Slugging a muzzle-loader?

M

Metman2

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After a number of searches both on CGN and elsewhere, I have not succeeded in finding any info on this intriguing topic. Up to now, I have slugged all my guns' barrels, which was easy enough (soft lead oversize bullet/ball, place in one end, use suitably-centred rod to pound carefully through the barrel and out the other end). Forgive me if that was too brief a description of the barrel-slugger's art, but it seems to have worked for me, as I'm still alive to write about it.

Today I am faced with a closed breech muzzle-loader (Lyman Plains Pistol), that I would dearly like to test with the lead slug of precision, but alas, how is it done? If I push a slug down the uncharged muzzle, there is no means for it to pass through the barrel, but it needs to return back whence it entered. I could employ the worm to pull it back out, but would I then end up with an accurate measure? Is there no solution to this conundrum? :confused:

I can use vernier calipers, so perhaps that's as good as can be done.
 
get a piece of brass rod with a good weight to it and then slug as normal tip the barrel over and the rod will knock out the slug (you will want something soft for the slug to land on)
 
you might have a hard time pulling out a ball slugged to full depth of the rifling. When I have checked dimensions it has been the bore dimension (rather than groove) and I have a series of home made plug guages and drop the appropriate one into the muzzle. These guages are cylinders that increase in diameter in steps about 3/8" long and in jumps of .002" with a total range of about .020". Just mike the diameter of the largest step to go in.
I think for groove diameter, I would probably make up a rod with a stop on the end and drop a ball down it with a hole through the center. Expand the ball with a larger tube pounding down of the ball against the stop (stop would need to be near bore diameter

cheers mooncoon
 
Thanks for the different suggestions. It is apparently a non-trivial problem, compared to my other guns for which the barrels can all be removed or opened.
Originally I was hoping to remove the breech plug on the Lyman, but that, too, is non-trivial. My worst-case scenario is that I won't be able to easily extract anything pounded down the muzzle.

My worry with using the worm was that the slug wouldn't budge, or that I'd rip the worm out of the slug, leaving it behind. Suppose I only pushed the slug a short ways down the barrel? Then if it got really stuck, I would be able to get it out with other tools.
 
Put about 5 grains of black powder in the gun then hammer in an oversized ball to fill the grooves, fire the slugged ball onto a bucket of water.
 
Some plugs, particulary TC ones, are exceptionally hard to remove while others are comparitively easy. You may / probably require a plug wrench (vaguely like a socket wrench which a hole shaped like the cross section of the breach) to remove the breach plug without damage. Perhaps more particularly why bother, beyond simply looking and saying the rifling is shallow (.004 - .005") or medium (.010") or deep (.020" or deeper) which you can arguably do by eye. The bore diameter more or less determines the ball size and the depth of rifling somewhat determines the patch thickness.

the method that I suggested is probably easier than removing the breach plug but more or less assumes that you have a metal lathe

cheers mooncoon
 
Do a Cerrosafe cast of the last couple inches of the barrel maybe? Or an inside micrometer tool and measure directly?

Honestly though, my thought is that its not really worth the effort for a muzzleloader. Particularly a modern made one of known calibre. Take Lymans word for it and experiment a little with ball size and patch thickness. If its of unknown entirely a good set of calipers should get a person close enough to get started.

You aren't going to be breachloading slugs that have to be over bore diameter for accuracy or leading issues and if you are shooting a muzzleloader with bore-tight, rifling engraved slugs they have to be swaged down through a false muzzle and sized by the bore itsself anyway.
 
Hmm- depending on the barrel length and diameter perhaps a brass rod place in the barrel before the slug could be used like a kinetic puller? As long as there was room for it to gather speed without rattling around side to side too much it should work. More suited to rifle barrels though.
 
H Wally said:
Hmm- depending on the barrel length and diameter perhaps a brass rod place in the barrel before the slug could be used like a kinetic puller? As long as there was room for it to gather speed without rattling around side to side too much it should work. More suited to rifle barrels though.
Click to expand...

just as i said but i said it before i seen it was a pistol barrel
 
I think you would be wise to have a metal rod in the center of the cerrosafe casting, in order to remove it. Paraffin wax with a strong chord down the center would also work. Don't forget to tie the chord onto the cloth patch you are using to limit how far down the cerrosafe or paraffin goes

cheers mooncoon
 
What's the point? Use vernier at the muzzle to get a general idea, then start with .010" patch and appropriate ball and shoot it. If it's too loose, up your ball or patch size.
 
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