What is the best course of attack for moderate to heavy pitting on a Luger bore? Havent shot it yet so I'm not sure that it is a deal breaker as far as functionality. For all I know it may still shot fine, but I'd prefer to keep the original barrel on the gun either way.  It needs a new set of grips and a small part, and it's been refinished but I bought it dirt cheap so I dont mind a bit of work if it means I can end up with a decent shooter.

If the bore is pitted the metal is gone. There is no way to fix really fix that. Best you can do is preserve what you have.

If the throat and muzzle are in halfway decent shape it should group fine.

If the barrel has a lot of fouling, JB Bore paste can help with that.

I can see quite a bit of copper fouling and a bit of rust in there in addition to the pitting. The copper has actually oxidized and turned a bit greenish. I was thinking about trying the bore past to clean things up as best I can, glad to hear that's the recommendation anyway. The crown is fine as far as I can tell. The lands and grooves are still clearly visible when looking straight down the bore, there is just quite a bit of pitting. The throat isnt quite as good as the rifiling isnt terribly strong in that las 1/8th of an inch so. I suppose I shouldnt be surprised one a 100 year old pistol, especially one I paid 300 bucks for.  i just hope it shoots okay with the original barrel as it matches the receiver.

Contact Redmans Rifling. They reline Broomhandles to 9mm. They might reline Lugers.

I have fire lapped a lightly pitted bore to like new condition. Must not be more than frosted though.

I own an old 1920 marked P08 Luger with a bad looking bore...shoots superb. There is an older Steyr Hahn M1912 pistol in my collection with an even more worn and pitted bore..it shoots pretty decent too

That said...I tend to gravitate towards nice clean bores if possible

Sometimes passing on the buy is the easier choice.

For 300 bucks, even if it doesnt shoot worth a damn I've still come out ahead.

Soak the bore for 48 hours in hoppes...heck, you could soak the whole gun minus the wood.  It can't harm metal as its base is kerosene.  

Brush the bore with a good quality bore brush and a BRASS cleaning rod, carefully so that you don't ding anything.  

Then, get some JB bore paste and apply it liberally to the bore, patching it back and forth as described on the bottle.

Finish by removing all of the above and applying a healthy coat of CLP to prevent rust.


That is as clean as you will ever get a barrel.  It will be down to bare steel.