Cylinder chamber dimentions for bfr .475 linebaugh?

[bassnbuck]

have any of you slugged &miked your bfr 475? I am haveing leading problems with mine. mine measure .478 I tried j-word and get copper fouling-shot 10 rounds, rifleing has copper from one end to the other. the mold i have is a lbt lfn 400 gr. any help would be appreciated.

[5shotbfr]

i slugged mine and measured them about 50 times .. i kept getting .4765
i then had a machinist friend measure them . .476 on the nose . all 5 holes

[subsonic]

Keep shooting it with the J-words and cleaning it. It will straighten out in no time. I've shot about 60rds of full-boogie 400gr Speers in mine and things are much smoother.

[bassnbuck]

Thank you for the responses. I will load up 50 more j-words with 25 grs of 296 and keep scrubbing the bore. I tried shooting lbt boolits as cast [ really leaded bore quickly] and about 300 sized to .4765 [still leaded within 10 shots] I have been reloading for .44 mag since early 70s and never once had a problem with my cast boolits. THANKS AGAIN.

[subsonic]

The .44 mag is 36,000psi SAAMI max.

The .475 Linebaugh is 50,000psi. It's a little harder on lead!

I water drop my alloy and get BNH in the high 20s, almost 30 and still will get some lead at times. My boolits are plain base. Your other option is to go with a gas check design or drop the pressures on them by loading down.

[bassnbuck]

Subsonic, I had always just air cooled 44 mag boolits. When I got the lbt mold for the 475 I water dropped several hundred. They were very hard. I dont have a hardness tester so I gave three boolits to a friend to check. He used a lee hardness tester. A hunter supply 400gr came out 20.5 brinnel, an old air cooled 44 was 14.5 and my water dropped 400 grs were 33 brinnel.I Realize there is some variance in accuracy of hardness testers. I air cooled the last batch and let them harden for two weeks, and had less leading. I have alot to learn about this gun, but I sure enjoy shooting it.

[ole 5 hole group]

If you want to "smoothen" your bore by shooting jacketed bullets I'd recommend you clean after each shot for the 1st 25 shots or clean after every 5 shots if you plan on shooting several hundred. The machining marks is basically causing the bore to strip copper and it will get better over time but just putting copper on copper takes a lot longer.

Use a fast acting copper solvent such as Bore Tech CU+2 and cleaning up after each shot is pretty quick. I know your bore probably looks like a copper highway when you stick a q-tip in the bore in the sunlight but in reality, it's a very small amount and probably won't effect your accuracy unless you allow it to build over the years.

Prepping your bore just saves you a little time during the cleanup process, but with the fast acting copper cleaners on the market today - most don't bother with that initial process.

[44man]

have any of you slugged &miked your bfr 475? I am haveing leading problems with mine. mine measure .478 I tried j-word and get copper fouling-shot 10 rounds, rifleing has copper from one end to the other. the mold i have is a lbt lfn 400 gr. any help would be appreciated.
Yes, many of them. Every single throat has been .4765" and every groove has been .475". I shoot .476" boolits. I have shot less then 1" at 100 yards with all and no leading at all.
They use Badger barrels and are hand lapped. They have all shot cast from the start. My best groups have been the very first shots.
I use nothing but Felix lube and make my own molds. It loves my 420 gr boolit, PB, water dropped WW metal.
GET the copper out before ever shooting cast. Copper does rub off and will pick up lead. My gun might be going on 3 years since the bore was cleaned.
You never need to smooth a BFR barrel.
Your alloy is causing leading, you are skidding boolits.

[subsonic]

Jim, you need to tell that to my BFR! It has leaded after about 5-10rds with bad leading after 15 even shooting the boolits you sent me. It's better now, but definitely needed some smoothing.

Don't tell anybody, but I think it may lead less with copper fouling in it!

[44man]

Jim, you need to tell that to my BFR! It has leaded after about 5-10rds with bad leading after 15 even shooting the boolits you sent me. It's better now, but definitely needed some smoothing.

Don't tell anybody, but I think it may lead less with copper fouling in it!
No idea! I just cleaned several of my BFR's and there was not a speck of lead. Carbon was bad. I scrubbed with Butches Bore Shine, then M-Pro 7, then Butches again, Butches triple twill patches and a brush. I found zero lead after hundreds of shots.
My .475 has never seen jacketed.
Have they stopped hand lapping?
My .500 JRH is fairly new and does not lead. It has never seen a jacketed either.
My 45-70 was not cleaned in 2 years, no lead at all, not a single speck but a ton of carbon. WOW, was it dirty.
I have kept the cylinder pin and holes clean and lubed but have not gone near the bores. I have used sweet's in the 45-70 after jacketed.
I have to say it is the individual barrel.

[bassnbuck]

better late than never. I slugged the bore and found the problem, The slug measures .458. I then tapped another slug in about a 1/2 inch and pulled it out [rotated slug so I did not smear groove marks]. This one measures .458 also. This barrel is closer to a 45 cal than a .475. I will be calling magnum research this week.

