Cheap Borescope is Handy

Ganderite

Ganderite

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Farm south of North Bay
I have a cheap Taurus revolver that is important to me. I won a $100 (50 pounds) prize at Bisely and wanted to come home with a more tangible prize, so i went to the local gunshop (Fultons) and bought a 50 pound gun -this Tauris 38 Special revolver.

I recently shot it and found that two chambers had some roughness and would not extract the fired cases. With a borescope (about $65 on Amazon.ca) I can easily see it.

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My challenge now is to clean it up. I tried a bronze brush in an electric drill, but it did not do much. A machinist owes me one, so i will turn it over to him.

Any suggestions? I see some machining marks in the chambers, so a honing or something might be in order.
 
Just my 1/50th$ - I'd suggest trying something less than honing first. Maybe polish with JB bore paste or something like that? I'm just hesitant after 'over-doing' some other projects (nothing like a firearm) and ended up with loose fits.
 
I make a whip out of a piece of dowl or cheap chop stick. Just cut a slit in the end and feed a slim strip of 1000 grit emery cloth through it. Fix it in your drill and buff back and forth.
 
Not sure if it can still be gotten at Princess Auto, but you used to be able to get a pack of 4(?) polishing bars of different grades. You probably don't want to remove any metal, so starting with a mildly aggressive polish would probably be your best bet.

Melt a little wax polish on a soft bore swab a bit bigger than the chamber, rotate it on a drill, and work it in and out. You will likely use a few different grades to finish it out to the smoothness you're after.
 
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I put a cloth patch on a wire brush and spun it in an electric drill. used fine valve grinding compound followed by Autosol polish. No change. 4 cylinders work, one is a bit tight (better now) and the other holds the case tight.
 
Ganderite said:
I put a cloth patch on a wire brush and spun it in an electric drill. used fine valve grinding compound followed by Autosol polish. No change. 4 cylinders work, one is a bit tight (better now) and the other holds the case tight.
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If you are having a hard time, I could send you a piece of each bar. It seems that I have enough to last me for several decades, as much as I polish metal.
 
That bar sample sounds like a good offer. I accept.

Valve grinding compound was a terrible idea. I should know better. It is embedding type compound. It stays in place and now the gun is grungy. I have to take it apart to try to get all the old compound out.
 
Ganderite said:
That bar sample sounds like a good offer. I accept.

Valve grinding compound was a terrible idea. I should know better. It is embedding type compound. It stays in place and now the gun is grungy. I have to take it apart to try to get all the old compound out.
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I kind of figured it would wipe out, myself. Just like off a valve. Good to know!

It will probably take me a couple days to send it off, suitably; but I'll try to find a way to do it, so it isn't a mess. I'll bag each grade separate, and send some info on each one as a guide for use.
 
I have a complicated and uncommon gun that has parts that seem handmade. There is a spring tube that is supposed to come out with a 60-deg turn but its surface is (still) fairly rough. Before it needed a lever and mallet to get moving. I've used ordinary fine grit sandpaper to knock down the tool marks and smooth the mating surface. It is still gritty and grabby, but better than before. More work next time that one comes out of the locker.
 
Ganderite said:
I put a cloth patch on a wire brush and spun it in an electric drill. used fine valve grinding compound followed by Autosol polish. No change. 4 cylinders work, one is a bit tight (better now) and the other holds the case tight.
Click to expand...

Get a old brush and spin a bit of steel wool on it so it is tight in the chambers, polish will not do much on the tool marks, or as someone said, a dowel 5/16" or so and fine emery paper, than the polish after you get the rough off. if you turned a dowel to a snug fit, worked valve grinding compound into the wood and spun that , it would work like a hone, go slow. Chrome polish has more grit in I think.
 
Ganderite said:
I tried the steel wool on a brush with an electric drill. Cases are stills tuck in two chambers.

I know a machinist who owes me a favour. I will ask him to clean up these two chambers.
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I would use a wooden rod, lightly knurled, and 0000 oiled steel wool. Back and forth mvts with regular indexings.

Is there a chance that these chambers missed the finishing reamer?
 
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