Slugging pistol barrels

[Don2]

Has anyone used this method of slugging a pistol barrel?
I've used round lead balls, just never tried this.

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuNoo4m6jso" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPHypjU5 ... =endscreen" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for any input.
Don2

[Don2]

I decided to try this method out.
I have a bunch of pure lead to use.

Right now I'm making a wood fixture to hold my revolvers steady while they are being slugged and also catch the slug keeping it from smashing into the concrete floor. In the past I just held them or gently clamped them in a vise with rubber or leather.
We'll see how it works, maybe it will help.

Already made several pure lead slugs with my fired and unsized brass.
It will be interesting.
I'll let yall know how it comes out. It may be several days until I get to try it all together.

Don2

[ddstuder]

This is how I make my slugs. The main difference is, I smoke the brass as I would a mold before pouring the lead in.

When I made slugs for my .44, I could not get the lead out of the case without it becoming deformed in the bullet puller. Once I smoked the brass, they pop right out after only a couple whacks of the hammer.

I also melt the lead before putting it in the brass and then use my dipper to fill. I think heating the brass with a torch to melt hard lead inside, would also distort the case. (maybe not on .45ACP or 9mm, but the longer magnum cases might distort.)

[Don2]

Thanks for the replies.

ddstuder, YES..great idea, smoke brass first. Thats the way I do my molds and it works great.
I had my bottom pour furnace full of wheel weight lead and didn't want to heat it up and the pour it all into ingots again, so I just used my Lyman ladle with the pour spout on it and melted the lead in it then poured into brass. It took about 6 whacks with the bullet puller to remove the slug. Going to try the smoke trick next time.
Last time I was smoking my molds, it was taking a long time with matches. I went to the other end of my shop and fired up my oxyacetylene torch without the oxygen on and smoked them in seconds..!!!!! Worked great and FAST.

george, I did not like the idea of not using a lube on the slug or barrel either, but it did seem to go through the bore ok?
I have used wooden dowels in the past, but I am going to get some brass rods soon for this use.
I have broke wood before, but maybe thats because I was using a too over sized sinker???

I made several slugs this way so far, but have not ran any through my bores yet.
I am going to try it on several revolvers and see how it works.

Most of my sinkers are pretty old and have built up a crust from age and being used....I did not want to have to scrape the crud off, thats why I was looking for another way.
Guess I could have bought new sinkers and saved some work,,But that would not be FUN.


Don2

[Jumping Frog]

Why not just use a regular lead bullet? I'm really not seeing the issue that he's trying to solve.

That's what I've done in the past. Regular bullet. Smashed it a tiny bit with a hammer to bulge it out a touch. Drive it through.

If I used a bullet from a Lee mold with the micro-bands for tumble lubing, they were a little easier to measure than a traditional bullet design with lube grooves.

I have also tried the egg-shaped fishing weights. They worked too, but I didn't see any advantage over driving a bullet through.

All that said, I'll try this approach this weekend just for the fun of it. Since the inner diameter of a case is always smaller than the outer diameter of a bullet, I wonder if the slug formed inside the case will have a sufficiently large diameter.

If people are new to bullet slugging, please also be aware that one cannot simply measure the slug diameter with calipers and get an accurate size for anything coming out of a 5 groove barrel (like S&W uses). The grooves and lands don't line up to give a true diameter. I have a specialized v-block that I use for S&W barrels; it definitely requires a specialized tool.

[Don2]

I was hoping to have first hand knowledge of this technique, but the Wife has other ideas for me right now. ( Shelves in the closet ) YUK..!

Anyway, I plan on using fired brass (38 spl.) from the revolver I plan on using to test this.
357 brass is just too long to me..actually the 38 spl. slug, will be pretty long too..!
Another idea I was pondering, was to order some drill bits the size I wanted and drill out an old .308 Lee single cavity mold in a drill press all properly mounted and all.

Not sure about any of it at this time...I was just planning to "mess around" with the idea.
Who knows....I may stumble into something?
Anybody every watch the Red-Green Canadian Show?
Man...I hope I'm NOT like Red..!!!

Have fun and be safe.

Don2