How not to slug your barrel

[Rumple]

After reading how inconsistent the barrel dimensions are on the Type 56 I decided to slug my barrel...I watched a few youtube videos on how to do it,(seemed like a walk in the park)so I decided to give it a bash. I bought a wooden dowel cut into equal lengths and took a pellet of buckshot and a hard plastic hammer and proceeded to force the piece of lead down the barrel....halfway down things came to a grinding halt and the wood just kept breaking as I tried to hammer it down  I then took an old de-capping die rod and proceeded to really jam the wood into the barrel....I then went back to the net and every post on the topic spoke of never using wood to drive the lead down the barrel and nightmare stories of guys heating the barrels up and damaging the barrel  I had visions of having to buy a new firearm and using my brand new AK as a wall hanger...Then one guy said he made a small flat screw driver shaped rod from brass and slowly dug the wood out, so I tried that...after 4 hours of slowly digging the wood out one tiny piece at a time (making sure not to touch the metal part of the barrel) I was back to the original piece of dowel I had knocked in. I then took a brass rod with a rounded end and carefully knocked the last piece of wood and lead out of the barrel...I then raced off to the shooting range before it closed to see if I had damaged the barrel...The slug measured 7.9 mm (0.311) and the group was as it was before I attempted the slugging    this is something I will never ever do again    not for the feint of heart.

[oafpatroll]

Happy result. Ideally you want to start with a pure lead blank that is just a little over max possible bore dimension. It's also a good idea to lube the shit out of everything. Given the beating your test piece took I'd be hesitant to take the result to the bank. Do you intend casting and sizing to bore?

[Rumple]

Happy result. Ideally you want to start with a pure lead blank that is just a little over max possible bore dimension. It's also a good idea to lube the shit out of everything. Given the beating your test piece took I'd be hesitant to take the result to the bank. Do you intend casting and sizing to bore?

That will depend on how well the silver rapids work, as I have yet to find a cheaper alternative...every time (twice) that I have tried to cast bullets, I ended up burning myself   but to be honest I have not invested in all the correct equipment and was just experimenting...I first need to get the reloading side sorted without too many variables like cast bullets before I open that can of worms   I have access to a steady supply of lead so that will bring the cost down considerably.

[Treeman]

Happy result. Ideally you want to start with a pure lead blank that is just a little over max possible bore dimension. It's also a good idea to lube the shit out of everything. Given the beating your test piece took I'd be hesitant to take the result to the bank. Do you intend casting and sizing to bore?

That will depend on how well the silver rapids work, as I have yet to find a cheaper alternative...every time (twice) that I have tried to cast bullets, I ended up burning myself   but to be honest I have not invested in all the correct equipment and was just experimenting...I first need to get the reloading side sorted without too many variables like cast bullets before I open that can of worms   I have access to a steady supply of lead so that will bring the cost down considerably.

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Next time, if using wood make sure its a barrel fit and not loose in barrel, but rather use a old cleaning rod. I have  used a bullet that was lightly tapped on an steel surface to widen it a fraction, a ball hair. I as DsJ said greased it all very well.
I have used pistol bullets of same OD, I have use shotgun balls and I have used fishing sinkers of near OD. I have on more than one occasion used a rod from one side and another smacked from other side with a lead sinker ball between two rod ends to get the ball to squash into bore nicely. I have never ever even had a ball getting stuck scare.
Lube well, use soft lead and you pretty darn safe.

[Ds J]

I have also slugged some barrels. Use a 38Spl CN bullet with a threaded rod wrapped in masking tape.

[Rumple]

Happy result. Ideally you want to start with a pure lead blank that is just a little over max possible bore dimension. It's also a good idea to lube the shit out of everything. Given the beating your test piece took I'd be hesitant to take the result to the bank. Do you intend casting and sizing to bore?

That will depend on how well the silver rapids work, as I have yet to find a cheaper alternative...every time (twice) that I have tried to cast bullets, I ended up burning myself   but to be honest I have not invested in all the correct equipment and was just experimenting...I first need to get the reloading side sorted without too many variables like cast bullets before I open that can of worms   I have access to a steady supply of lead so that will bring the cost down considerably.

*****************************
Next time, if using wood make sure its a barrel fit and not loose in barrel, but rather use a old cleaning rod. I have  used a bullet that was lightly tapped on an steel surface to widen it a fraction, a ball hair. I as DsJ said greased it all very well.
I have used pistol bullets of same OD, I have use shotgun balls and I have used fishing sinkers of near OD. I have on more than one occasion used a rod from one side and another smacked from other side with a lead sinker ball between two rod ends to get the ball to squash into bore nicely. I have never ever even had a ball getting stuck scare.
Lube well, use soft lead and you pretty darn safe.

That is exactly what happened..the barrel dimension was 7.9mm and the wood was 6mm and it splintered when I knocked the second piece into the first piece...once I dug the broken pieces out it knocked out without too much force.

[big5ifty]

The way to get a lead plug out of the bore is very simple with a few grains of powder in a primed case.

No need to bang on things with a hammer.

Prime a case, start with a few [ 3 or 4 ] grains of pistol powder, use a bit of dacron to keep the powder in place, chamber and shoot where it's safe to do so. The noise is practically nothing, so if you have an enclosed back yard, you can do it there.

You may need to increase the powder charge if it doesn't move the first time, just do so one grain at a time. It will finally pop out just in front of the muzzle.

[big5ifty]

You can buy one meter lengths of aluminium rod from Builders. Get one with diameter that just fits into the barrel, and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Use that instead of wooden dowel.

[oafpatroll]

I've only ever used a hard wood dowel and never had an issue. Alloy, slug size and lubrication are key IMO. If you have to pound on it one or more of those is likely off.