slugging bores

[weasel 21]

Advice on slugging bores for both rifles and handguns. Thanks

[Buckshot]

Advice on slugging bores for both rifles and handguns. Thanks

..............Pretty simple actually. Since you're actually driving a slug into and out of or through a barrel, you want to take measures to insure you don't damage the firearm. Especially the barrel.

Ideally you might find half hard brass rod locally. It's not as cheap as steel but you can use it the way it is. Certainly you can order it from several sources if you'd care to go that way. McMaster-Carr has 1/4" half hard 6' rods for: Part Number: 8953K45 $11.87 Each. They also have 1018 low carbon steel, 1/4" and 6' long for: Part Number: 8920K11 $3.11 Each. Two other sources would be www.mscdirect.com and www.useenco.com.

The 1/4" size is pretty usefull as it can me used for 7mm up to about .375". For bores larger then that you'd do better with a .375" OD rod. Steel should be easily available locally at a hardware store. Some carry only 3' pieces which will also be fine initially. If you go with steel, to protect the barrel you can wrap a ring of duct tape around the rod at the very end, and then about 1-1/2" apart along the length. Or you could wrap a single layer in a spiral around the rod from end to end.

For the actual slug a common source is lead fishing sinkers. As a caster, later on you can just go to the junk boolit box (awaiting meltdown) and grab one. If it's too small on the OD, put it between the jaws of your vice and fatten it up. If it's too fat, put it between 2 hard surfaces and roll them back and forth to reduce it in size.

You'll need a starter, rather then trying to use a full 30" long rod to do it, if starting at the muzzle so cut 6" off the rod to use. Wrap it also, at least on the end. This will be good for some pistols too. For rifles stand the muzzle on a scrap of wood or some other safe surface. Drop the slug into the breech and make sure it's started correctly before placing the rod in behind it and beating on it.

Before slugging run an oiled patch through the barrel. Semi autos are easy to slug. Take the barrel out and there you are. For a revolver it's a bit tougher. Cut a piece of the rod just long enough for the cylinder window. Put a piece of leather, or tough plastic on the recoil shield and rest the butt end of the short rod on it with the other end in the forcing cone of the barrel. You can also use a wood dowel for this and forgo the protection.

Drop a slightly undersized slug in the muzzle. It will stop against the short rod in the window. Put in the longer rod through the barrel and upset the slug against the shorter one. Remove the shorter one and tap the slug out. You will have an impression of the breech end of the pistol barrel.

On of the reasons for wanting a 6' long piece to start is because you'll have to have a rod long enough to reach through the rifle's action if driving a slug from the breech end. If you have any old milsurps with a 29" barrel you'll want a rod at least 40" long.

..................Buckshot

[HEAD0001]

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Ideally you might find half hard brass rod locally. It's not as cheap as steel but you can use it the way it is. Certainly you can order it from several sources if you'd care to go that way. McMaster-Carr has 1/4" half hard 6' rods for: Part Number: 8953K45 $11.87 Each. They also have 1018 low carbon steel, 1/4" and 6' long for: Part Number: 8920K11 $3.11 Each. Two other sources would be www.mscdirect.com and www.useenco.com.





Buckshot you have a great idea. If you do not mind I would like to expand on it if I might. I thought about using a brass rod just as you suggest. However I spent a couple of extra dollars and bought a brass range rod that is threaded on both ends for almost the same price. So you can have a dual purpose rod. And you can put a matched caliber jag on the rod to make slugging even easier. Just an idea I acted on. Tom.

[454PB]

I would add that filing a dull point on the brass rod will help center it on the slug and prevent the rod from touching the barrel. My slugging rods have been used a lot, and the "pounded" end has peened over considerably. If you use a rod with female threads, there needs to be a fixture screwed into it to protect the threads.

[hedgehorn]

Just a quick question and I dont want to hi-jack the thread but how would you go about it with a lever gun? Thanks

[454PB]

You can remove the bolt. Easy to do on Marlins, much more complicated on Winchesters and their clones.

[hedgehorn]

Thanks 454PB I have a marlin. I will look into removing the bolt. I haven't had the gun apart yet. Its a marlin xlr with the safety. Why is it so important that it enters from the breach? Is it just to avoid damaging the crown? Thanks in advance//

[hedgehorn]

Oh I almost forgot. Excuse my ignorance but what would be the optimum size boolit for a barrel that the grove diameter measured .458?

[Blammer]

use lots of oil, lest you get it stuck....