[daniel lawecki]

I have a colt 45 single action date july 2 1872 barrel lenght is 5'' long serial #22,597. should I restore or not? I,ll have my son take a picture and have him post it. I tried to post pictures but alittle computer dumb in that area. I,m peck& poke keyboard man.

[44man]

better late than never. I slugged the bore and found the problem, The slug measures .458. I then tapped another slug in about a 1/2 inch and pulled it out [rotated slug so I did not smear groove marks]. This one measures .458 also. This barrel is closer to a 45 cal than a .475. I will be calling magnum research this week.
That sure does not sound right. No way to shoot a .476" boolit through that without pressure problems. What are you measuring with. Are you measuring bore size or groove size? Caliper? Bore is .465". That makes rifling .005" deep.
BFR is still hand lapping barrels. Guns are hand fitted and all are like custom shop.
I have serious doubts about your measuring.

[44man]

Dead smooth barrels are rare. BFR has Badger barrels, one of the best, BR quality and hand lapped.
Even top BR barrels might need broke in.
But all BFR's I have shot have shot cast right off.
I admit not being a leading expert because I have no problems since the .38 wad cutter days when I could make 10 boolits from leading.
I might be lucky, even my 1956 flat top did not lead. My old S&W 27 did not lead. My K38 did not lead because I did not shoot wad cutters.
No rifle ever leaded on me, 30-30, 25-20, .35, .348 or any other.

[bassnbuck]

44man, I measured with a starrett high precision 1 inch mic. I also dropped the slug in the chambers, very loose. The chambers measure .478, you can see alot of daylight around the slug,easy .015 to .020. I am no expert on blowing up guns, but I shot 300 to 350 cast and then 60 j words. Most were loaded with 25 grains of 296. I had no extraction or primer problems at all. I wonder if the barrel could be a 454?

[44man]

44man, I measured with a starrett high precision 1 inch mic. I also dropped the slug in the chambers, very loose. The chambers measure .478, you can see alot of daylight around the slug,easy .015 to .020. I am no expert on blowing up guns, but I shot 300 to 350 cast and then 60 j words. Most were loaded with 25 grains of 296. I had no extraction or primer problems at all. I wonder if the barrel could be a 454?
I sure don't know. They could have screwed up. Make sure you call them. Something is just not right.
They will fix it for sure.

[bassnbuck]

44man I called magnum research told them what I found with the gun. Also asked if the barrel could have been marked wrong, like a 454? I am waiting for my return number and will send it to them. Thank you for your time and help.

[snowwolfe]

44man I called magnum research told them what I found with the gun. Also asked if the barrel could have been marked wrong, like a 454? I am waiting for my return number and will send it to them. Thank you for your time and help.

I've had great luck with Magnum Research. Bought a 5.5 inch JRH and it turned out to be a 7.5 barrel. They paid shipping both ways, did a minor trigger job for free, and cut and crowned the barrel to 5.5.

Please keep us updated at to what is happening.

You are lucky you didnt fire any really stiff loads with it!

[frankenfab]

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

[bassnbuck]

bfr sent to magnum research. pass the popcorn.

[M-Tecs]

i have a colt 45 single action date july 2 1872 barrel lenght is 5'' long serial #22,597. Should i restore or not? I,ll have my son take a picture and have him post it. I tried to post pictures but alittle computer dumb in that area. I,m peck& poke keyboard man.

no !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[frankenfab]

Any word on the BFR yet?

[bassnbuck]

The rifle deer season opened last weekend and runs till this sunday in their zone. I was told the bfr dept. all took vacation to hunt. Guess they cant be all bad.

[AkRay]

I've been reading a lot about a modification that custom gunsmith Jack Huntington does to BFR's where he extends the gripframe, and builds nice grips for $300.00. The reason for extending the gripframe is to keep the triggerguard from rapping the knuckle of your shooting hand. He also does work on Ruger Bisleys and I have a gun that I've been meaning to send to him for the modification. It's supposed to make shooting the gun much more comfortable.

[frankenfab]

I've been reading a lot about a modification that custom gunsmith Jack Huntington does to BFR's where he extends the gripframe, and builds nice grips for $300.00. The reason for extending the gripframe is to keep the triggerguard from rapping the knuckle of your shooting hand. He also does work on Ruger Bisleys and I have a gun that I've been meaning to send to him for the modification. It's supposed to make shooting the gun much more comfortable.

I'm working on a plan to do a similar modification. Having a straighter frame on the back side causes the bottom of your hand to rotate forward, moving the top of your hand and trigger finger farther back, making it easier to place just the first pad of your finger on the trigger.

[bassnbuck]

Fedex man brought the .475 back today. Work order said cylinder throats with in specs. Barrel under sized, replaced. Test fired and cleaned. I took it down to my work bench, shined a light down the barrel to see I had the upgrade copper rifleing. I scrubbed 1 hour to get the copper out. Then I slugged the barrel- .475. Went to the range and fired 30. Had a lube star at muzzle[1st time] and some leading. By the way m r would not pay my end of the shipping.

