Gunsmithing muzzle loader ?

[JWGILLAM]

didn't know where to post this so please don't beat on me about it. a mechanic I work with is trying to liquidate somethings he doesn't use. hes offering me a muzzleloader really cheap. It's a knight inline muzzle loader blued with a realtree synthetic stock. all was well untill i got to looking at it. there was a fired primer in it. then looked down the barrel and saw that the dumb ass didn't clean it last time he shot it some 2 years ago. the barrel is dirty and <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">rus</span>ted</span>. he was kinda shocked he did it to and offered an even lower price, but is this thing even worth the trouble, is it ruined? it comes with a scope to but its only a $20 3-9 simmons 8-pt(which he was defensive when I told him the scope wasn't worth $20) what do you guys think?


shitty cell phone pic from out break room to get an idea of the type of rifle. don't have a pic of the bore but it looks like more than just light surface rust. In your respective professional opinions would this be something you would try to clean up or stay away?

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

Re: muzzle loader ?

i would think there is going to be more work going into it than it's worth, that is if there IS something you can do with it.

i would stay away.

 

[hombre]

Re: muzzle loader ?

Just tell him you want to shoot it first before you buy it. I've shot quite a few with rusted and pitted barrels and doesn't seem to affect the ones I have shot. Buy powerbelt bullets and don't look back. My T/C Encore I loaned out once was handed back to me 3 weeks after he shot it and was all pitted and rusted. Cleaned it up the best I could and shot like a deamon!!! It will shoot a 3" group at 250yds with the barrel all pitted. The key that I have found is the powerbelt bullets win hands down.

Good luck
Hombre

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: muzzle loader ?

Like mentioned above, shoot it first and then see how it shoots and how it cleans up. If it's something you want and he offers it at a good price, I would give it serious consideration.

After it has been shot and cleaned up check your local gun shops and see if someone has a borescope that you can check the ID of the barrel with. Before I got a borescope I would give one of the guys that runs a local shop $10 to let me bring in a barrel and check it out.

 

[Engine 22]

Re: muzzle loader ?

I have a Knight like the one pictured, but stainless. I inherited mine and it has pits about half-way down the tube and on the crown. These rifles are very light and would benefit from having a rubber recoil pad instead of the hard plastic end of the stock. Mine shoots pretty well, but if it is a LK-93, it isn't a magnum and <span style="font-weight: bold">SHOULD NOT</span> be used with over 90grs of 777ffg. After shooting a few loads of 100grs, I figured it wasn't normal to have the primer get blown off of the nipple and soot all over everything

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If you were wanting a muzzle loader and don't want to spend alot on one, I would offer him $100-$125 and give it a whirl.

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: muzzle loader ?

It is black powder... unless it has some horrible pits. If you don't want it pm me with what he wants for it and let me buy it. Have been wanting an inline.