Newly acquired FN. Gorgeous, but safe?
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2020 7:46 pm
Hello there! New forum member, not super new to these rifles as I've had a Model 8 in the mighty .35 a few years back. Wish I'd kept it, but anyhow, I have managed to snag an FN 1900 that I adore. Serial 1177, all matching, appears to have been refinished very nicely, and the action cycles smoothly. However, the bore is less than desirable and was described rather optimistically in its listing. I'll try to attach images once I reduce the file sizes enough for a few of the pictures. The bore picture, for now, shows its worst.
I've thoroughly cleaned the barrel a few times since bringing it home, and it appears to look marginally better after each cleaning. The bore still has shine but is mostly frosted. There also appears to be pitting at the barrel throat and again from about the last 2-3 inches of barrel to the muzzle. Setting a .35Rem cartridge, projectile first, into the muzzle shows the bullet seating fully into the muzzle until the case mouth rests on the crown. I decided to run a .35Rem projectile through the bore to see how it would look coming out the other end. The projectile had little resistance until about an inch beyond the throat, then the rifling seemed to be doing its normal engraving. The projectile had little resistance from the rifling for the final 2-3 inches of barrel. Once it came out of the muzzle the bullet appeared to be engraved very normally; sharp and straight, but I'm no ballistics specialist. It seems to me the middle 75 percent of the barrel has decent rifling. The first 10 percent is rough and the last 15 percent is too.
I've heard of MilSurps that shoot safely and okay-somewhat with a bore of similar or like condition. Does anyone have a comparable experience but with the Model 8, 81 or FN1900?
I dabble in collecting but I love to shoot my firearms, and had planned to shoot this one every so often. Should I see what a 5-or-so shot group looks like or should I plan on never shooting this FN? The latter being a heartbreaker. Thank you for any input, folks.
I've thoroughly cleaned the barrel a few times since bringing it home, and it appears to look marginally better after each cleaning. The bore still has shine but is mostly frosted. There also appears to be pitting at the barrel throat and again from about the last 2-3 inches of barrel to the muzzle. Setting a .35Rem cartridge, projectile first, into the muzzle shows the bullet seating fully into the muzzle until the case mouth rests on the crown. I decided to run a .35Rem projectile through the bore to see how it would look coming out the other end. The projectile had little resistance until about an inch beyond the throat, then the rifling seemed to be doing its normal engraving. The projectile had little resistance from the rifling for the final 2-3 inches of barrel. Once it came out of the muzzle the bullet appeared to be engraved very normally; sharp and straight, but I'm no ballistics specialist. It seems to me the middle 75 percent of the barrel has decent rifling. The first 10 percent is rough and the last 15 percent is too.
I've heard of MilSurps that shoot safely and okay-somewhat with a bore of similar or like condition. Does anyone have a comparable experience but with the Model 8, 81 or FN1900?
I dabble in collecting but I love to shoot my firearms, and had planned to shoot this one every so often. Should I see what a 5-or-so shot group looks like or should I plan on never shooting this FN? The latter being a heartbreaker. Thank you for any input, folks.