Breaking in a new barrel?

[Clark Savage Jr]

My old Seattle Detonics Combatmaster loves wheelweight 230 gr. RN. I must have shot a thousand or two with never a trace of leading.

Along comes a new Pendergrass, Georgia 9-11-01 in two-tone. Truely a beautiful piece. I fired fifty rounds of the same ammo through it and it took me an hour-and-a-half to scrub out the lead.

I guess I either need to lap the barrel or shoot a bunch of jacketed stuff first. I really don't want to buy all that pretty copper ammo, retirement wages being what they are.

I could make a Rube Goldberg contraption to pushme-pullyou a lead swage up & down the barrel with some fine valve lapping compound on it. Then I could go watch Dancin' with the Stars until it was shiny (Have you seen those outfits those gals wear?).

Suggestions?

[missionary5155]

Are you sure of barrel diameter ? Is your boolit to small ? In my .45´s I prefer a boolit at least .002 oversize. Depends on how much room your chamber has chambering a fat boolit. But I get no leading. But if the bore is rough then.....
I have used fine Valve compound on boolits instead of lube... Fired 5 and cleaned well. If a tight patch pulled fibers out or there were snag spots another 5 compound boolits. and I just keep it up .. I think one barrel needed 20. Then if you really want a smooth barrel use extra fine followed by a metal polish. I read some have used Comet Cleanser.

[eka]

You didn't mention if the new barrel slugged to the same dimensions as the old one. I'd check that first if you haven't.

Then what about unlubed paper patched boolits. You could single feed them. They wouldn't have to be of any great quality either, since you would be looking for the polishing quality they would provide instead of accuracy. Roll up a dozen, let them dry, size if necessary to get them to chamber, and send them down the tube. May be all the polishing you need. Pardon me if I'm out in left field on this one. But, it doesn't sound any harder than hand lapping and it may work.

Keith

[Clark Savage Jr]

You didn't mention if the new barrel slugged to the same dimensions as the old one. I'd check that first if you haven't.
Keith

Keith .........

I remember trying this back in 1964 on my new (then) Model 60. After pounding this too-dam-hard lead alloy slug through the barrel, I found out it was 5-grooves, so I couldn't measure the diameter with a mike.

Any tips on this? I've got some pure lead for my smokepole that I could pour in the .45 mold to make a soft one.

[docone31]

Well, it does sound like sizing.
I might cast a softy, then cut it in half. I would drive it ogive first into the barrel, then completely through. That shouldn't be miserable.
A few with fine lapping compound might not hurt either, especially after you find the size. I also use the lapping compound trick on my .303.
I am glad I did.
I went very lightly with the compound, and I shoot paper patched castings. Shiney!!!!
First, get the size.

[Clark Savage Jr]

Thanks for the tips, guys. The new barrel is visibly rough-looking. I'll check the size and, likely, polish it up a bit. I'm thinking I'll cast a lap of cerrosafe inside the barrel and then work it up and down with my drill press (not rotating, of course) using some lapping compound then finish it off with some real fine abrasive.

It's a shame to spend a grand on what otherwise is a finely crafted weapon, only to see a bit of poor quality in so critical an area.

[Heavy lead]

How about casting some hard lead boolits or buy 50 or so jacketed from someone on the board and firelap with some light reloads. I've had pretty good luck with this and have used hard lead and j-bullets too?

[MtGun44]

At a $1000 price point, I'd call the maker and complain, get them to replace/fix it.

Bill

[HeavyMetal]

I'll second what mtgun44 suggests!

At 1000 bucks a pop that barrel should not be visabley rough!

Before you do anything call the makers warranty station and tell them how rough the barrel is and how hard it is to clean.

Do not be afriad to mention the fact you had several people, on the web site, make the warranty suggestion. Then hint we're all waiting to see how the manufacturer handles your claim!

[Clark Savage Jr]

At a $1000 price point, I'd call the maker and complain, get them to replace/fix it.

Bill

Too late, Bill. The Georgia operation went out of business and are now a new company with new folks in Illinois. You know, Illinois, the home of our new CIC.

[Clark Savage Jr]

How about casting some hard lead boolits or buy 50 or so jacketed from someone on the board and firelap with some light reloads. I've had pretty good luck with this and have used hard lead and j-bullets too?

