
Originally Posted by
Boyd Allen
I discussed the usefulness of slugging with one of the top barrel makers and he confirmed that slugging, or in my friend's case, casting a lap for the same purpose can show up things that would not otherwise be detected. There is one other thing that I would like to point out about this. You seem to have a pretty high opinion of your inexperienced thought as compared with the experience of people who have actually done what you asked about. IMO theory is always trumped by experience. My friend routinely casts laps so that he can evaluate both finished barrels that a customer brings to him as well as new, unchambered barrels. He has sent several problem barrels, from top manufacturers, back for replacement, and he has been able to successfully diagnose problems with customers' rifles the same way. Even if a barrel is properly made as to uniformity, if it is a little too large or small there can be problems. He builds custom hunting rifles for people who will be using solid bullets that do not slug up or swage down like lead core bullets. For those applications having a good match between groove, and bullet diameters has proven to be important. Even with lead core bullets, in applications where a lot of shots are fired between cleanings, barrels that are too tight or have excess choke will tend to copper foul sooner than those that have more suitable dimensions.