why not hot glue?

[Oklahoma Rebel]

if you had a thin layer of oil in your chamber, why couldn't you use hot glue for a chamber cast? I heard of people making boolits out of them, so maybe they don't shrink and they hold the size? I dunno, just a dumb question I thought I'd ask. thanks

[KCSO]

Good question, I never thought of that! I will have to try it and see what the shrinkage rate is if any.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

cool,maybe i'll use a boolit mold and "squirt" a boolit and measure as soon as I can get it out, then again when cool. I cant imagine it shrinking like metal, you know like age shrinking over days or weeks.
let me know what you find out, I need to buy some hot glue before I can try it.

[LAGS]

Why not just use Epoxy bedding compound, or JB weld in a chamber or barrel coated with JPW.
It works pretty good if you can avoid getting air bubbles in the epoxy but in some cases, some bubbles dont matter.
I have made epoxy Bore Laps out of epoxy and a worn out bore brush.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I,d be worried about permanent stickage..

[country gent]

The one issue with ht melt glue might be the "springiness" or compression of it taking a very sensitive feel on the Mikes to get an accurate reading. A pound cast or cerrosafe is fairly stiff material, making it easier to measure.

[LAGS]

If I had an epoxy cast stick it was usually because I Over Ragged the plug causing a cussion that would not allow me to pound out the casting.
I solved that problem by using a single patch over the end of a 1/4" brass rod stuck in the bore as a plug.
But if the epoxy sticks in the chamber, you heat the barrel up with a heat gun, them pound it out.
Or put the barrel in the freezer for a while, them pound out the casting.
But if you totally forgot the JPW release agent, then you may have some issues.
But even when using Cerosafe, I use the patch over the brass rod so there is a Plug but not a Pillow at the end of your casting.
More than one time , people have brought over rifles with a Stuck chamber casting with Cerosafe.
When I got it out or Melted it out, I found that they had plugged the barrel for casting with about an inch of balled up patches or cotton.
That was acting to absorbe all the force needed to pound out the casting.

[Gewehr-Guy]

Maybe you could try this on an old barrel first before you glue your good gun , would be a lot easier to clean up if something goes wrong. Please let us know if it works.

[LAGS]

That is what I did the first few times.
Practice your new skills first on something else that isn't worth much or can be easily replaced.
But you will never hone your skills if you never try new things.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I have heard to use an eearplug a bit past the throat into the barrel for cerrosafe, does that work good? I just wonder about the fact that cerosafe has a time window to measure at, and wether that is 100 perent reliable. its supposed to be at the right size exactly 1 hour after hardening, with it shrinking first.

[LAGS]

I have seen foam earplugs used before.
But to me there is still that cushioning effect.
With the 36" long Brass or aluminum rod The patch over the end like a cleaning jag is only one layer thick.
Plus the rod taped to the muzzle to keep it in place is the your ramrod to push the casting Back out of the chamber.
I set the depth of the rod on most cases with a dummy round in the chamber.
You can run the rod and patch in until the end of the rod with the patch over the end hits the tip of the bullet.
Tape the rod to the muzzle and remove the dummy cartridge.
For measuring the cerosafe.
I cast the first one slowly not paying attention too much as to Quality.
Then when it is cool , remove it then remelt only that casting to pour your second attempt.
Then at least you will not have to be concerned about watching if you are going to overpower your chamber.

[KCSO]

I have some take off barrels and I will try a couple of these first.

[KCSO]

Why it won't work... It doesn't pour is the final answer. It won't flow down into the chamber neck and it won't go through a funnel to fill an off set chamber. It will fill a straight short chamber like a break open but still doesn't fill the neck out good. Even sulphur works better and just as cheap and you have a shrinkage chart for sulphur.

[longbow]

What KCSO said.

I use hot melt glue for attached wad shotgun slugs but use ABS plastic pipe for forms. If the slugs are cold the hot melt glue sets up real quick and doesn't fill out corners well.

Squirting it into a cold chamber is not likely to get you good detail. You'd have to warm the chamber area up with a torch or paint stripper or whatever then it might work okay.

If you want to try it anyway, use oil or grease as a release agent, but in my experience use heavy oil or better, grease.

Cerrosafe or sulfur are probably better choices as mentioned.

