Rifle rebarrel question

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The rifle: Ruger Mini-30, blued.

 

The problem: Barrel is very dirty even after a 'regular' cleaning, it maybe pitted and/or badly rusted. Two months after it was loaned out it was taken out of the safe and checked. It was so dirty that the action was stuck in the closed postion.

 

The reason: He let some 'family' member(NOT ME) borrow the rifle under two conditions.

1st Clean the rifle before returning it.

2nd DO NOT shoot Russian or Chinese ammo.

They did neither.

 

My uncle is complaining that accuracy has gone down the tubes. I did try and explain that the Mini-30 is not known for accuracy, but he says that you can't even hit the dirt now if you tried. He asked me to ask all of you experts if a re-barrel is feasible. I am guessing it will be very costly. Looks like maybe Ruger might be the only source for a barrel. Any one have any other sources?

 

I plan on giving it a good cleaning with a stainless steel brush and a quality slovent before anything drastic is done.

 

 

 

 

[muledeerarea33?]

First off some of the mini 30s are very inaccurate weapons as are the mini14s but there are ways to help it. as far as the cleaning try your stainless brush first and if it is still dirty break the gun down to just the barrel and action. try performing a procedure called reverse plating. bassicly you plug the chamber end of the barrel with rubber find a rod that is about an inch longer than the barrel and smaller in diameter than the caliber. the rod goes in the barrel and touches the rubber stop at the other end By no means can the rod touch the barrel. fill the barrel with amonia (I use a concentrated winshield washer solvent that I get from work. works great.) then take a 6v battery with some jumper wires. connectone to the rod and one to the gun . the solution should start bubbling or foaming. keep an eye on it as you will have to refill occasionally. let it run for about an hour then dump it out and clean normally. if its still dirty do it again a few times. I have stripped some pretty nasty stuff out of old millitary rifles that normal cleaning couldnt get. you can find all this info online in various places. as for the action sticking closed I know on mine that the gas tube gets really dirty on the ribs and a little steel wool takes care of that and frees it up nicely. If the gun is still inaccurate as was my mini14. remove the front site cut 1inch off the barrel recrown and reinstall the site. if your not comfortable doing this take it to a gunsmith. I know it took my mini from about 4-6 inch groups at 100yards to just under 2inches. wich is pretty good for a mini. the only other option i know of is spend the 800 bucks on a accuracy kit. hope this helps you out and doenst just look like a ramble.

[bowsniper]

Never use a steel brush on a barrel, use only bronze. Steel can scratch and damage the barrel. You can scrub as much as you want with a bronze brush. I would use Sweets 7.62 and a bronze brush, and let it soak for a couple hours at a time. Keep working it, you get the copper fouling out and your initial accuracy back. Keep doing it until the patches are blue and no longer green. Don't let it soak for more than 2 or three hours with out patching it out. Also, check the crown to see if it is damaged.

 

Years ago when I first started shooting, I shot hundreds of rounds out of a 3006, without cleaning, and it went from 1" groups at 100 yards to 10' groups. The sweets 7.62 brought back to 1". Good Luck!

 

Mark

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Thanks alot guys!!