Rough bore on new gun.

N

Nickel Plated

New member
Bought a new Uberti 1858 Remington replica from Dixie Gun Works a few days ago. As soon as I got it I took it all down to the springs and screws to clean the packing grease out. And do a bit of polishing and stoning on the lockwork to clean up the kinda gritty action. When cleaning I noticed some spots in the bore that didn't seem to come out upon first cleaning. Figured it was just some crud that needed a few more passes with a brush but I was in a bit of a rush to get somewhere so left it for another day. Today I finally got around to cleaning it some more, no good. Still there. Upon closer inspection with a flashlight.....





I'm afraid those are about as good a photo as I could get with my cellphone.

But it looks like the edges of the rifling are chipped in some places and there are marks down the bore that look like scratches, though they might even be small cracks. I'm having a hard time telling.

Haven't got to shoot it yet and probably won't for a while. No good ranges nearby that I can go to so going shooting is something I have to devote the better part of a day to and right now my finances would be better used elsewhere.

Not sure if I want to go through the trouble of shipping it back for a replacement, or just go shoot it and see if it causes any problems. Beside's I've kinda passed Dixie's 5 day limit on returns so at this point it would be entirely up to them whether they want to take it or not. And I'm guessing not since I screwed with the action a bit.

I do intend to do a .38Spl cartridge conversion on the gun that will involve either lining the barrel or replacing it with a factory Uberti conversion barrel, so again not sure it'd be worth it to bother replacing over a barrel I'm not likely to keep that long anyway. The rest of the gun looks fine.

Just wondering if you guys think this might be a serious issue that would effect accuracy to any noticable degree.
 
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Just wondering if you guys think this might be a serious issue that would effect accuracy to any noticable degree.
Click to expand...
Possibly.
I've had issues with the newer (made since the mid 1990's) S&W barrels being rough.
It has affected the accuracy & function using lead bullets instead of jacketed.
A few hundred rounds of jacketed bullets smoothed up a couple of them.

On the M22/s, which is a .22, since there weren't any jacketed bullets available, I lapped the bores ( I bought 2 optional barrels) with tooth paste.

I used a worn down bronze brush, wrapped it with a cleaning patch, then squirted toothpaste on the patch and ran it in and out a few hundred times.

Just look online for an ADA chart of abrasiveness and get one with the highest RDA.
You don't want to remove any metal per say - you just want to round over anything that could snag.
 
Can't really tell by the pics, but if the barrel is as you described and you bought the gun new. I ask for my money back.
Soft lead does not like grit and metal tears.

Sort of mystified because most of Uberti's products I have examined are well made.
I would suspect the barrel was not polished and lapped. If you are stuck with it, I would find a smithy who can polish/lap it up for you.
 
Like I said I will be swapping the barrel out anyway for a conversion so I don't see it as worthwhile to return it for a replacement. And since I finally got called back to work, and makin' some money again, that conversion will happen sooner than I thought :D

I will shoot it just to see what effect a flaw like that would have on accuracy.

Guess I just wanted to vent a little. Kinda disappointed in buying a new gun and seeing something like that.
 
Lap that puppy. It is amazing what can happen when you smooth things up. I have hand lapped a few of mine. :)
 
Ordered up a new 5.5" .38spl. barrel. Might be a bit before i get the conversion cylinder for it since I'm looking to buy a new car right now. But we'll see how that turns out.
Should atleast balance nicely with the shorter barrel.
 
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