muff pistol barrel replacement

[danyboy]

Just bought an antique muff pistol with a screw-on barrel which is pitted and marked inside. Can one ream without a lathe, i.e. hold the barrel and use a drill at very low speed ?

[Steve Steven]

I am sure you could, but why? I see several problems:

1. You are making a smooth bore firearm less than legal (18"?) length, but I am not sure this applies if this is a C&R firearm.

2. How are you holding it? will you scar the outside with a vice? make a split wood clamp? Obviously you don't have a lathe or you would use that.

3. Are you going to sleeve it, is that why you are drilling it out? Muff guns typically didn't have very thick barrels, is there enough to sleeve it? Do you have a lathe to turn down the OD of the sleeve liner? Have you considered how hard it is to drill out a barrel with a typical drill, which will grab and catxh very badly.

4. You are destroying the value of what may be a collector gun, have you considered that? Its not going to be fired anyway, is it?

Steve

[Gazz]

If it is percussion or flint, the smoothbore legality issues do not apply - it is not a firearm according to the ATF. It is (or was) probably smoothbore already in any case. I think the most you may want to do is polish the bore with some emory paper wrapped around a dowel which you can spin with a hand drill. So what if there are still some pits. If you are going to shoot it, it is not and never was a target pistol so just remove the high spots. The polishing will get out the blistered rust and corrosion.

[danyboy]

Makes sens Gazz. I'll just do that. Yes I'll fire it as I do with most of my antiques.
Thanks,
danyboy