slugging barrels

M

Mousse

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Just got done reading Calfee's book and am interested in doing barrel slugging. Who do I get in touch with to buy the slugs? The person Mr. Calfee mentions is not reachable at email or phone no. His name was Rob Propst, I'm a centerfire gunsmith(have been for 25yrs), and recently i was asked to build 2 BR rimfire rifles.
 
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Mousse said:
Just got done reading Calfee's book and am interested in doing barrel slugging. Who do I get in touch with to buy the slugs? The person Mr. Calfee mentions is not reachable at email or phone no. His name was Rob Propst, I'm a centerfire gunsmith(have been for 25yrs), and recently i was asked to build 2 BR rimfire rifles.
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Bob Collins had some. He may be in Georgia. He is a rimfire supplier of ammo and such. I dont have his email, but he does have a website also.
 
Mousse said:
Just got done reading Calfee's book and am interested in doing barrel slugging. Who do I get in touch with to buy the slugs? The person Mr. Calfee mentions is not reachable at email or phone no. His name was Rob Propst, I'm a centerfire gunsmith(have been for 25yrs), and recently i was asked to build 2 BR rimfire rifles.
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Just use a .22 centerfire lead bullet core or a captured .22 rimfire lead bullet, both are almost pure lead and can be upset to fit in your slugged barrel.
 
Hi Guys.
Calfee uses SK hollow point ammo and you can pull the slugs with your fingers.
Kim
 
I use Aquila SS (60gr) rf ammo, and cut the bullet off near the case with a box knife. Just roll it back and forth on a flat surface.
 
Just grab the bullet with a pair of pliers and pull the thing out of the case. You might try a cloth over the bullet and under the pliers for less plier marks. Just make sure that you don't mess with the primer end of the case and cause the thing to fire.
 
Bill Wynne said:
Just grab the bullet with a pair of pliers and pull the thing out of the case. You might try a cloth over the bullet and under the pliers for less plier marks. Just make sure that you don't mess with the primer end of the case and cause the thing to fire.
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I use a piece of Delrin (hard plastic) and drill a snuggly fitting hole the depth of the .22lr bullet. Insert the nose of the bullet into the hole and push the case to either side and the slug will not be deformed. I've never had a mishaps, but it is wise to wear protective gloves and safety glasses when performing this operation. I believe the reason why Calfee suggests a hollow point bullet, is so he can push the slug in reverse (spear tipped jag) without risking a chance of damaging the bore. John
 
How do you slug a barrel

Bill Wynne said:
Just grab the bullet with a pair of pliers and pull the thing out of the case. You might try a cloth over the bullet and under the pliers for less plier marks. Just make sure that you don't mess with the primer end of the case and cause the thing to fire.
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Bill : Could you go through the correct process to slug a barrel once you have the 22 lr bullet removed from the case ? Thanks garrisone .
 
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Garrisone,

I have never slugged a barrel. I don't know what I would be looking for. I have, however, removed 22 bullets from there cases. I just saw the question and I thought I would offer a reply. It has been my experience that it takes a sharp rap or a hit to the primer to cause it to "fire".

Bill
 
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How to slug a barrel

Bill Wynne said:
Garrisone,

I have never slugged a barrel. I don't know what I would be looking for. I have, however, removed 22 bullets from there cases. I just saw the question and I thought I would offer a reply. It has been my experience that it takes a sharp rap or a hit to the primer to cause it to "fire".

Bill
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Bil : and anyone in the know I was looking for the proper way to slug my barrel. I have seen some force a lead slug down a barrel from the muzzle and have heard that with a 22 L R you should push the slug through the chamber out to the muzzle. Then with a caliper you measure the high spot on the slug to get the bore diameter1 garrisone.
 
I have just a little experience at this. I used some pliers to carefully pull a target bullet (not copper plated) from its case (by wiggling it from side to side), and after making sure that I had thoroughly cleaned and lightly oiled the bore, I inserted the nose of the bullet in the muzzle of the barrel, and tapped it flush with a plastic hammer (there was some shearing off of lead in the process, but it is so soft, that I was not worried about it hurting the crown.), then I started it down the bore with a short piece of dowel followed by a coated rod that I have that has female threads, and coating to the end. I had taken the further precaution of taking a turn or so of blue masking tape around its end, to better center it. From that point I pushed the bullet down the barrel taking some pains to stop short of it coming out of the bore, and cycled it back and forth from muzzle to chamber a few times, slowly, feeling for any changes in resistance. The barrel that I did this is had quite a bit to tell me, none of it good. I was able to improve on it quite a bit, but that is a possible topic for another thread.
 
