger Blackhawk .44 mag?

Long story but after being stolen, recovered, kept in police evidence locker in plastic bag, condensation damage, then returned, in rusty and slightly pitted condition, would like to return to usable condition.

All over condition is the same, some pitting, but most all rust has been removed and now it just looks "old".

[DM]

Best way, is to load up a bunch of jacketed bullets and get a shootin.

DM

[gunsmoke]

First, ARE YOU EXPERIENCING ANY ILL EFFECTS? SEVERE LEADING, LOSS OF ACCURACY?

Of not it may be best to leave bad enough ALONE, but if you ARE you might want to give this a try

http://www.neconos.com/details2.htm

This Co. has been around the shooting industry for nearly 30 years one of their products are bullets coated with valce grinding compound (or something like it) loaded and fired in seriesfrom coarsest to finest gets your bore fire-lapped.

A technique used by many competative shooters to smooth and polish their bores.

For .44 Mag you'll need .429 diameter bullets.

[MinotBob]

Try contacting Ruger. You might be surprised.

[Mr.B]

I use to collect old Surplus rifles most of the time after getting one the barrel would have a little rust in it mostly cause of old corrosive ammo. Id do my best to clean it out with brushes and what not then take it to the range and put about 20 rounds through the rifle seemed to clean it up really good.

-B

[Bare]

I had a 45 colt given to me and the barrel was bad. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I pulled some fine (0000 I think) steel wool through with some oil. It was a mess but I kept it up till it started to look good. I then took a cleaning cloth and a piece of fine emory and stuffed them both into the barrel and pushed that through a few of times and it came out pretty decent. I eventually traded it with a full disclosure, of course. Seemed to shoot OK.

[hunter63]

I did call Ruger, and I can ship it in for a re-do.

I did take it to a gunsmith guy here in town, for an idea of what I'm dealing with.
Will keep y'all posted.

[Teg]

I did call Ruger, and I can ship it in for a re-do.

I did take it to a gunsmith guy here in town, for an idea of what I'm dealing with.
Will keep y'all posted.

How much is Ruger going to charge or are they doing it under warranty?

[hunter63]

I'm having a local gunsmith look at it first, before I ship it off.
Ruger guy basically said they would have to look at it, before the would talk money.

As they may just say, "We think it's unsafe", I wanted another opinion first.

[Teg]

I'm having a local gunsmith look at it first, before I ship it off.
Ruger guy basically said they would have to look at it, before the would talk money.

As they may just say, "We think it's unsafe", I wanted another opinion first.


Good idea on the local check, hope it turns out well and not too expensive.

[Fortyfour]

I'm having a local gunsmith look at it first, before I ship it off.
Ruger guy basically said they would have to look at it, before the would talk money.

As they may just say, "We think it's unsafe", I wanted another opinion first.

I have a local gunsmith that does fantastic work but very reasonable. Even so, he suggests I have all my Ruger work done at the factory since they can do it for about 1/5th the price he can charge.

I have had nothing but wonderful results from Ruger and they are beyond reasonable.

Also, for the bore if you don't want to send it off, consider using a product called 'Flitz' and a bit of elbow grease. JB lube is fantastic for smoothing bores also.

44

[jim]

JB bore paste is great stuff, and well worth a try.

jim

[Clem]

If the bore is really bad, ship it to Ruger for a new barrel. It will come back a new gun, and it won't be expensive.

[OzarksJohn]

Howdy,

It's possible that they could reblue your old gun there for a lot less than you could get it done locally. I had a Blackhawk redone a few years ago locally and wasn't overly impressed with the results for the amount of money. When dealing with the aluminum alloy parts, you need them properly taken care of as well, or it just don't look right. Years before, I sent in an old model for the transfer bar kit and a refinish and they did it to new factory spec for a whole lot less money at Ruger. Not to mention, if they need to swap a part out they've got a bin full.OzarksJohn

[hunter63]

Thanks for all the advice guys.
Good news, after a check, good cleaning, a couple of parts, and $70 bucks, the old girl is back and in shooting condition.
Didn't want to send it back to Ruger, before I got a local opinion from my local guy.

Now a trip to "The Place" and a couple of boxes of shells, we are gonna see how she shoots after all these years.
Last seen was in 1993 after about 5 years at the police station, evidence locker.

Didn't really want to have it re-blued as it would take away from the history, but rather shoot it in memory of my late BIL/hunting partner/friend.