Rough chambers.

[fourarmed]

I shoot bullseye with an old, number-series High Standard Victor that I bought from an old bullseye shooter. This gun had a lot of rounds through it when I bought it, and I have put a lot more through it. It still groups fine, but I have been having some ejection problems. As long as I stick with Eley Pistol Standard, it has been pretty reliable, though it's getting worse. I bought a case of Wolf Match Target, and it is hopeless. In a magazine of 10 rounds I'll get at least 3 smokestacks. I knew from using it in my Merrill (spring loaded "extractor") that it has thin, soft brass that sticks to the chamber wall.

It occurred to me to try waxing the chamber with Johnson's Paste Wax. I used cotton swabs to clean the chamber, then apply the wax. I would let it sit for a while, then buff it with a patch on a swab. I applied three coats of the wax, then went to the range. I fired 40 rounds of the Wolf (all I had with me) without a single failure. Needless to say, I was pleased. Now I'm thinking of polishing the chamber. If anybody has done this, I would like to hear about it.

[klausg]

fourarmed-
The only ones I've done like that were a Ruger SP-101 in .22LR and a .22LR insert that fits my Contender's .44 barrel. That sleeve for the Contender was a real pain as your fingernail is the extractor. I chucked an old worn out bore brush into the cordless drill, wrapped apatch with a little JB's bore paste on it around the brush and went rather slowly. I followed this up with a very good cleaning, and in my case @ least it was problem solved. Hope this helps.

-Klaus

[Bent Ramrod]

I've done this on occasion to boy's single-shot .22 rifle chambers that are slightly pitted. I soldered a fired case to the head of a nail (filing the nail head a couple strokes to remove any flash line across the top). Then I coated the case with Corbin's Benchrest Bore Lap and spun it slowly in a variable speed electric drill, pushing the case into and pulling it out of the chamber.

Getting the case centered on the nail head is the time-consuming part of the job, but I persevered because I was afraid a wobble would translate into an oval chamber. It did wobble slightly, but the chamber seemed OK, probably because of the low speed I spun it at.

The Benchrest Bore Lap doesn't cut anywhere near as much as Clover Compound, but it is a little more aggressive than J-B. The cases extracted easier after the treatment.

[uscra112]

Any lapping will necessarily enlarge the chamber, and that can't do anything good for accuracy. If the wax works, and will hold up for a day's shooting, why not keep on doing it?