Jamie Young
New member
How do you slug a barrel?
How do you slug a barrel?
- Thread starter Jamie Young
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gently 
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The Alcove
I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist
The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me
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The Alcove
I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist
The Bill of Rights is a document of brilliance, a document of wisdom, and it is the ultimate law, spoken or not, for the very concept of a society that holds liberty above the desire for ever greater power. -Me
K
KilgorII
Guest
Why? What did the barrel do to you?
Jamie Young
New member
I was told I should slug the barrel of an original Kraut 8mm Mauser before I bought it. I was wondering how you do that?
Clint Tickler
New member
All those out of work comedians and we get this. 
I think I saw a kit for slugging barrels in Midway. Could have been Brownells.
Either probably would and they would come with instructions. I've never done it but thought someone ought to be serious here. Clint
I think I saw a kit for slugging barrels in Midway. Could have been Brownells.Either probably would and they would come with instructions. I've never done it but thought someone ought to be serious here. Clint
Destructo6
New member
I'll resist the smart-a$$ comments...barely.
Buy a slugging kit. I think it was Dillon's Blue Press that advertised recently, but all the major gunsmithing supply houses should carry such an item.
I believe it consists of an array of soft lead cylinders. You find the appropriately sized slug and push it through your barrel with the supplied wood/plastic dowel. You then measure the slug to see what bullet diameter you should be using.
I guess the Germans changed the bullet diameter when they upgraded the 8mm Mauser round to a spitzer type bullet way back before WWI. If your gun was made, or arsenal rebuilt, after then, it should be the modern size.
Buy a slugging kit. I think it was Dillon's Blue Press that advertised recently, but all the major gunsmithing supply houses should carry such an item.
I believe it consists of an array of soft lead cylinders. You find the appropriately sized slug and push it through your barrel with the supplied wood/plastic dowel. You then measure the slug to see what bullet diameter you should be using.
I guess the Germans changed the bullet diameter when they upgraded the 8mm Mauser round to a spitzer type bullet way back before WWI. If your gun was made, or arsenal rebuilt, after then, it should be the modern size.
You don't need a kit, just a strong steel cleaning rod without sharp edges and a lead slug bigger than the groove diameter. You also need a good outside caliper and a vernier or dial caliper.
All the 8mm 1898 Mausers I have seen for sale in the last 30 years have been for the "S" cartridge. That includes all K98s and K98ks, all VZ24s, all Turkish, and all FNs. The S&B 8mm JS cartridges are correct for those guns and are non-corrosive and relatively inexpensive. Most other 8mm is corrosive and the rifle must be well cleaned to prevent rust.
Contrary to common belief, there was no change to the 8mm bore diameter. The grooves were made deeper and this required the bullets to be made larger, which in turn meant a larger cartridge neck and a bigger throat in the barrel. (A jacketed bullet is made groove diameter, not bore diameter. It does not "expand" into the grooves, it is engraved by the lands.)
Jim
[This message has been edited by Jim Keenan (edited September 02, 2000).]
All the 8mm 1898 Mausers I have seen for sale in the last 30 years have been for the "S" cartridge. That includes all K98s and K98ks, all VZ24s, all Turkish, and all FNs. The S&B 8mm JS cartridges are correct for those guns and are non-corrosive and relatively inexpensive. Most other 8mm is corrosive and the rifle must be well cleaned to prevent rust.
Contrary to common belief, there was no change to the 8mm bore diameter. The grooves were made deeper and this required the bullets to be made larger, which in turn meant a larger cartridge neck and a bigger throat in the barrel. (A jacketed bullet is made groove diameter, not bore diameter. It does not "expand" into the grooves, it is engraved by the lands.)
Jim
[This message has been edited by Jim Keenan (edited September 02, 2000).]
Jamie Young
New member
Well the main reason I was told to slug the barrel was to make sure that the barrel wasn't shot out. I've been told that most of the 8mm nazi rifles with original barrel are usually shot out. I'm talking about the ones you see at guns shows for $95-$195
Well, most of those barrels in that price class are shot out.
