"Seasoning" a new barrel?

[1Morgan]

Just ordered a new barrel for my ML. It's a perc .50 Hawken. I've never had one before but have shot a few. I bought this used and just ordered a new barrel. It should be here in a few days and I'm curious what I should do when I get it.
Shoot it out of the box?
Shoot a few caps then a ball? (it's a 1:66 round ball barrel)
Lube/oil/butter anything?

I simply don't know where to start. And...no I'm not an idiot that bought a gun on a whim, lol. I have a ML friend that is helping me with it. I just wanted some other opinions.

[shaman]

I've never deliberately seasoned a barrel, but I suppose there is some procedure.  I don't do round ball all that much anymore, but when I do, I use Crisco for a lube.  You could probably just run a little of that on a patch up and down the bore before heading out the first time.

Tell me more about the original barrel.  What was up with it?

[1Morgan]

I bought the gun used and sent it to the factory (T/C). They said they wouldn't work on the bbl due to, "obvious owner neglect." The bore is rusted and pitted. They suggested buying a new bbl. I finally found a NIB on ebay. It should be in the mail this morning.

[shaman]

Oh yes!  I remember now. 

Were you ever able to put a light down that bore and get a look at it?  Is it bulged?  Pitted?  I remember you shot it.  Did you get any kind of group?

[1Morgan]

I don't have a bore light, the bbl doesn't seem bulged, it's prob pitted in the bore. The guy i got it from thought it had been loaded for 3 years and didn't take care of it at all. As far as a group, we shot a ball out of it 4 time and hit the target every time from 20 yards but...the 1st time it was tied to a tire and the trigger was pulled with a string, the other 3 time were shot by 3 diff ppl. We all hit it tho...lol.

[shaman]

That old barrel may not be all that bad off if it was hitting the target.  It may just need a deep cleaning-- just a thought.  

[1Morgan]

i was kinda thinking the same thing. I just want one I know I can trust for the season, once I get it sighted in I'll try and clean the old one up before making a tomatoe stake out of it.

[mgemmill]

I would try a good solvent and a good brass brush. A lil trick i use is putting my cleaning rod in my cordlesss drill and running it up and down the barrel. You would be surprised at the stuff that comes out. I do this on my shotgun also. It makes it group better believe it or not. Matter of fact going to do it on my turkey shoot gun today, last time I won 3 out of 12 rds and was runner up on 4 more . Hope this helps,