Forcing cone?

[750k2]

How smooth should a forcing cone be?
My bore looks pretty good but have machine marks in the cone.
Would lapping compound applied to cone and shot through smooth this out?
Better solution?

[bob208]

does the gun shoot good? if so leave it alone. in over 30 years i have never had to work on a forcing cone.

[Freightman]

If it aint broke don't fix it!

[750k2]

Ok a little history
Bought a Ruger Bisley SS 45 5.5" off Broker and everything looked great - seemed like I got a nice gun at a good price - not a great deal just a fair price for a nice piece.
Left ++ feed and all.

A couple of days later after I had a real chance to look her over I noticed the cylinder
would not stay locked in the cocked position.
Well sent her off and Ruger repaired it for free
Ejector rod Repaired - didn't even notice anything with that.
Cylinder latch replaced
Pawl replaced
Safety function and test fired.

It now locks up the tightest of any revolver I have ever had.
So now I think I'm on to something.
This gun will see nothing but cast so I'm reading about the tight spots so often
encountered in rugers and do not know if it is there yet as I have not slugged her yet.
I got a Neco lapping assortment in case as I have to do a couple of rifle crowns.

So I dig through the ol'tackle box to see if I have some egg sinkers close to size
and really give her a going over with the magnifying glass.
Looking at the throat it looks like it was done with 80 grit!!
Smooth has got to be better. This thing is gonna be a time consuming project.
I'm not bitchin as I'm the one who signed on to this voyage.
Don't even have a mould for it yet but have 3 on order, 1000 fresh csaes, New grips
and think I will give the forcing cone a smoothing.
I was diggin in my brownells and settled on the brass lap idea.

Can one tell with the naked eye the dif between a 5 and 11 degree cone?
I think the previous owner did a lame trigger job - it's stiffer after ruger
worked her over and am not sure if he tried his hand at the cone.

This will take me a while to get her perfect as I have to split my time
between RF Benchrest, P-dog prep, Bullseye, Hunting and the Railroad.
But I will make this pistol shoot even if I only have the frame left from
the original start project.

Don't want to send it off til I've really wrecked something with my usual
tinkering;)
I should have some base groups by the first of the year - I hope.

[Shiloh]

If it aint broke don't fix it!

These words of wisdom apply to not only things firearms and shooting related,
but many other area's of our lives as well.

Now, If we could only get the politicos to heed these seven simple words...

Shiloh

[runfiverun]

always start a gun project off by shooting the thing.
just some full tilt j-word loads could smooth you up enough.

[Bucks Owin]

The .44 in my avatar was built in 1960. Don't know how many rds have been through it but there are still machining marks on the LANDS! It's the most accurate Ruger I've ever owned. One time while in a "tinkering fit", I did attempt to polish the machining marks out of the throats (which wasn't really needed) and ended up with .432" which ain't good but didn't seem to diminish the accuracy luckily. I wouldn't worry about a non problem, you may create an actual problem!.....Just 2 centavos, Dennis

[750k2]

I'll give her a wirl for sure and post results - I'm hopin it goes as is:lol:

[Changeling]

I'll give her a wirl for sure and post results - I'm hopin it goes as is:lol:

I'm no expert with pistols/revolvers but learning. But I intend to try and match the forcing cone leed to the type/angle of bullets nose I end up using (close as possible). To me this would just be logical sence.
I could be wrong but I don't think so since it is a step in "fitting the bullet".

[anachronism]

I had an older Redhawk that had a forcing cone that was pretty much like yours sounds like. It looked like it had simply had the edge broken with a rat-tailed file. Accuracy was only fair at best, with cast bullets, it was abysmal. I bought the tools from Brownells & recut the forcing cone to 11 degrees. It made an impressive difference with cast bullets. The forcing cone angle is important to avoid unnecessary distortion as the bullets make the transition from the cylinder to the barrel. Brownells also sells plug gauges so you can check your work & not cut the forcing cone too deep, or try to cut one forcing cone angle on top of another one, that can't be cleaned up with your reamer. If you're uncomfortable with the procedure, any competent, professional gunsmith should be able to handle the job for you rather inexpensively. The angle of the various bullet noses doesn't affect this, since the noses don't touch the forcing cone anyway.

[machinisttx]

If you look, you'll find out that Brownell's also sells forcing cone gages. If you polish too much and oversize the cone, the gun isn't going to shoot as well as one that gages properly....and will require setting the barrel back a turn in order to correct it.

[GP100man]

Elk Ridge Reamer Rentals 1-800-996-0426.

[anachronism]

If you look, you'll find out that Brownell's also sells forcing cone gages. If you polish too much and oversize the cone, the gun isn't going to shoot as well as one that gages properly....and will require setting the barrel back a turn in order to correct it.

That would be the plug gauge I mentioned.

[Changeling]

I had an older Redhawk that had a forcing cone that was pretty much like yours sounds like. It looked like it had simply had the edge broken with a rat-tailed file. Accuracy was only fair at best, with cast bullets, it was abysmal. I bought the tools from Brownells & recut the forcing cone to 11 degrees. It made an impressive difference with cast bullets. The forcing cone angle is important to avoid unnecessary distortion as the bullets make the transition from the cylinder to the barrel. Brownells also sells plug gauges so you can check your work & not cut the forcing cone too deep, or try to cut one forcing cone angle on top of another one, that can't be cleaned up with your reamer. If you're uncomfortable with the procedure, any competent, professional gunsmith should be able to handle the job for you rather inexpensively. The angle of the various bullet noses doesn't affect this, since the noses don't touch the forcing cone anyway.

Thanks for the information, I didn't know the bullet nose didn't contact the forcing cone. I must NOT be visualizing things correctly if you are right.

[anachronism]

Think about it for a second. The bore is (normally) slightly smaller (a couple of thousandths) than the cylinder throat. The forcing cone is simply a heavy chamfer on the edge of the barrel that "catches" the bullet as it exits the cylinder & directs it down the barrel. The forcing cone is cut at different angles, to perform certain tasks. Many gunsmiths recommend an 11 degree andle for cast bullets because the more abrupt angles can cause unnecessary bullet deformation. Jacketed bullets are tougher and can handle sharper angles without major bullet deformation. Bullet noses are smaller than the bore and do not contact the forcing cone at all.
The front driving band of the bullet makes the initial contact with (part) of the forcing cone & engages the rifling first. It is common to see signs of the bullet skidding as it engages the rifling on recovered bullets. Also, you will not see signs of rifling on the nose of the bullet, which demonstrates that the nose doesn't contact anything, unless there is a really terrible cylinder timing issue. If this is ever seen, the revolver is unsafe to shoot.

[Changeling]

Thinking and visualizing it like that makes sense, thanks a lot.

[leftiye]

The older Rugers had (I believe) eleven degree forcing cones. Some of the newer ones have 5 degree forcing cones. The forcing cone is the rear of the barrel. The throat (or freebore) in a revolter is known as the chamber mouth(s). You could have your forcing cone touched up some with a 5 degree cutter, and then polished.