After that first 50 rounds, I think I'd likely be scrubbing slag out again, even with harder slugs. One of these rainy winter days here in the great northwet, I'll set up the barrel in the shop and have at it with some abrasive. A couple of long rubber bands stretched to the ceiling to pull the drill press handle back up and I can call it shoulder exercise.

[Doughty]

Clark,

Welcome to the board.

I would suggest that you research fire lapping further before you have at with the drill press. I'd start with Beartooth Bullets or LBT. Also much to read on this subject at this site. Use the search function and see what that gets you.

Have fun.

[Ricochet]

Then I could go watch Dancin' with the Stars until it was shiny (Have you seen those outfits those gals wear?).

We have a shared interest in educational television.

[454PB]

There's no need to scrub lead out of the barrel. Fire one or two jacketed bullets or a few gas checked boolits and the lead is gone.

If you don't like that, simply slug the barrel. The slug will push most all of the leading out.

[FN in MT]

Personally I'd be sendiing that barrel back to the maker....no matter WHO owns the Company!!

FN in MT

[kooz]

Firelapping would be my last resort, I am willing to bet you have a sizing issue. Regardless of what the barrel sizes at, you could try some bullets sized .001 and then .002 bigger than what you are sizing at now and your not going to hurt anything. Do some experimenting with different BHN alloys and lubes as well. I have a Bowen .44spl conversion and it leads up like crazy with anything above the BHN of air dried WW's regardless of diameter. I have had very good luck with Lar's Carnuba Red Lube in guns that are stubbern leaders. Good luck

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`m afaraid I must side with the boys from Mt on this issue. Firstly I would hit up a friend that shoots .45 J stuff for a handful to run down your barrel. If no better after then I would try the rubbing compound method. I, however, still agree with idea of getting ahold of whoever took over the company reins about the costly angry dog barrel.

[MtGun44]

Is the new company officially refusing to honor warranty on older guns?
Worth a polite but firm phone call, ask if you can send them the bbl and
see if it is defective (too rough).

If the warranty is proven non-workable, I'd load up 250 rds of hot jacketed
handloads and enjoy shooting them, and clean the bbl to BARE METAL with
a strong ammonia based bore cleaner (CR-10, industrial ammonia, etc) every
25 rds or less. If it is very rough, it will fill up with jacket material and not
burnish very quickly unless you remove the jacket material chemically, OR
with a bbl un-plater type of cleaner (Foul Out 2) frequently. Some folks like
to fire ONE shot, then clean to bare metal - repeat 5 times, then 2 shots -
clean to bare - repeat 5 times, etc until you are totally crazy or the sun
sets. . . . . Seems to work but it is sure a PITA - ask me how I know.

If the bore doesn't clean up to your satisfaction after this routine, I would
hand lap with a cast lead slug. Search this site on how to do it. Less likely to do
bore damage (tapering, etc) than fire lapping, altho fire lapping isn't real
likely to do damage, done properly.

Bill

[Clark Savage Jr]

Is the new company officially refusing to honor warranty on older guns?
Worth a polite but firm phone call, ask if you can send them the bbl and
see if it is defective (too rough). . . Bill

Bill (et al) .........

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions. I don't believe the new company is honoring warrantys on any of it's three predecessors. In any case, I'm sure the barrel is within specs. I'm just so used to my old Combatmaster that probably has 2-3,000 rounds through it's tube.

I'll give it a try with some jacketed loads. Like you say, it'll probably smooth up on it's own. I got a picture of the machining marks that I think are the culprit in this case. Ignore the little spots of lint & Hoppe's in the chamber, I didn't dust them out before snapping the shot.



I think you can see the lengthwise machining marks on the bottom of the lands. The top of the lands are mirror bright.

BTW, the piece does shoot real well. It is the tenth one out of the factory. They began the serial numbers at USA 00045 and this one is USA 00055.



This is a magazine full at 25 yds. freehand.

[MtGun44]

The lengthwise marks are essentially standard in a very large percentage
of new barrels, VERY iffy trying to judge that sort of thing from a pic, but
yours doesn't look unusual to me. Might look different in person.

With the difficulty measuring the bore, I'd try at least .454 diam boolits
and see if the leading goes away. Also, you should use a soft lube
like 50/50 for the trial.

Good luck.

Bill