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View Full Version : Slugged a couple of my rifles ???????



Willyp
04-15-2014, 10:02 AM
I've taken a 31 caliper round ball and put them down my barrels. The barrels were cleaned until no blue nor black,came out on the patches! I put the 31 caliper balls down the barrels from front to the breech,using wooden dowel rod[cut into 8 inch pieces].
The rifles are a 340 Savage/30-30,a Savage mod. 110/30-06 and a newer AXIS/30-06.
I bought a brand new LYMAN,1 inch caliper. I've checked in on different .308 jacked bullets,for the size dia. All were what they should have been.
Now,here is my slugged barrel/ball measurments!!!!!!
340/30-30= .298
110/30-06=.307/.3075
Axis/30-06=.304/.306
Am i wrong on these readings ???? None of these guns has had a hundred rounds down the barrels!
If this is right,or close,what size cast bullets should i try to start with?

Jeff Maney
04-15-2014, 10:31 AM
It will probably be hard to accurately measure with calipers. I use a set of carbide faced 1" micrometers with 0.0000" scale. Rifling will also need to have an even number of lands to measure without having special tools.
Jeff

Pb2au
04-15-2014, 10:40 AM
All of those numbers seem to be a bit on the small side..........
If you can get a hold of a micrometer, double check against that. The odds are on your caliper is not resolving well enough to measure accurately.
Also, measuring a wee round ball for slugging can be a pain to hold properly. Run over to your local bait and tackle store and find some egg shaped sinkers and re-slug with them.

Mk42gunner
04-15-2014, 11:47 AM
Also buy yourself a three foot long section of ¼" rod. Wooden dowels have a nasty habit of splitting and wedging in the bore when slugging.

There is a multiple page horror story about removing a stuck dowel in the gunsmithing section stickies.

Robert

JonB_in_Glencoe
04-15-2014, 11:56 AM
I've taken a 31 caliper round ball and put them down my barrels. The barrels were cleaned until no blue nor black,came out on the patches! I put the 31 caliper balls down the barrels from front to the breech,using wooden dowel rod[cut into 8 inch pieces].
The rifles are a 340 Savage/30-30,a Savage mod. 110/30-06 and a newer AXIS/30-06.
I bought a brand new LYMAN,1 inch caliper. I've checked in on different .308 jacked bullets,for the size dia. All were what they should have been.
Now,here is my slugged barrel/ball measurments!!!!!!
340/30-30= .298
110/30-06=.307/.3075
Axis/30-06=.304/.306
Am i wrong on these readings ???? None of these guns has had a hundred rounds down the barrels!
If this is right,or close,what size cast bullets should i try to start with?

Are you measuring the bore dia. or the groove dia. ?

It appears like you are having trouble measuring. A longer slug might be needed, as well as knowing if you have an even number of Lands. AND, I would highly recommend NOT using a wood dowel.

Wayne S
04-15-2014, 11:59 AM
IMHO you are slugging the wrong end of your bbl. You should be slugging the chambers THROAT but if you want to continue doing it your way get a 1/4" brass rod
Why are you wanting to slug the entire length of the bbl. ??

Pb2au
04-15-2014, 12:06 PM
Good point Wayne.
There is nothing wrong with the strategy the OP employing currently. It is a valid place to start.
Now say down the road, he might say to himself, "golly, this gun is shooting pretty good, but what could I do to make it even better???? Maybe,,,,,,,just maybe there is some room for improvement....... Where can tighten up the process to get these groups EVEN better....." ;-)

Willyp
04-15-2014, 12:53 PM
I should have stated"I bought a new 1 inch Micrometer."
I will try it again with a longer slug?
JONB,that would be the groove dia.

Pb2au
04-15-2014, 01:23 PM
I am thinking that a longer slug would make things definitely easier. Those little .31" lead slugs are hard to get to behave while you measure them.
Good luck!

JWFilips
04-15-2014, 02:45 PM
If you want to use soft round lead ball for slugging you need something bigger for a 30 cal bore like a .40 or .45 soft lead ball.
If you wack that with a wooden mallet into your muzzle it will go in and produce a more elongated slug which would be easier to work with( it also produces a donut shaped wafer of lead on the ouside of the muzzle)

Bent Ramrod
04-15-2014, 04:22 PM
You will do fine with your .31 caliber round ball if you flatten it slightly so it is oversize enough to leave a ring of lead on your muzzle as you carefully tap it into the bore with a proper sized brass or aluminum drift. Change the rifle in your vise from vertical to horizontal, and push the slug down the barrel with a good, stout one-piece cleaning rod with a flat tip or (better) a polished steel rod of a diameter close to your bore. You should be able to feel tight and loose spots in the bore as you continue to push.

The slug should come out the breech looking like both the lands and grooves on the barrel scored it fully; ideally, a burr of lead should be visible all around the slug on the muzzle side. A micrometer would be better than a caliper for your measurements. Go from opposite to opposite on all the "lands" on the slug; the average will be your groove diameter.

Once you get practiced on that basic technique, then you can start from the other end, measure throats only, and so forth.