Smoothbore C96?

[Spiggy]

So I got these blindly from my boss, he picked them and sent them to the FFL, I just had to paperwork and pay for the DROS for everything. Needless to say, I'll be working for him for a while.

Anyways, I took the thing apart and I find the barrel completely smooth. Not like shot out dirty, or bored to hell with a sucky counterbore, I mean it's been completely REAMED and CLEANED.

Is this common?

30 caliber bullet from my box of .30carbine will almost slide through.

Pics coming, I left the camera at work

Status: [Currently in parts]

[saki302]

No- it's not common!

Maybe the bore was shot out or badly pitted, and someone 'cleaned' it until all the pits were gone..

Either way, you will need to rebarrel it- it's going to shoot like crap with no rifling. I'd have it rebarreled in 9mm.

[Someguy925]

Sounds like it was basically shot out.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

You can have the barrel lined fairly cheaply. I would keep it in 7.63 Mauser. The 9mms are known to have feeding problems because of the much shorter overall lenght of the 9mm vs. the 7.63 round. Also, is it a C96, or the later production 1930 Commercial model?

[Spiggy]

Looks to be a 1930, however the large ring hammer and older features inside are confusing.

This gun has a massive amount of moonspeak stamped on it

[AJAX22]

It may have been partially relined.... the first step in the process is to ream the barrel out to accept a new liner.

[6079Winston]

Most of those guns have pretty worn bores due to a lack of cleaning kits in China, although most are dark and indicate that rifling was once there. A friend of mine picked up a 30's commercial model with a minty bore and showed it to his chinese grandfather. His grandfather proclaimed that this gun had never been fired. On a side note I once saw an M1 that was so worn that an 8mm bullet would drop all the way through the bore.

[Spiggy]

more info - I'll be getting my camera at work

86xxx serial, frame, lug, assy, and lower are marked with the same serial however the the magazine plate and bolt retainer do not match

[smle-man]

So I got these blindly from my boss, he picked them and sent them to the FFL, I just had to paperwork and pay for the DROS for everything. Needless to say, I'll be working for him for a while.

Anyways, I took the thing apart and I find the barrel completely smooth. Not like shot out dirty, or bored to hell with a sucky counterbore, I mean it's been completely REAMED and CLEANED.

Is this common?

30 caliber bullet from my box of .30carbine will almost slide through.

Pics coming, I left the camera at work

Hot cartridge, corrosive primer, steel jacket, extreme amount of firing=no rifling. I've seen a bunch of the Broomhandles and Bolos from China that are literally shot out. The lack of rifling didn't seem to stop them from continuing to use them. These were high prestige arms for the Chinese.

[Spiggy]

yea, but did they sit and machine through the barrel? I mean the sucker is sharp at the corners

[AJAX22]

what was it bored out to?

[smle-man]

I think smooth bore handguns are, shall we say, not something to broadcast. A technicality but people have been tripped up on similar issues in the past. Hopefully I am incorrect.

[Spiggy]

No trace of rifling what so ever, the corners are sharp like a reamer's been ran through



.318in diameter exit

[TRAP55]

This is the guy to see, Broomhandles are his specialty.

http://www.redmansrifling.com/relining.htm

[Spiggy]

I gave him a phone call, I might do it!

but first, i need a bolt catch. Mine has a fracture and it's too small for me to try any welding/brazing