slugging barrell question

B

BarbreJ

New member
I am about to order everthing else i need to start casting. I went to order my lee sizer die, and remembered reading about slugging the barrell. I get how to do it, but not sure how to get the slug. I have some lead, but not sure what to use to make a ball to push through the barrell?

If my barrell is .401 i would need a .402 die? but I have only seen .401.

Thanks,
John
 
get a round ball that`s smaller then smash it until it`s just bigger than bore , litely oil bore square it up & drive it thru .

Yep usually .001 over will do it .

Enjoy ,Be Safe !!!
 
Bore Slugging

Hello,Barbre. You don't say what you are loading for, rifle or pistol. I have a few boxes of left over Speer round ball in various diameters. These are nice and soft & make good slugs. Clean bore, & run Very lightly ouled patch thru. I generally put a drop of oil on fingers & rub ball with this. I use a rawhide mallet to start ball into muzzle...DO NOT use a steel hammer!..You will be saying very bad things for a long time if you do! Once it's flush with muzzle..might even be a small ring of lead peeled off ball. use a brass or wood dowel to tap ball through bore..feeling for tight & loose spots. Carefull catch slug in cloth or hand to prevent denting. Use a micrometer..calipers..even those fancy dial or dig. types are not accurate enough. Now getting back to the dowel..some of those you find in hardware have cross grain & can split & break. If you can find a muzzle-loading shop they will have good hickory ones. For smokeless in rifles, I like to go from .001 to .002" of inch over groove dia. In my .40-70 Sharps with a .408" groove, I am using .410".
Sometimes you cant..in my original .38-55 Win. High-Wall groove dia. is
.379, I can only use .380..and this with a polished out case neck, because of the way these were designed for black powder. In my .22 Hornet, groove dia. is .224, I am using a gas-checked cast-bullet of .226 dia. If you can't find rawhide mallet..a plastic one is ok..just make sure face is clean.
Now as I said, you didn't say what this was for. Now for revolvers..Thats a whole different ball game. You should slug your cyl. throats & choose a dia. that can be pushed through with a little bit of resistance..not pounded thru, but not dropping either. If throats are greatly over groove dia..some compromise or a new cyl. might be in order. Best of luck!
 
I have used line sinkers form Wal Mart, but I have also just taken a drill bit slightly over bore diameter, drill a hole in a 1 inch board, clamp it down to a backing, and pour your pure lead slug . As said I lightly oil the barrel and the slug, I use a fiberglass fence post like the ones used for electric fence too drive the slug out.
 
Thanks,

I have been avoiding asking the question because I knew the answer would be something I should of been able to think of myself. Thanks again for the help.

John
 
I have some pure lead that I cast in a bullet mold. Then use that to push part way into the barrel with a wooden dowl. You dont have to push all the way through on pistol barrels. At least I dont. I knock it back out and measure. Pretty simple.
 
I was going to do that this week but my calipers just died, not sure if I need new batteries or if I need new calipers. I think I would like to find a dial caliper, they don't have batteries that die.
 
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