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Old August 26, 2012, 04:40 PM   #12
FrankenMauser
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Join Date: August 25, 2008
Location: In the valley above the plain
Posts: 13,400
Quote:
I gotta admit, Frankenmauser laid down some pretty good ideas of why to slug a barrel. I'm not experiencing any problems now but would I open a can of worms on myself to slug my 44s? Suppose my SBH turned out to need .430 boolits and the RH wanted .431s? Would shooting .431s in both of them then be detrimental in any way?
I would actually shoot .432s, if I had that combination. But, .431s might prove to be acceptable, as well.

I must admit... I had never gone to the trouble of slugging my SBH, until last night. I don't shoot it as much as I used to, and leading has never been a real issue.
Being an older model, I expected the cylinder throats to be different.

I don't have a set of pin gages to properly measure the throats. So, I went to the next best thing: a variety of cast and jacketed bullets, ranging from .427" to .435", that I verified were actually round with my micrometer. I slip-fit the bullets until I found one that was easily moved, but sat there if I let go. That indicates it's within 0.0002" of the actual size.
I have 4 chambers with throats between 0.4315-0.4323", and two between 0.4330-0.4335". That may explain why a six-round group usually has 2 holes standing out from the rest.

As expected, the barrel is constricted where it threads into the frame. I didn't get a good measurement and will have to slug it again. But, I know that it's tighter than 0.4275".
The groove diameter of the barrel is actually tighter than expected, at a few ten thousandths over 0.428".

With those measurements, I plan to stick with the largest bullet diameter I can chamber without resistance. It'll probably come in somewhere around .432-.433".

But, now that I know this groove diameter is pretty decent, I'm giving serious thought to lapping the constriction out. If I get that constriction opened to match the rest of the groove diameter, or even 0.0005" larger, it should turn into one helluva shooter and eliminate all size-related leading. Since Ruger will ream these throats to the same diameter for free, I plan to take them up on that offer after the Elk hunt. I may even try arguing that the a .433"+ throat is a ridiculous mate for a .428 barrel, in hopes that they fit an entirely new cylinder with identical chambers/throats.
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Last edited by FrankenMauser; August 26, 2012 at 04:50 PM.
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