But slugging the barrel will not tell you much. Most of the shot out ones are really rusted out from shooting corrosive ammo without proper cleaning, as much as actually being worn out by firing.
This will tend to make the bore bigger and rougher, but its not unsafe as long as you have gotten most of the rust out of the barrel.
You can never tell how these old barrels will shoot, though. You just have to find a rifle you like, buy it and test it out by shooting. There's really no other way.
Other important things that will rob your old Mauser of accuracy are poor stock bedding (lots of these are not even in the original stock made for that barreled action), bad crowns, worn lands and nasty triggers. Slugging the bore won't help with any of this.
The best thing is to look at the bore with a bore light before you buy. Don't listen to the seller, they really fib about bores. If it is dark, it really rusted bad. Look at the lands at the beginning of the rifling. They should have nice crisp edges. If they do not look crisp, they are worn. It takes some experience to start noticing this: what is crisp and what is rounded. You just have to look at a lot of them.
Look at the muzzle crown as well, but this is easy to fix if it looks rough. But if the rifling that goes down into the bore is damaged, you have a bigger problem.
Often the true horror of the pitting and rusting of these bores is covered up by masses of metal and powder fouling. It your new bore seems like it takes forever to clean, it is probably badly pitted and rusted and has fouling down in these pitts that just does not come out easily. After you know what it is, you can actually feel the roughness of a bore through the cleaning rod as you first start to clean it.
One of the joys of a nice bore is how easy it is to clean. The fouling just comes off a smooth bore better than a rough one.
You cannot expect really good bores on these old military rifles. The vast majority are pretty rough by now, people just don't want to admit it. The rifles (especially in the price class that you mention) are now so old and so beat that you cannot expect them to have gilt edge accuracy, there is just too many things that could and probably have gone bad.
Just get one that seems to appeal to you for some intrensic reason and do not expect anything sepectacular from it. Almost all of these rifles will still shoot good enough for hunting and defense and if you are lucky, you will find some that still shoot surprisingly well. But I know of no way to sepparate the real gems of shooters for the run of the mill sort.
But slugging the barrel will not tell you much. Most of the shot out ones are really rusted out from shooting corrosive ammo without proper cleaning, as much as actually being worn out by firing.
This will tend to make the bore bigger and rougher, but its not unsafe as long as you have gotten most of the rust out of the barrel.
You can never tell how these old barrels will shoot, though. You just have to find a rifle you like, buy it and test it out by shooting. There's really no other way.
Other important things that will rob your old Mauser of accuracy are poor stock bedding (lots of these are not even in the original stock made for that barreled action), bad crowns, worn lands and nasty triggers. Slugging the bore won't help with any of this.
The best thing is to look at the bore with a bore light before you buy. Don't listen to the seller, they really fib about bores. If it is dark, it really rusted bad. Look at the lands at the beginning of the rifling. They should have nice crisp edges. If they do not look crisp, they are worn. It takes some experience to start noticing this: what is crisp and what is rounded. You just have to look at a lot of them.
Look at the muzzle crown as well, but this is easy to fix if it looks rough. But if the rifling that goes down into the bore is damaged, you have a bigger problem.
Often the true horror of the pitting and rusting of these bores is covered up by masses of metal and powder fouling. It your new bore seems like it takes forever to clean, it is probably badly pitted and rusted and has fouling down in these pitts that just does not come out easily. After you know what it is, you can actually feel the roughness of a bore through the cleaning rod as you first start to clean it.
One of the joys of a nice bore is how easy it is to clean. The fouling just comes off a smooth bore better than a rough one.
You cannot expect really good bores on these old military rifles. The vast majority are pretty rough by now, people just don't want to admit it. The rifles (especially in the price class that you mention) are now so old and so beat that you cannot expect them to have gilt edge accuracy, there is just too many things that could and probably have gone bad.
Just get one that seems to appeal to you for some intrensic reason and do not expect anything sepectacular from it. Almost all of these rifles will still shoot good enough for hunting and defense and if you are lucky, you will find some that still shoot surprisingly well. But I know of no way to sepparate the real gems of shooters for the run of the mill sort.