Longbow

[LAGS]

There are probably 1000 things that you can use to make a chamber casting ot Barrel Bore Casting.
But very few are Optimum.
Cerosafe is probably the best and most widely used medium.
But if you are not a Gunsmith, your on a limited budget, or the proper materials are not availabe to do say Just one casting, then explore other options.
But beware of its limitations as well as your own limitations.
But if you want to do things correctly, then use the proper material.
Like things said in other posts.
Hot tip glue is too soft and is not a standard material that you can guarantee how it will form, Shrink or distort when being removed from the chamber.
Same thing goes for the Epoxy.
The epoxy I may have used is not always the same as what you choose to use, so the results may be different.
Or some Epoxies may Swell when curing, or cure with too much heat generated that could negate the bond breaker you choise to use.
Think about the long term results and possible side effects or problems you may encounter.
I only mention things that I have tried for those that want to explore other options in a pinch.
But IF I want Perfect results, I use the correct material

[Oklahoma Rebel]

so can you just melt sulfer in a casting ladle with a torch? is this the same stuff I see in the gardening section at hopo?

[ipopum]

If you only want a visual ID of the chamber I have used candle wax. I have never tried to measure one but a hard wax is not fragile.

Use a silicone spray in the chamber and it will pop right out when the wax cools.

[KCSO]

Melt the sulphur in a double boiler and pour through a warmed funnel. I made my oown long necked funnel for doing chamber casts. Fill the to top of the chamber but not into the lug area. Clean well afer using sulphur as it draws moisture.

[John 242]

Rotometals has low melting point alloys for about $15 a pound.
https://www.rotometals.com/low-melt-fusible-alloys/
I've never tried them, but they are cheaper than the $25 Brownells stuff.

[Multigunner]

JB Weld shrinks a lot as it cures. I've used it trying to fill in oil perished sections of an Enfield fore end.

Its also going to stick to just about any metal like it was part of it. I have always cleaned parts before using JB but any Expoxy Based filler will push oil away from it as it sets. That's why Accraglass sticks so well to oil soaked inletting. It infiltrates the grain pushing the oils out.

You need proper release compound or a wax coating to keep expoxy based fillers or bedding compounds from sticking to metal.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Sulphur is pretty good, but if you overheat it surprisingly little, it will ignite with a low blue flame. There is no risk of a great conflagration, but it gives off sulphur dioxide gas which rusts any steel on which it condenses. It is also quite unpleasant stuff, which in the First World War was found be more dangerous than some gases with a much worse reputation.

Car body filler also makes a good cast. You would probably need to put it in a disposable plastic tube and squirt it into the chamber with a dowel. The combination of weight and fluidity of Cerrosafe (and bullet casting alloys) determines how well the will take the shape of a mould or chamber.

[vzerone]

Melt the sulphur in a double boiler and pour through a warmed funnel. I made my oown long necked funnel for doing chamber casts. Fill the to top of the chamber but not into the lug area. Clean well afer using sulphur as it draws moisture.

Very smart man KSCO as sulphur is one substance that expands as it solidifies. They use to use it to anchor iron railing on concrete porches.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Melting sulphur in a double boiler is a nice trick if you can do it. Its melting point is 115.21 °C, so you would need something other than water as usually constituted.

[Jim_P]

Roto metal has a chamber casting alloy that melts in a ladle with a propane torch. Done it myself. It's also relatively cheap at $13. And doesn't stink the house up like sulfur. It also has a known shrink rate and is re-usable.

https://www.rotometals.com/chamber-casting-alloy-ingot/

[John Boy]

Why try to reinvent the wheel?
RotoMetal alloy or CerroSafe has been used for decades. One wants accurate measurements of the chamber - there is a shrinkage table for the alloys, none for hot glue and I doubt measurements would be accurate with HG plug being measured in a micrometer

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I agree that Cerrosafe is best, and the others mentioned only have some point if you don't have it handy.

I have experienced sticking with an alloy I bought as Wood's metal. I don't know whether they were being strictly factual it mar not, and the chambers I tried it in were somewhat rough. But it may be that it doesn't experience the temporary shrinkage of Cerrosafe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood%27s_metal

You might get better results with the various cold substances if you rammed a roughened stick into it before it hardens, to make a sort of pressure casting as well as a handle. I'm reminded of the way steel ingots used to have a sort of carrot-shaped cavity in the upper end, caused by thermal contraction, containing all sorts of slag etc. If you just rolled that ingot into a bar, there would be inclusions along most of its length, to your severe disadvantage if you bored it for a barrel. Cast steel (including "Whitworth's Fluid Pressed") wasn't cast, but hydraulically pressed, side to side, while still soft. That didn't compress the grain, as sometimes claimed, but it squeezed out that cavity, and the impurities could be removed by cutting off and discarding only a small part of the ingot.

With the unofficial chamber casting substances, I think accuracy would depend on either having the shrinkage remain a cavity or dent, or filling it with something, rather than having it shrink on the outside.

[sundog]

Sulphur and powder graphite mix works really good.