[lordgroom]

.459 or .001 larger than the barrel.

[hedgehorn]

lordgroom. Thank you for that bit of information. Does that rule apply regardless of the diameter of the bore? for instance on a .311 bore you would want a .312 boolit?

[JIMinPHX]

My local Home Depot & my local Ace hardware both carry 1/4" 1018 rod. I think that the brass is a much better idea though. Some local hobby shops have that.

Lately, I've been casting slugs to slug bores with by drilling a hole in a 2 x 4 that is just over the size of the bore that I am going to slug, then melting down a few pure lead balls in a ladle, using a propane torch for heat. I then pour it into the 2 x 4 hole, give it a minute to cool & split the 2 x 4 to get my slug. So far I've had pretty good luck with this the 3 or 4 times that I have tried it. I was kind of half-expecting tinsel fairy problems, but it didn't happen. The slugs have a lousy finish on them when I split them out of the wood, but they are the size that I want & they form to the barrel anyway when I use them so the finish doesn't really seem to matter. A close-to-bore-size slug makes this a lot easier to do. A 5/16 bit works well for a .30 cal bore in most cases.

I use plenty of grease when I slug a bore, then wet/dry patch it out afterwards.

[uncle joe]

I work at a tube mill and am wondering if a micrometer we use there would give good results without the (what looks like a real pain) trouble of slugging with lead. We have mics that you can insert into a tube and when you twist the barrel three 'feelers' extend out from the end and measure the id of the tube. Has anyone used one of these to check a barrel?

[willdixon]

Gents:

Have any of you, by any chance, slugged a 50/90 ARMI SPORT Sharps?

I understand they run just a tad smaller than some of the other makes.

Thank you very much.

Gene

[willdixon]

Hi Hedgehorn -

I've done some handloading and have slugged two bores, but I'm certainly still a novice. But most of the shooters I've read and known all slug from the muzzle. And, if you're using pure lead, which you ought to use, you can't possibly do any damage. There's an interesting article about slugging here:
http://www.surplusrifle.com/reloading/slug/index.asp

Interestingly, if your barrel is choked like the Pedersoli Sharps barrels are, the slug will be a bit hard to start of course, but then after you push it down the bore a little, it'll almost fall by gravity on down to the breach.

Best wishes,
Gene

[willdixon]

WEASEL 21 -

Here's a great article on slugging a barrel: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_2_54/ai_n21175826

Good slugging,
Gene

[725]

I've had good results by using a buckshot / round ball of a right size, tapping with a rubber hammer into the muzzle, and pushing out with a cleaning rod through the action. Good measurements minimal force.

[Boomer Mikey]

I use wooden dowels, aluminum or brass rods while slugging bores... I'm too big a klutz to use steel rod, even with tape on them.

Pure lead, muzzle loader balls or fishing sinkers are the easiest and safest to use, driving an oversize, hard cast bullet down a bore can be quite a chore.

Save the pure lead slugs and remelt them in a ladle to make a pure lead, oversize boolit to slug another bore with.

Another good use of pure lead is it's use in making impact casts of your chamber and throat.

There's usually a box or two of lead balls on the swap table at matches or at gunshows.

[willdixon]

Good morning, Gents -

Speaking of slugging bores and such . . . .

Thirty years ago, when my wife and kids and I built a log house and lived way up on the South Fork of the Kuskokwim River in wilderness Alaska, I did a little smokeless powder reloading for my then .460 Weatherby Magnum. But I didn't really know what I was doing, and now I've even forgotten what little I did know.

But now (for better or for worse) I'm getting an ARMI SPORT 50/90 QUIGLEY, and want to really get into serious reloading.

Would one of you experts please tell me what book or books would be the best for me to study to learn about proper BPCR reloading?

Thank you very much.

[Linstrum]

Hi, willdixon, you will find many more BPCR folks and much more BPCR info if you re-post your question over on the Black Powder Cartridge Shooting section here at Boolits. Good Luck!

For doing bore work without scratching up the rather critical finish inside of barrels I use 1/4" by 3-feet long brazing rod I get from the local welding store. The alloy used for brazing rod is darned tough stuff with a bit of spring to it and I have slugged many, many bores with one particular rod over the last 30-40 years without significant mushrooming of the ends.

I would imagine that brazing rod can be purchased online, but welding supply stores are pretty common around the U.S. Look in the Yellow Pages to find one if you don't know of a welding store off hand.