How to Slug double action revolver barrel.

Anyone know proper technique or link for slugging revolver barrel? Thanks.. Bob

I just use a soft lead bullet of the proper cal and I use a wooden dowel and tap the bullet through the barrel from the muzzle end. Your looking for the tightest spot in the barrel so you'll want to measure all the grooves and lands on the bullet as it is possible to have one land or a pair of lands higher than the rest although not common.

I tried it with a lead fishing weight but didnt swage out to the full groove diameter. Do you think Hornady swaged semiwadcutters would be soft enough? Dont want to get anything stuck in there. Is lubing the barrel suggested? Thanks..

they should be plenty soft enough, I'll use whatever standar lead bullet I have, you may need to use a mallet to tap it through as most won't just slide through. Just stay away from hard cast and jacketed.

Also avoid the wooden dowel if you can.

While I have no doubt that Rod knows what he is doing and could probably use a wooden dowel till the cows come home and never have a problem, there are lots of postings around various gun forums of people getting wooden dowels stuck in their barrels.....I mean really stuck......like needing a gunsmith to get the dowel out stuck.

Stick with a brass or aluminum rod (softer than the barrel) and you should be good to go.

LOL, I actually can believe that. I just use one a little undersized so that's not an issue.

You'll want a bullet or sinker that is atleast .002" larger than your grooves. Then go slow and try to feel for tight spots. Probably tight at the frame. Then just measure the groove diameter. Hopefully it will be atleast .001" smaller than your throats. Throat diameter bullets will be the best fit. If your bullets end up being .002" bigger than the grove diameter you will still be ok. Look into a good lube also.

A nice trick with the wooden dowels is to use a spent case on each end, of smaller caliber than your bore, like 32acp or 9mm or so. This will keep the wood from splitting or swelling.

Craig

That's a good idea. I just use a bunch of electrical tape to fit the bore.

I've actually seen that done on wood arrows for blunts.

Rod,

We gave up those big rubber blunts once we found judo tips. I would think a cedar shaft with an inverted brass case would tend to fly pretty wild, with no real weight up front ;^)

Craig

they add weight to them, I've even seen them notch the rim and use a piece of steel as a makeshift blade. They are still using them but you see it in traditional archery. I also use judos but its amazing what guys come up with.

I used to be frugal when I was sligging logs back in my college days, but never tried home-made broadheads. Interesting.

Craig

the ones I saw I forgot to clarify were for small game use, it basicly gave a cutting edge to the front of a blunt. Amazing how we went from slugging a barrel to home made broadheads for small game.

Back to slugging a barrrel, just follow the recomendations here and use common sense and you'll be fine, it's actually one of the easiest things to do.