Originally Posted by
Maillemaker
I am sad to say that it did seem to me that the push got noticeably easier about mid-way down the barrel. I'm not sure if that is because the bullet was so over-sized to start with (about .522 in a .512 bore), or what.
Steve
Mr. Veral Smith of LBT (Lead Bullet Technology, InC.) some years ago sold fire lapping kits and push through slugs to smooth out rifle bores. He told me that when pushing a slug through a bore, you wanted the force required to be constant or gradually lessening. This meant the bore was smooth and the bullet wasn't encountering high and low spots in the bore. If you feel the slug start and stop, it indicates high spots that can degrade accuracy. An ideal bore would be ever so slightly tapered, almost "choked" from breech to muzzle.
I used his fire lapping technique to smooth out a Pedersoli 1874 Sharps silhouette rifle. After 80 firelapping shots, that bore was a smooth as a baby's bottom. I made Master Class in BPCR with that gun.
Your "noticeably easier" might be an indicator of a good smooth bore.
Bob Anderson
Ordnance Sergeant
Company C, 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Small Arms Committee
"I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
- John Wayne in "The Shootist", 1976
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