Surplus rifle bore question

[Mr_Flintstone]

Well, a little success. The en bloc clips (if I can call them that) that I’m using are steel, and when I insert the cases they are very loose, and flop around quite a bit, and also tend to allow the nose ends to partially come out of the clips. I decided to “tighten them up” by bending the lips of the clips so that the rounds would stay a little more stable. After this, I was able to feed all six rounds and the clip stayed in place. Is it common for clips to cause a problem?

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

Is the clip original or repro?

Repro en-bloc clips can often take considerable tweaking to work, since some are made from non-spec thickness steel. Even some originals can get balky -- mine tend to cause cartridges to nose-dive.

Also consider playing with cartridge OAL a bit if you handload -- sometimes you need to hit a sweet spot for proper clip function.

I was just addressing this while you posted. They are indeed reproduction clips.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

A little update…. Took these with my phone.

The breech


The muzzle


It’s hard to get any definition, but it’s starting to look less like a sewer pipe and more like a rifle barrel.

 

[wiscoaster]

Some of mine look a lot worse than that and still shoot OK.

 

[wiscoaster]

.... Is it common for clips to cause a problem?

Yes, sounds like you discovered the problem. If the grooves in the clips are too loose the rounds aren't all lined up at the same depth. If the rims aren't squarely in the clip groove then the traveler will push up on the front of the casing and produce the behavior you described. I like to check before I insert the clip to make sure they're all lined up like good little soldiers.

 

[45/30-06OKIE]

I ordered a Carcano cavalry rifle the other day, and I just got it in tonight. I haven’t had time to give it thorough going over, but i did clean the bore with a brush, and then one pass of J-B bore scrub, and finished it off with some light oil. It appeared to have a lot of surface rust in the bore before I cleaned it, and here is the after picture (sorry, I didn’t take a before).
View attachment 1069388

Sorry, this is the best photo I could get. Is this an acceptable bore for a surplus rifle from 1938?

My take on rifling is if you can still obviously make out the lands and grooves then it is likely to shoot half way decent! We got a Mosin with a super dark and gross looking barrel, and after pulling a bore snake soaked in copper remover, clp, WD-40, seafoam deep creep, and plain water, it came out with green and blue deposits on the snake many times before it came out clean... I had to wash out the bore snake like three times during the process... But the final result was an acceptable barrel that is decently bright but has moderate pitting in the chrome lining... I haven't shot that one yet to see what it can do.

 

[bfoosh006]

Are you using Kroil with the JB ?
A tight fitting bore mop might help as well , when using JB and Kroil.

 

[Mr_Flintstone]

Are you using Kroil with the JB ?
A tight fitting bore mop might help as well , when using JB and Kroil.

No. Just gun oil, let it soak a little, then JB.