Leading in barrel from my first cast loads.

[jwb28]

Well I finally got some of my cast bullets loaded and tried them out. They leaded the barrel, but not terrible. Pretty sure it's because the throats on my 686 are to small. The good news is they shot as well as any commercial load I've shot. Even with a few small flaws in the bullet. I only shot them at 50', so maybe them being not perfect would show up more as the range increased.
I don't have pin gauges so no actual measurements. Anyway none of the throats will pass a 115gr Berrys plated bullet. A couple just need a little push and the rest are tight but will go through if I shove harder. It's not like I need to smack the rod hard, just a decent shove.
So maybe .356ish. I sized the bullets .358 and tumble lubed before and after. They are a definite no go for the throats.

Anyway I think I'll order a throat reamer and pilots from brownells. Still working on getting a "perfect" but it's fun making my own.

[school of mines]

Definitely part of the fun is overcoming the challenges! I tried my .458 Win Mag loads today and leaded the barrel. First three were in a nice group before they started going sideways! Ha! Good luck with your 686!

[Mal Paso]

If the lead is stuck to the bore gas is getting past the bullet and small throats will do it. I would suggest slugging the bore before you order the reamer. There is a member here named DougGuy who can ream them to an exact size for you. Manson reamers do the job but have limited sizes, one or two per caliber and a tolerance averaging about .0003" over. If you do it yourself cut the base off a cartridge and use the tube to guide the top of the reamer. Don't be surprised if it takes 2 or 3 different pilots, my 629 had two different throat sizes.

Get an inexpensive Micrometer first and find out where you are. Pin gauges can be had individually too.

[Forrest r]

Soft lead and PC the cast bullets.

I have no issues with leading when I use .356" bullets in a 686. No issues with the same bullet in a 9mm that has a .358" bbl.

I have 3 different 9mm's and 3 different size bbl's. A couple years ago I had cast a pile of bullets (+/- 4000) and sized them to .356" after pc'ing them. They would work in the 2 9mm firearms I had at the time. Ended up another firearms chambered in 9mm that needed a .358" bullet. Ended up sizing everything to .358" for the 9mm's. The .356" bullets I cast were 125gr hp's and I started burning them up (old stock) to replace them with thelarger .358" bullets. 1 of things I wanted to test with them was in the 38spl's & 357mags. Finely got around to testing them in a couple of different 357's & 38spl's. I used the .356" bullets for those tests.

Plain/traditionally lubed bullets ='s leading
PC ='s no leading

Worth a try.

[243winxb]

Slug barrel to find groove diameter. Size .0005" larger. Use a 15 bhn alloy. 50/50 lube. Before becoming "ream" happy.

.3575" diameter has worked well in many 38/357 revolvers. All with different throat sizes.

[jwb28]

I have some Speer 158 gr swaged bullets they are probably the softest lead I have. I may have some .375 round balls, would those work? Can they be pushed thru the barrel with a 3/8 wooden dowel? So I don't stick the bullet, or screw the barrel up?

Thanks for the help.

Found the thread about pound casts. Reading it now.

[whisler]

375 round ball should work fine but don't use a wooden rod. It may splinter and cause issues.

[Win94ae]

Well I finally got some of my cast bullets loaded and tried them out. They leaded the barrel, but not terrible. Pretty sure it's because the throats on my 686 are to small. The good news is they shot as well as any commercial load I've shot. Even with a few small flaws in the bullet. I only shot them at 50', so maybe them being not perfect would show up more as the range increased.
I don't have pin gauges so no actual measurements. Anyway none of the throats will pass a 115gr Berrys plated bullet. A couple just need a little push and the rest are tight but will go through if I shove harder. It's not like I need to smack the rod hard, just a decent shove.
So maybe .356ish. I sized the bullets .358 and tumble lubed before and after. They are a definite no go for the throats.

Anyway I think I'll order a throat reamer and pilots from brownells. Still working on getting a "perfect" but it's fun making my own.

My 686 also leaded. At first it didn't seem so bad but after 12, there was a lot of lead in the bore. The problem was the threads of the frame, were tight on the barrel, causing the barrel to be constricted there... by a lot! That could be some of your problem too? Try slugging your bore, I ended up not shooting lead in it because of that.

Good luck!

[jwb28]

Yea, I've read about thread constriction where it screws into the frame. A couple things I've found on the web say it's mostly pointless to slug the barrel because it shows how tight it is but not where. Read some about fire lapping also. All this is confusing.
Even commercial cast were leading this revolver. Maybe a little less than my bullets, but still there. I know the throats on the cylinder are different sizes. Just not how much the vary.
Maybe I'll try powder coating. The gun shoots better than I can. If I keep them all in the black at 25yrds on an NRA slow fire target I've had a very good day. . Offhand DA. Usually I have 1/3 of my shots in the white. Getting old sucks. LOL.

[TCLouis]

Slugging the barrel will show where it is tight if you push through a really tight patch and pay attention to where you can feel the constriction.
Slug will tell you the minor diameter

[Mal Paso]

Thread constriction in a Smith is rare and if you don't slug the bore you will just be guessing. Tight throats are common in S&W Magnums so slug or pin gauge the cylinders too. Start with a micrometer and soft lead balls. There are threads on slugging here. The more you know the better you'll get.

[DougGuy]

Send a PM and send the cylinder, my services are a LOT cheaper than the reamer + pilots and no reamer made can compete with the Sunnen hone for precision honing and slick as a baby's butt finish.

[gwpercle]

Send a PM and send the cylinder, my services are a LOT cheaper than the reamer + pilots and no reamer made can compete with the Sunnen hone for precision honing and slick as a baby's butt finish.

You really need to do this ... DougGuy can make it right ... has the know-how and tools to do it right .
Gary

[onelight]

You can slug your cylinder throats with pure lead balls for a black powder pistol I use .375 if you know 358 won't pass in the throats run the balls through your .358 sizer but they should take a bit of pounding to get to pass through the cylinder just make sure you have the cylinder solidly supported . You can measure the balls with a mic or even a dial caliper will get you close enough.