Slugging the barrel - help

[Kawfeegod]

Ok, since my molds are casting over what they say by about .002, I need to slug my barrels and by the appropriate sizer dies. I think I have the concept, but can someone give me a run through? Also, the revolver looks like it poses a problem, unless you start at the end of the barrel.

[mooman76]

It's best to use a round ball of soft lead type slug or one of those egg shaped sinkers. Make sure your gun is clean. Add light oil to the barrel with a cleaning patch. Tap your slug into the barrel with a plastic hammer so you won't damage the muzzle. Then use a rod to tap it through the rest of the way. I like to use a cleaning rod or soft steel rod. Some like to use other things like wood but it could split and cause problems. If the metel bothers you, you can rap tape around the rod at verious lengths so it won't touch the sides of the barrel. it will get easier to push through once you get it started good. When it is almost through hold a rag around the breech to catch the slug. A revolver isn't as hard as it looks. I thoght it would be so I avoided it but it was easier than a rifle. Take notice when you tap it through of loose or tight spots keeping in mind once it is started good and first taken shape of the barrel it will get noticeably easier because of that fact.

[Wayne Smith]

Oil the barrel and the slug first. I went to the hardware store and got a 1/4" brass rod to use for slugging the barrel. Cut a foot off of it for the revolvers. I like the round sinkers with a hole in the middle cause the collapse of the hole gives the lead somewhere to go. Just my idea, I don't think it makes any difference.

[JIMinPHX]

When slugging a revolver, I protect the muzzle with a piece of soft pine, then use a C-clamp to squeeze a lead ball into the forcing cone. When the C-clamp gets close to bottoming out, I then insert a short wooden dowel & under the C-clamp & continue. When that one bottoms out, I switch to a longer dowel, etc, etc, etc. When the slug reaches the muzzle, I then tap it back out with a hammer & a long dowel.

As was said before, lube the barrel before slugging.

Sometimes it is also useful to only drive the slug in an inch or so & check the barrel dimensions there as well. Some barrels have an alarming amount of taper. If that is the case, then size your boolits for the area just forward of the forcing cone.

If you don't have lead balls of the appropriate size, you can start with one that is oversize & roll it between two pieces of steel until the diameter reduces to where you want it. I usually go for something that is about .010" bigger than I expect the groove diameter to be.

[Dan Cash]

Oil the barrel and the slug first. I went to the hardware store and got a 1/4" brass rod to use for slugging the barrel. Cut a foot off of it for the revolvers. I like the round sinkers with a hole in the middle cause the collapse of the hole gives the lead somewhere to go. Just my idea, I don't think it makes any difference.


Wayne, you just gave me a fantastic idea. Not being a fisherman, I have no sinkers other than my stock pportfolio. I do have a drill press and I ran out and drilled a hole through the more or less middle of a bullet. I this case, it was a 1/8th hole in a .311 bullet. I popped it down the barrel of my Sav. 99 and was it easy. Why did I not think of that before.

Thanks,
Dan

[Grampie not Grumpie]

I slugged the barrel of my new Ruger SBH .44 mag. this morning. I used an egg shaped "slip-sinker." I drilled an 1/8" hole thru it enlarging the existing one. I cut a 1 x 2 about 8" long and clamped it in the vise and removed the cylinder from the revolver. I slid the 1 x 2 into the frame and rested the end of the barrel on the wood. I oiled the barrel and drove it in the muzzle end with a plastic hammer. When the lead was flush with the muzzle I inserted an 8" wooden dowel inside a .380 brass and placed the brass on the lead and drove it on through. You will have a ring of lead cut off the slug when it goes into the muzzle. When it got down to the forcing cone I took the revolver off the wood and tapped the slug out onto the pad on the bench. Once the slug gets into the barrel it goes on through pretty easy.

You want your barrel to be a couple of thousands smaller than your boolit for it to seal good and not lead from leakage.

Grampie not Grumpie

[Gunslinger]

I recently cast some 120gr TC from a Lee six-banger. I cast them from pure, and actually planned on using them for slugging. They cast at .357.

Are they too big for an automatic which is most likely .355 or .356?

Or should I only use round balls?

[mooman76]

I recently cast some 120gr TC from a Lee six-banger. I cast them from pure, and actually planned on using them for slugging. They cast at .357.

Are they too big for an automatic which is most likely .355 or .356?

Or should I only use round balls?

Not too big but may be a tad small to get an accurate slugging but probably will work. If your barrel just happens to be a little oversized it will look like you got a good slugging but in reality you won't. You could tap the end of the bullet with a hammer just enough to enlarge it a couple thousanths. I heard of someone here drilling into a board to make a crud slug mould. He said it worked good.

[oldtoolsniper]

I just drill a hole in a chunk of scrap wood a little bigger the the bore and pour a slug in the block of wood on top of a small steel plate,drive out the slug and pound away.

[Kawfeegod]

Thanks guys. I will give it a try and see what happens.

[JIMinPHX]

I've also done the drill-*******-in-a-block-of-wood thing to make up a slug, except that I don't drill all the way through. I go about 2 diameters deep & stop. Then I pour in the soft led. Then I bust the wood (usually a sort 2 x 4) apart & recover the slug. It comes out with a real lousy surface finish, but pressing it through the barrel fixes that well enough. It's a quick & dirty way of getting what you need to get the job done.

[Rockchucker]

I recently cast some 120gr TC from a Lee six-banger. I cast them from pure, and actually planned on using them for slugging. They cast at .357.

Are they too big for an automatic which is most likely .355 or .356?

Or should I only use round balls?

I have a question here if you don't mind, I have this mold also and it cast .357 also. My barrel slugged at .356 and the Lee instructions said this bullet may not have to be sized, however when I loaded some up they bulged the cases and look terrible. They still cycled thru my Ruger P89. Do I need to buy a sizer for .356?

[Rockchucker]

Bump.

[IcerUSA]

Hey Rockchucker , was the case that bulged a fired case or one that was fully sized ? The reason I ask is that most every thing I shoot will will have a slight bulge where the case is gripping the boolit . When I check a case that hasn't been resized my boolits will fall into the case , larger chambers than really needed for what the barrels slug out at so I adjust my sizing dies just enough to grip my boolits and go shootin . :)

Keith

[Rockchucker]

The reason I ask is that most every thing I shoot will will have a slight bulge where the case is gripping the boolit.Thanks Keith for the reply,

Thats what mine is doing. Just don't know which die to get. Thanks for the reply, Ron

[mooman76]

Rockchucker

If they are loading and shooting fine, great, no need to resize! And yes a slight bulge is pretty much normal.

[Rockchucker]

They seem to cycle and shoot just fine, it's that bulge where the boolit is seated in the case that looks terrible.

[JIMinPHX]

I have a question here if you don't mind, I have this mold also and it cast .357 also. My barrel slugged at .356 and the Lee instructions said this bullet may not have to be sized, however when I loaded some up they bulged the cases and look terrible. They still cycled thru my Ruger P89. Do I need to buy a sizer for .356?

I don't know which brass you are using, but some of it tapers a little on the inside. If you seat a slug very far down, past where the taper begins, then you can get a noticeable bulge. Also, if you size your brass down further than you need to, then you will see a boolit bulge in the brass. You may want to grab a pair of calipers & see how small the outside diameter on your brass is after you size it. A small die adjustment may be in order.