[frankenfab]

"By the way m r would not pay my end of the shipping."

Well, now that is BS. They put the WRONG BARREL on a gun, and won't pick up the shipping?

I think I would try and go up the ladder a little bit, and see if I couldn't get some satisfaction on that issue.

[bassnbuck]

Frank, Before I got the gun back I found a number for the regional rep. I WILL BE CALLING.

[22454]

That is total BS that they are charging you for shipping. They should give you a brand new gun. I wouldn't want a frame that was shot with a 45/70 barrel and 475 Linebaugh cylinder.

I was thinking about their 500 mag if I ever go that route. Now it looks like X-frame only.

[snowwolfe]

Confused. Didnt you ask for a pre paid mailer to send the revolver back? When I bought my 500 and it didnt have the correct 5.5 inch barrel Magnum Research emailed me a label to print out that was attached to the package then dropped off at FedEx. Then they mailed it back to me.
How did you get stuck with the shipping?

[M-Tecs]

Magnum Research is now owned by Kahr Arms. They make a good product but they have the worst costumer service in the Industry. MR used to have very good customer service but now it’s the same BS as all the other Kahr owned companies.

[44man]

I like long barrels for hunting and my JRH is 7-1/2", well a little longer but I like the way they measure. No sense adding the forcing cone to barrel length anyway. Yeah, I know, other barrels include chambers.
Anyway it is disappointing to me that they only offer the 5.5" barrels in the JRH and you need to go through the custom shop for longer.
Kahr Arms marketing.

[bassnbuck]

Regional rep. was not much help except for a couple of phone numbers-no answer on Friday. I still have the .478 chambers to deal with. I suppose I should open up my sizeing die. Next problem my straight water dropped ww boolits are too hard, my air cooled ww boolits are too soft. I cast more yesterday and will try 420 degrees in oven then quench. My load is still 25 grains of 296. Do you guys think this will be about the right hardness? I have no experience at oven hardening.

[44man]

Regional rep. was not much help except for a couple of phone numbers-no answer on Friday. I still have the .478 chambers to deal with. I suppose I should open up my sizeing die. Next problem my straight water dropped ww boolits are too hard, my air cooled ww boolits are too soft. I cast more yesterday and will try 420 degrees in oven then quench. My load is still 25 grains of 296. Do you guys think this will be about the right hardness? I have no experience at oven hardening.
Are those throats or chambers?
My throats are .4765", I size .476". Some of my aged boolits expand to .478" and still shoots good. I don't like to size in throats but for some reason it has been no problem. Making my own molds means I don't have to contend with under size molds.
I use only WD WW boolits in all of my revolvers, no more needed. If you think WD is too hard, oven hardening is even harder.
I feel you will be just fine with .476" WD boolits.
Air cooled gives me fliers in any of my revolvers, no leading at all but something sure happens. I never pinned it down. Now the fliers are not too much to get exited about, an inch or so out at 50 yards but it bothers me. I will forever be a nut! :veryconfu
My friend came to shoot his rifle I worked on and he never shot my BFR .500 JRH so I took it down. I shot a litter bottle of water at 100 yards and he shot the next one, nothing like accuracy!
I turned and looked at him to see he was shaking his hand, he said "WOW." What is funny is I was shooting very tiny groups with his rifle but he could not do it, yet he hits with the revolver.
Then he kept missing my little steel plate off hand with his rifle so I stopped him and told him why. Then he hit the plate every shot after. So good to have a friend listen and go home happy.
Some get real uptight over dimensions but a few of my revolvers have extreme over size throats but I have shot 200 yard groups that will make you drool after you fool around at 25 yards, using way under size for the throats.
Don't get up tight, relax. Don't look for magic numbers before you see what your gun can do.

[bassnbuck]

44 man, .478 is the cylinder throats. My mistake. The water dropped ww are a bear to size and squeal when seated in the brass. Maybe my expander plug is too small? I had looked at a chart on different oven temps and resulting hardness. When I got gun back from M R the bore was copper striped after they ''cleaned" it. I will keep shooting n cleaning till it smooths out. Thanks.

[44man]

44 man, .478 is the cylinder throats. My mistake. The water dropped ww are a bear to size and squeal when seated in the brass. Maybe my expander plug is too small? I had looked at a chart on different oven temps and resulting hardness. When I got gun back from M R the bore was copper striped after they ''cleaned" it. I will keep shooting n cleaning till it smooths out. Thanks.
Actually I use Hornady dies that have short expanders. Boolits go into unsized portions of brass.
Companies do NOT clean after pressure testing so you will have some copper. Just use some Sweets to clean.
You must have a large mold to make the boolits hard to size.
My boolits fit tight and I can see the base and even the GG's through the brass. Brass is rippled.