'Slugging A Barrel' dumb questions

[Patriot]

I'm thinking of slugging the barrel of two revolvers that I want to shoot lead out of.
One is an alloy framed 432PD and the other a six inch steel S&W. I've read all the
material about 'slugging' a barrel on the web which, until I grew impatient, it all seems
to refer to doing it with milsurp rifles.

A couple of questions!

1) I assume that you do this with 'soft' lead. Are fishing sinkers of that variety? Do
I need to obtain some special 'slugging' lead?

2) I've seen recommendations to 'slug' more than once, maybe three times, in order
to get the measure correct. Is this so?

3) I am really hesitant to pound a slug down the barrel of the alloy frame model. In
addition the other model is somewhat of a 'collector's' piece and am somewhat
reluctant to pound on that as well.

4) If I don't slug and I do get the wrong size bullet for the gun, I assume I will get
a fair amount of leading. Is leading that difficult to remove that I don't want anything
to do with it? I've shot lead before and maybe I just lucked out (148gn DEWC, .358) but
shooting out of a S&W M28 .357 I didn't get any leading that I could notice when I
cleaned the pistol.

5) When I buy a commercial lead round for the caliber I have no choice in the bullet
dimension and simply buy, in the case of the 432PD, the federal 85gn SWC. I haven't
taken caliper to this yet but would that be an alternative to pounding away on these
revolvers?

6) The word 'pound' implies hammering this piece of lead through the barrel and in some
of the write ups I have seen they are referring to doing this from the breech end of the
rifle and in the others I have read it implies from the muzzle end. Does it really matter
which end this is done from as doing this from the breech end is not possible with the
revolvers?

7) Are there any alternatives to this barbaric procedure?

8) I did contact S&W for their finished barrel dimensions and they did provide these for
me. Should I just go with that?

As you can tell from the tone, and the questions asked, I am really hesitant to start
pounding fishing sinkers down the barrel of these two fine guns, one with an alloy frame.
Your comments, any and all, are appreciated.

 

[EddieCoyle]

When people recommend slugging a bore, it's usually for older (like >75 years old) guns with an unknown bore size. Since these are newer guns, you could simply call S&W and ask them. Then look for bullets sized 0.001" to 0.002" over the bore size.

 

[BIG GUN]

+1 on that. I size 9mm @.356, 38 @.358, 45ACP & colt @.451.
It is important to use an alloy that is soft enough to disrupt into the rifleing. This will reduce/eliminate leading.

 

[EddieCoyle]

TBP,

When you first asked about this (maybe I didn't read carefully - no surprise there) but I thought you were talking about an old revolver.

The only bore I've ever slugged was a really old I-frame S&W Regulation Police in .38 S&W. The bore was .359" but the chamber throats ranged from .361" to .363" (as measured with plug gages). I got the best accuracy with .363" diameter soft (12-14 Brinell) lead bullets loaded at low (700fps) velocities.

Every revolver is different. Buy a 50 or 100 of each bullet and see what works.

 

[highlander]

Use the appropriate size lead ball for a muzzle loading rifle they are quite soft. You shouldn't have to use any undo force to push the ball down the bore unless the bore is rough it might be a little tougher to push it thru.

 

[EddieCoyle]

One other minor complication:

I'm pretty sure the 432PD has 5-groove rifling. How are you going to accurately measure the diameter?

 

[Patriot]

One other minor complication:

I'm pretty sure the 432PD has 5-groove rifling. How are you going to accurately measure the diameter?

EC,

Interesting point as I did not know the 432PD has 5-grove rifling. As a matter of fact I'm
not sure I ever thought about the rifling one way or the other. I just presumed that any
rifling would be paired. Damn, another bad presumption on my part! I think that I am
going with the S&W measurement. They told me the the bore diameter is .3125. To
that end I need to go with either a .313 or .314 dia lead bullet. Which one do you think?

TBP

 

[EddieCoyle]

EC,
They told me the the bore diameter is .3125. To that end I need to go with either a .313 or .314 dia lead bullet. Which one do you think?
TBP

Maybe JHRosier will weigh in on this as well, but I'd get a small quantity of each and see how they shoot. Either one should work fine. Just make sure you load them hot enough but not too hot.