Slugging the barrel

[lts70]

Is there a good write up on the process of slugging ones barrel? I want to do my 45acp 1911. I would also like to send slugging instructions to my brother so he can do his XDM 9mm, as I am going to be casting and reloading for him.

[no34570]

Hi Mate
Try these,but there is more out there if you "Google"it
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_2_54/ai_n21175826/

http://hgmould.gunloads.com/casting/sluggingthebore.htm

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reloading/slug/index.asp

[lts70]

Does this look good or should I slug the entire barrel length? see youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR_WiL8Dkgw

[HangFireW8]

For a rifle I slug 3 times- the breech, through, and the muzzle.

Doing the muzzle discovers if there is funnel-shaped cleaning rod wear, which is common in military rifles.

After measuring, I tape the slugs to an index card, write the rifle, the date, which slug is which, etc. That way I can go back and look at them if I have questions in the future.

[MikeS]

Does this look good or should I slug the entire barrel length? see youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR_WiL8Dkgw

I know that some people like this guys videos, but some of the things he says are just wrong. For example in the video you posted the link of at the end he says that his Ruger's barrel is .452 and that the cylinder throats are usually .454, then he slugs one throat, and it comes out to .4515, and he says that that's a perfect match with his bore! With the throats being smaller than the bore, he's probably going to have leading problems with that pistol. If it was mine, I would have the cylinder throats reamed out to .453 at a minimum.

That's the problem with You Tube, and the internet as a whole, in the past for somebody to get info out to the masses they had to be an established writer, and then as such folks believed most everything said, but today anyone with a camera phone, or website can say anything, and unfortunately some folks will still take their word as an authority, when in reality they're just another person who could be totally wrong, and misleading lots of folks!

As for slugging just the muzzle of the gun, I'm curious about that too, as I just got a Ruger Mini-30 and only slugged the muzzle, and it slugs at .3095 which is smaller than I expected, but better than a larger size, as I can use 'normal' 30 caliber boolit moulds!

[MikeS]

It seems that my Mini-30 while being 16 years old, has spent it's entire life sitting in a safe. I don't think it's been fired, or if it has, it was only a few rounds at most. So am I correct that measuring only the muzzle of the barrel should be good enough considering that there's no wear? With a bore of .3095 I should be able to use gas checked boolits sized to .3105 with no problems, is that correct?

[Wayne Smith]

Well, yes and no. You can make that assumption and probably 85-90% of the time you will be right. It can be nice to know that there are no tight areas in the barrel, and a throat slug can be enlightening. It really depends on how much information you need. If you put some boolits that size down it and have good accuracy and no leading at the speed you want, who's to argue?

I have a couple of Smith 357's that, while I haven't slugged anything, barely chamber a .358" boolit and shoot it with extreme accuracy. I do not plan to slug them, what's the point? On the other hand I have a 45/70 barrel (Encore) that I did the whole rig a marole with just to do it. First time I had done it, and I guessed that my measurements would prove the barrel is very well done, and, low and behold, they did! For a first experience it was worth the effort.

It really depends on how much effort you want to put into it and how much information you need before you start proving with Dr. Gun.

[mooman76]

As long as you are slugging, you might as well do the whole thing. While you are running the slug down the barrel, you can carefully feel for oddities as the slug goes down. Such as a loose or tight spot. If you really want to get into it, slug the muzzle, then slug half way and finally just the breach and compair the results. Like you said being used very little you shouldn't see anything out of the ordinary but then again they do make mistakes, even on new guns.

[303Guy]

It might be more useful to know the throat dimensions so you can size the boolit right.

[lts70]

303Guy, the throat and breech of the barrel are the same thing right? Sorry for the stupid question.

So basically to do this right I need to hammer a slug in flush with the muzzle and pop it back out. Then hammer a slug into the breech/throat flush and pop it back out from the reverse side. Then hammer a slug through the entire bore to check for tight spots. With the measurements from these three slugs I should have all the information I need to make my final boolit sizing dimensions....Right?

[lts70]

Well I Sluged my 45 and as long as I was reading the micrometer right, (first time) I believe my bore mesures .4515.

Is my .452 sizing die big enough?

.http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_192784e4428c996870.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=1757)

[birdadly]

I'm pretty new so I'm sure you'd like someone with more wisdom than I, but from my readings, I believe a .452 will work nicely (Mine measured .451 and I size down to .452). Now I've also read that some sizing dies size too small, smaller than advertised! So definitely measure a few sized boolits once you get 'em.

I haven't shot un-sized boolits yet (actually have only shot about 50 boolits so far) but if your mold drops between .452 - .453 or so, I read that you can always just shoot 'as is' too.

(I need to get casting and shooting more so I feel more comfortable giving the advice that I've read here throughout the forum and from my own doings!) -Brad