Badly pitted barrel.

[K191145]

I posted about this old pistol in the C&R forum but I need some info/advice on how bad a barrel can be pitted before it's unsafe to shoot. It's my brothers pistol, it's a 1908 Colt Police Positive .38, not .38special but Colt.38 or you can shoot S&W.38 in it. Mechanically it seems fine but I really studied the barrel tonight and the pitting is worse than I thought. I worked on it for a while with solvent and brush but of course that doesn't cure pitting, I just wanted to make sure there was no more lead fouling or surface rust. I don't care about it affecting accuracy, I would just like to shoot it, I know .38S&W is a low pressure round and I can't see the barrell failing but I would like to be sure it's safe. I never had a firearm with a barrel pitted that bad before.

[Caster]

It's not going to be a safety issue. I've shot rifles with bores so bad, you could not make out rifling.

Accuracy will likely suck, but you'll never know till you try. If the gun is solid, locks up tight and doesn't have any timing issues, you'll be fine. Now, if using a cast bullet, you may see some pretty bad leading, but I don't think you're really going to have any safety issues.

[K191145]

It's not going to be a safety issue. I've shot rifles with bores so bad, you could not make out rifling.

Accuracy will likely suck, but you'll never know till you try. If the gun is solid, locks up tight and doesn't have any timing issues, you'll be fine. Now, if using a cast bullet, you may see some pretty bad leading, but I don't think you're really going to have any safety issues.

I didn't think it would be dangerous but wanted some other opinions, thanks. It locks up tight and found my old .35 caliber dowel rod to drop down the barrel while holding the trigger in, it doesn't catch any part of the cylinder, don't know where I saw that before but it seemed a good way to check the timing. Anyway I would just like to make sure it shoots, i'm going to make my brother pay for the ammo though, bet I can find some at the next gun show.

[TNWNGR]

It's really a non issue with the 38 S&W round's you'll run through the revolver, they'll most likely all besoft RN lead anyway. Shoot it, enjoy it's old school style and history, clean it up afterwards to be ready for the next range trip.

[ttocswob]

Leading can be beneficial, as far as filling in some of the pitting. I would clean it thoroughly, once, then just enough to clear powder fouling after that. JMO

[K191145]

Leading can be beneficial, as far as filling in some of the pitting. I would clean it thoroughly, once, then just enough to clear powder fouling after that. JMO

I have heard about a proceedure where you make a tight lead plug and push it through the barrel, basically filling in the pitting with lead. I'm not going through that much trouble but i'll look for some non-jacketed ammo to shoot through it.