Pitting after rust incident

[Bidwell]

Have a Howa Superlite in 308. Was shooting nice 1 to 1.5 inch groups with this thing and I slipped up after a hunt in the rain. Thought I got the moisture out but apparently not, plus over here in CA weve had over 30 days of near constant fog. Started to get worried about my rifles in the safe and my worst nightmare came true. My barrel was full of rust. I cleaned what could out then took it to get professionaly cleaned. The smith let it sit in evaporust for 48 hours and that worked great. But, i believe theres some pitting left over all up and down the barrel. Just kills me. Any thoughts on how bad this is? Got some images after the cleaning, and a sample of what the rust looked like. I think its pretty minor, but still. Going to be raining all week so its going to be a while before I get to test. Any thoughts/advice appreciated on what to expect with accuracy or cleaning routine?. Im seriosly stepping up my dehumidity game. Got a golden rod and filling my safe with more desicant packs. Live and learn I guess, but painful.

 

[WoodlandCritter]

The only way to know how accuracy will be affected is to go shoot the thing. I wouldn't expect much change unless the muzzle/crown is particularly bad. Cleaning will be about the same as ever. Unless this happened to a bench rest gun, not the type of thing to lose sleep over. I'm assuming when you say 1-1.5" groups you mean 3 or 5 shots at 100 yards?

 

[Bidwell]

The only way to know how accuracy will be affected is to go shoot the thing. I wouldn't expect much change unless the muzzle/crown is particularly bad. Cleaning will be about the same as ever. Unless this happened to a bench rest gun, not the type of thing to lose sleep over. I'm assuming when you say 1-1.5" groups you mean 3 or 5 shots at 100 yards?

Sorry should've specified, 5 to 7 shot groups at 100 yards is my usual go-to. I guess worst case Brownells sells superlite barreled actions for around 450, but hope i dont have to go there. Muzzle/crown looks ok from what i can tell. I guess i could get that fixed if needed

 

[RockAndSage]

Yep. Don't worry about it, just shoot, and then worry if you're getting horrible groups. Should be more or less fine though, for what most people and most ammo are capable of. Depending on how bad it is, it may just fill in with copper from a few fouling shots, and be good to go after that.

 

[TaperPin]

Based on the handful of rifles I’ve bought used with some rust, as long as the pits and dark areas aren’t big enough to connect to each other accuracy will be good.

 

[Dmoua]

If it’s still shooting fine then there is no need to worry about it. I have seen worse in one of my rifles that still shot lights out.

 

[TaperPin]

A patch with oil on it works really well to prevent bore rust.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

This is why people shouldn’t own bore cameras.

 

[Bidwell]

This is why people shouldn’t own bore cameras.

Im glad i was able to see the rust, but i agree that these things can be trouble.