Light pitting in 13-1 bore

[Hapworth]

Looking over a 13-1 4" in superb condition other than very light pitting in the bore.

Otherwise: bore's rifling is shiny and sharp; cosmetically excellent, 99%; mechanically perfect; grips are very good and number to the gun.

One chamber in the cylinder looks to have had mild corrosion at the front, ahead of the shoulder; others are clean and sound.

Shoots all manner of .357 and .38 easily and accurately.

Trying to determine: 1) what might have caused the issue in an otherwise perfect piece; 2) how the pitting affects value; 3) if the bore makes it only a shooter and I should consider using it as such, or if the rest of the condition being so good means roughing it up a bit would be a shame.

Thoughts welcome...

 

[Fox Creek]

Probably was shot and not cleaned up, even with non-corrosive ammo, long neglect and improper storage can lead to pitting. The chamber issue probably from shooting .38 specials in a .357 chamber and not cleaning. Maybe cheap import ammo was involved. For a shooter, no issue at all. For a collector, this is an issue.

 

[Arik]

Are you sure its pitting? I bought a 13 for under $300 and i was 100% positive the barrel had slight pitting throughout but i was only looking for a shooter. Anyhow, the more i cleaned it i realized it wasnt pitting but leading. However it was shot and stored the lead looked like pitting marks. After a good cleaning the barrel is spotless

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[Hapworth]

Are you sure its pitting? I bought a 13 for under $300 and i was 100% positive the barrel had slight pitting throughout but i was only looking for a shooter. Anyhow, the more i cleaned it i realized it wasnt pitting but leading. However it was shot and stored the lead looked like pitting marks. After a good cleaning the barrel is spotless

Trade?

Definitely pitting in this case. It's very mild -- I keep wanting to describe it as "gentle", have also read it likened to "pepper"; but very thorough cleaning confirms.

 

[jaymoore]

Pitting is "death" to most collectors, it seems. But it probably won't hurt a thing shooting-wise. This 29 8 3/8"has fairly bad localized pitting in a couple of throats and on the cylinder face. Also something going on at the muzzle. Thought it might need counterboring when I bought it for quite the reasonable price. But it's really accurate at 50 yards. (have yet to run it out to 100.)

You have something that you can shoot 'til parts start falling off and no guilt. Sounds like fun!

 

[chief38]

If it's only minor pitting and is not too close to the muzzle you should be fine.

I have seen pitting (in neglected rifles) that I've deemed really bad and thought accuracy would definitely go out the window - however I was quite surprised that accuracy was still pretty good.

As most shooter / collectors like 'em nice and clean the value will be diminished a bit, but if it's a shooter just blast away and enjoy!

Chief38