Boyd Allen said:
I have just a little experience at this. I used some pliers to carefully pull a target bullet (not copper plated) from its case (by wiggling it from side to side), and after making sure that I had thoroughly cleaned and lightly oiled the bore, I inserted the nose of the bullet in the muzzle of the barrel, and tapped it flush with a plastic hammer (there was some shearing off of lead in the process, but it is so soft, that I was not worried about it hurting the crown.), then I started it down the bore with a short piece of dowel followed by a coated rod that I have that has female threads, and coating to the end. I had taken the further precaution of taking a turn or so of blue masking tape around its end, to better center it. From that point I pushed the bullet down the barrel taking some pains to stop short of it coming out of the bore, and cycled it back and forth from muzzle to chamber a few times, slowly, feeling for any changes in resistance. The barrel that I did this is had quite a bit to tell me, none of it good. I was able to improve on it quite a bit, but that is a possible topic for another thread.
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Thank you Boyd Allen From Fresno : You are saying to start at the muzzle end while others say to start at the chamber end Which way is correct. I sure don't want to ruin a good barrel by being stupid ! garrisone.
 
Gordy Gritters had a good article in the Varmint Hunter mag the explained how to slug a bore and what to look for.

Hal
 
What are you looking for?

If all you want is groove dia. simply push the slug through from the chamber end out the muzzle and measure with a micrometer, dial calipers are not really suitable for the job if your looking for measurements in the 10ths. That is if it has an even number of lands and grooves like a 4 or 6 groove, odd grooved barrels are a different matter and generally require a V block and some math. Make sure that your rod is straight and doesn't have a sharp edge that can scratch the barrel. Also keep in mind that if the barrel has been shot the roughened bore at the chamber end will feel a lot like a tight spot even though it's not.

Dennis
 
Boyd Allen said:
I have just a little experience at this. I used some pliers to carefully pull a target bullet (not copper plated) from its case (by wiggling it from side to side), and after making sure that I had thoroughly cleaned and lightly oiled the bore, I inserted the nose of the bullet in the muzzle of the barrel, and tapped it flush with a plastic hammer (there was some shearing off of lead in the process, but it is so soft, that I was not worried about it hurting the crown.), then I started it down the bore with a short piece of dowel followed by a coated rod that I have that has female threads, and coating to the end. I had taken the further precaution of taking a turn or so of blue masking tape around its end, to better center it. From that point I pushed the bullet down the barrel taking some pains to stop short of it coming out of the bore, and cycled it back and forth from muzzle to chamber a few times, slowly, feeling for any changes in resistance. The barrel that I did this is had quite a bit to tell me, none of it good. I was able to improve on it quite a bit, but that is a possible topic for another thread.
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I suspect it didn't tell you much, unless it was installed backwards. You want to study up on this a bit.
 
garrisone said:
Bill : Could you go through the correct process to slug a barrel once you have the 22 lr bullet removed from the case ? Thanks garrisone .
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It's pretty easy. First make sure your bbl is clean and run a lightly oiled patch through it. Start the slug in the chamber. I use a short then long length of hardwood dowel to push it, sometimes a coated rod.
You want to push several slugs, cleaning after every couple. One or two slowly through will allow you to feel the lap and tightness. A few partially through and then reversed will give you a sense of taper.
Learn to mic them and a lot of info may be attained.
 
Tim,
Actually it was able to tell me a lot. I forgot to mention that as per a friend's suggestion I was able to tap on the bullet, holding on one end and lightly tapping on the other, while in the bore to tighten it wherever I wanted to. As it happens there was a tight spot in the throat that the bore scope revealed to be lands significantly smeared into grooves, several loose spots, going up the bore, and the last five inches at the muzzle was the largest. This is a CMP rifle with a 28" heavy barrel. I used an old aluminum cleaning rod guide, one of my skinnier .22 rods, wrapped a couple of patches around a Parker Hale jag, applied some IOSSO and Flitz, and proceeded to put a lot of short strokes into the breach and progressively fewer toward the muzzle where I did very little. I have not reslugged it but a very tight patch feels much less tight at the throat, and it feels very good from there on. I may have it set back, depending on how it feels when I get around to slugging it again. Right now, I think that I will attend to the bedding as my next step. This was intended to be a low budget project, and I knew that when I went to work on the barrel that it was not something that I would do to a "good" barrel, but did it as one more thing to try before replacing it. As it turned out, the rifle shows good potential so I guess I got lucky, at least in terms of my limited goals.
Boyd
 
In virtually any other barrel of match quality, you likely damage it. If nothing else take note that many bbls have larger bores at the breach and taper.
 
Dennis D. said:
If all you want is groove dia. simply push the slug through from the chamber end out the muzzle and measure with a micrometer, dial calipers are not really suitable for the job if your looking for measurements in the 10ths. That is if it has an even number of lands and grooves like a 4 or 6 groove, odd grooved barrels are a different matter and generally require a V block and some math. Make sure that your rod is straight and doesn't have a sharp edge that can scratch the barrel. Also keep in mind that if the barrel has been shot the roughened bore at the chamber end will feel a lot like a tight spot even though it's not.

Dennis
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The way Calfee describes the process is: Push a slug about 2" at the breech; push it out from muzzle, measure the slug to see if it is round or not.
Push another slug about 2" from the muzzle, push it out and measure it the same way. Now take another slug and push it from breech to bore SLOWLY, while paying attention for any tight spots.
That's the basic gist of it. Bill Calfee does a much better job at describing the process.

Mousse
 
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