09/23/2026
Alas, the lowly hunting rifle, seldom used and laid aside to rust until next hunting season and you find that it no longer functions as it did.
And you blame the rifle for not ejecting, and poor accuracy. Tsk tsk tsk. Dumb Ass!
I have seen the bore of hundreds of different named fi****ms and can tell you, it ain’t the guns fault.
Before the advent of the E-Scope, bright light and a wire probe would reveal things about a bore that you would never see. Exterior rust, bent barrels, loose receiver and scope screws but mostly bore rust.
I cleared a customers stuck reloaded bullets in his new C**t Python and found his friend had suggested to drill the stuck lead out. The E-scope picture was like a horror movie, bore was chewed up. But most problems came from rust, a little in the chamber, to full blown scabs the length of the bore.
As a method to cut costs, manufacturers cut the Lands and Grooves differently than what we would like to see, if we could see into our bore. Images of smooth nice shiny rifling, some totally covered in copper, manufacture chatter marks the entire length, unexplained rings mid-bore, lead build up until no rifling was showing, and RUST.
When rust forms in the barrel, or chamber, it usually starts as a discoloration. Most owners never look at their bore, so they never see it. This week, a R***r American in 6.5 CM would not eject, with a hard bolt lift with OEM ammo, not someones hot stuff that usually account for these symptoms. Only a year old and a chamber with rust embedding the brass case hanging onto it long after it has cooled. After a thorough 30 minute cleaning, inspection with the E-scope revealed rust pearls. In the last 8 inches of the bore, pits, pearls, scabs and dark grooves to the muzzle edge requiring another 30 minutes to remove.
You cannot fill pits, except with copper and burnt powder and unless you thoroughly clean the bore, you will not see the rust. Rust blisters do not scrap off when a bullet travels the barrel, and when they do, the rusty pit is exposed scraping off more bullet copper.
Most popular excuse for not cleaning and oiling a firearm being put in a corner, under the bed, or a non-heated safe, is that it takes several rounds to season and make the firearm shoot its best for the first deer shots. Unless you are a competition shooter blowing hundreds of rounds a month through the bore, you have not excuse. A cold clean bore can shoot better then you do.
At Dixie Sports, we will E-scope your bore for $5. after you clean it. If you want us to clean and inspect, take video or pictures and oil, we charge $20. call 501-262-4001 or email [email protected]
