Steve,
Holy Mackarel! I never thought to even run a rod down the barrel... you are correct! I just ran a rod down it to see and sure enough... it stopped about 4 in from the chamber. I got a flashlight and checked it out... and you're right... it's plugged with something. Dang it! This was going to be my project to bring this baby back to life... heck. One more thing. I could probably get the "pounded rod" out one way or another... but a barrel that is welded to the receiver may be "a bridge too far." The stock is broken too.. but that was going to be the easiest fix to this project. Well, that explains how it came into the family. My wife's grandfather was the Company 1SG of his HS Drill Team in TN back in the WWI era, even ran away to a U.S. Army Cavalry Unit that was at Fort Oglethorpe, GA next to Chickamauga Battlefield one summer when he was 15 year old. The Calvary 1SG there took him under his wing and let him stay there riding with the troops until the end of the summer when he told him "it's time for you to go home, you can join up when you graduate from HS." All of that said... if there's any way I can get this thing operating again... I'll just pay it and do it. Sentimental value on my side... "Pop" was a heck of a man... and rode his horses 'til he died.