How to slug a barrel

[Slick Pilot]

Need instructions on best way to slug a barrel. Do's and Don't.

Thanks.

[John Taylor]

I do this quite often. It's best to use 2 brass rods that will slide through the bore with a close fit, I have several sizes to cover most bore sizes. Use a small piece of lead ( I use different size round ball) that will fit the bore and put it in the middle of the bore. Slide a brass rod in each end and hammer them against each other with the lead between them. It will push the lead out to match the bore. Then push the lead out using one of the brass rods. Use a micrometer to check size. It's a good idea to clean the bore first.

[VTDW]

Find a fish sinker that will be a bit larger than the bore. The ones with a hole thru the middle work best because some lead will sorta spring back and the hole cancels this out. I have a .444 and use a #6 sinker. I run an oil soaked patch thru the bore and then use a rawhide or nylon hammer to drive the sinker into the bore at the muzzle. I then take a dowel rod to just start the sinker enough to make it come loose from the lead that did not squeeze into the bore. Push the sinker thru the bore with the dowel and pay particular attention to where the sinker takes more pressure to make it move. Those are tight spots (usually under dovetails and stamped letters etc.) Once the slug is thru the bore, measure it and see what your bore slugs (the tightest spot) . Pretty simple.

If you have tight spots I suggest firelapping to get rid of them. Your cast boolits will be happy.

Dave

[NVcurmudgeon]

The guys who have posted about using muzzleloader balls or perforated fish sinkers are correct. Any pure lead is much easier to push through than is an alloy, and oil helps.
Every few years I melt a pot of tape-on WW (pure lead or close to it) and cast a few boolits with a variety of moulds. You don't even need to warm up the moulds, "raisins" work just fine. I use a pure lead 8 mm boolit for .30 barrels, a .30 for 7 mm barrels, etc.

[Phil]

John Taylor is exactly right, except I slug at the breech end and the muzzle. The less you push the slug through the bore the more accurate your slug is. Pushing another slug through the bore will tell you if you have any major tight or loose spots.

Cheers,

Phil

[georgeld]

I do it about the same way.
Never used double brass rod's though.

Just make sure somewhere you swedge it tight from both ends to make sure it's full dia of the bore.

I've always been taught/told to run them thru from the chamber end instead of the muzzle. My gunsmith told me that more than once, so have others, and seems like I've read it too.

Oil will keep it from leading the bore if everything is plumb dry. Good advice there.

[floodgate]

I'm a little leery of brass rods for slugging, and expecially for "pound slugs" for the throat and leede. Although brass is nominally softer than steel, the rod stock is usually "half-hard" from the forming process, and is comparable to mild steel. Take a brass punch and whack it with a hammer on a piece of barrel steel; you'll see why I stick with hardwood dowels for slugging.

floodgate

[leftiye]

A longer oversized slug "bumps up" as it is (excuse the term) pounded (gently) into the bore. The foremost part grips the barrel, and as the impact accelerates the rear into the front (which is somewhat "stuck" in the bore), the middle then expands. Two rods are unnecsessary. I would expect the two rod method to allow some springback of the lead, besides.

After it is wholly in the bore, push it back out, and etc. ()both ends and whole length, look for tight spots). Always measure in multiple places on the slug, use the largest measurement found.

[John Taylor]

I know there are a few ways to slug a barrel but my way works for me. I can check a barrel while it is still in the rifling machine to see where I'm at size wise and how far I need to go to get to the finish groove size. Most people slug a barrel to see what size boolet to use, I slug a barrel to see if it is the right size for a boolet.
Oh what fun it is to make up tooling for a new caliber. I hope to make up a 70-150 soon. Large bores are fun

[Phil]

Hi John,

Yep, I miss making barrels. Probably the most fun thing I've ever done.

Cheers,

Phil

[lovedogs]

My slugging method beats all of the previously mentioned ones. I like to find a dumb congressman (or woman) who is anti-gun. I then set them up downrange and fire a shot at them, which they are supposed to catch with their bare hands. I carefully instruct them to hold their hands straight out in front of them, right over the second button on their shirt. Then if their hand fails to stop the bullet,which it usually would, I can dig the slug from their body. And since most are overweight from lack of labor the bullet is stopped by their flabby torso, undamaged. This method serves two purposes. It allows accurate measurement of an undamaged slug as it comes from the gun and, more importantly, it rids the country of another idiot who is damaging our country. It appears we now have more of these bullet catchers than ever before.

[Slick Pilot]

My thanks to all who replied to help. I will try this and see where my old rifles stand.