Soft lead slugs---to slug a barrel?

[Willyp]

I have some round lead muzzle loader balls,to use for this,but,my old fingers need something longer and easier to mic !
My rifles are all 30 caliper. I have heard that you may drill a hole into a wood block to make smooth slug,to do this?
If this is so,what size drill and what type of wood is best?

[farmerjim]

30 cal = .308 5/16 drill bit= .3125

[44man]

That works fine. Keep the slug fairly short, easier to use.
I have a lot of ML round balls and they work good too.

[Willyp]

44man,
I agree,on ML balls,but, my fingers are not as good as they use to be! I figured if i could get a slug to start down the bore,with out me trying to hold the little bugger,i would have less chance of wacking my poor old fingers!!!!!
Thanks guys.

[myg30]

Last time I did that I worked the round ball into a cylinder shape first by rolling it and tapping it with mallet. Made it easier to start and a little longer to hold.
You can smack a piece of hard wood with hammer and use the dent to hold the ball over the bbl while hitting it with the hammer.

Arthritis and old age make you think harder on how to do things you use to do with out thinking !

Mike

[Mk42gunner]

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I never could get a boolit to drive into the bore when I was trying to slug a barrel. Things would go just fine until the driving bands hit the rifling and I smacked the base with a rawhide mallet. The base usually swelled up before the front driving band fully engraved, so I gave up trying that and just use round balls.

What may work better, is to cast a smaller than bore diameter slug about ½" long then upset one in the throat and one near the muzzle.

As to what wood to use, I would use whatever type of scrap laying around that splits easily. Cheap pine or cedar come to mind.

Robert

[CastingFool]

When I slugged my 30 cal rifles, I took a piece of oak and drilled two 5/16" holes, about 3/4" deep. I made sure my drill bit was sharp, as I wanted clean, smooth holes. I poured melted lead into the holes, almost to the top of the holes. After the slugs cooled down, I took a coarse file and slightly filed a point on one end. It doesn't have to be real pointy, just enough so it's easy to start the slug. After cleaning the bores, and making sure they were well oiled, I also oiled the slugs, before starting them in the bores. Then I took a piece of oak board, placed over the slugs, and whacked the oak a pretty good blow. Then using one of my steel cleaning rods, I tapped the slugs all the way through. It is best if you use a metal rod close to the barrel dimension. If you use a rod that is too small, you can actually drive it into the slug, making it expand, and much harder to drive. Some folks say to never use a wood dowel, as it may splinter.
"

[Zymurgy50]

Try taking a look at the local sporting goods / fishing store for an assortment of egg sinkers. They can sometimes be found in a close diameter to what you need. If you or someone you know casts egg sinkers for fishing you can make a few from soft lead. The hole through the middle seems to make slugging the barrel a bit easier as the lead has someplace to migrate to when sizing down. I would have to look and see if my sinker mold has something close you could use if you are interested.

[ukrifleman]

Or you can use candle wax, which provides a chamber cast as well.

Just remember that wax is softer than lead when taking measurements.
ukrifleman