I cheated a bit, I started a few strokes on the flats of the barrel with a flat file and decided the heck with that, and took the whole mess to a bumper and plating shop, they polished the barrell to a mirror shine, it took the browning nice. I polished the brass furniture myself. Looks good and shoots straight.
The new inline stuff meets the letter of the law, but not the spirit in my mind. Hell, they oughtta make it flint-lock only if they really want a muzzleloader season.
Agreed. The inlines with shotgun primers, plastic sabots, hollowpoint slugs, blackpowder substitutes and scopes are high-tech single shots which are blurring the distinction between quaint muzzleloaders and modern rifles. Some states such as Pennsylvania allow only flintlocks for blackpowder season hunting. Stalking, not sniping, is real hunting.