@Tennessee Jed - Coke!
@Tennessee Jed - Coke!
I've used these stainless chamber brushes for years. https://www.brownells.com/gun-cleani...-prod1290.aspx
BCM,
Your thread starts out with carbon build up and ends up with lead build up. If it is inside the cylinder just before the throat it's probably carbon. They aren't the same thing and have different causes and removal procedures. You don't mention the caliber of the gun.
Could you provide more info please? Is the gun a .44 mag or .357 mag?
If it is one of these the previous owner may have shot a lot of .44 special/.38 special through it causing a serious carbon build up in the chamber where the shorter case of the specials ends in the chamber. This carbon is difficult to get out likely needing to mechanically remove it by scraping or reaming.
Outpost75 offers the most likely option with the modified chamber reamer.
Malamute and Revchuck options using a stainless chamber brush chucked in a drill may work as well.
Carbon removers work well on lightly affected areas but the carbon you describe has likely been baked on over a period of time and will need to be ground, brushed, or scraped out.
If it's not a .44 or .357 then disregard this as I'm probably full of crap and way off base.
If it's lead build up then the previous owner shot a lot of the wrong sized/hardness bullets in it without regular maintenance and may require mechanical removal as well so you can start fresh.
You may want to determine the size of your chamber throat so you don't have the same issues in the future.
Last edited by baddean; 09-20-2021 at 05:31 PM.
Dean,
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine
"The problem is not the availability of guns, it is the availability of morons."- Antonio Meloni
baddean, sorry if I got off base. Here's the latest. We have no more CARBON in the cylinder chambers. I took a thin piece of scotch brite and wrapped it around a worn out bronze brush and after soaking the chambers in penetrating oil for awhile very carefully spun this brush in each chamber for about five seconds with a cordless drill, and then wiped out the chambers and took a look with the bore scope and presto carbon - be - gone. Someone must have shot a bunch of .44 Special brass in this revolver. But now I have another issue. I took about ten 200gr. RNFP bullets and dropped them into each of the chambers. About eight out of ten dropped right through. The other two or so took very little pressure to push them on through. I checked them with my dial calibers and they measured .432" (yes, it's a S&W 29-2 6 1/2"). Now what do I do? I could bump up the velocity so the bullets would obturate more, but that would defeat the purpose of reduced loads for pleasant shooting. Or tell Oregon Trail the next time I need bullets to make me a special run of .434" bullets. Yeah, right. I can see that happening. I do want to thank all of you guys for your helping me with this situation. It's appreciated. I loaded up some Trail Boss, Blue Dot, Unique, 231, Red Dot and Titegroup while the cylinders were soaking today, so if the weather is ok I'll hit the range tomorrow and see how bad it shoots with these loose- in - the - chamber bullets. If you guys have any other recommendations or suggestions please feel free to lay them on me. I need all the advise I can get. Thanks again. BCM
Dave Manson sells that tool for .357 and .44.Originally Posted by Outpost75
Best way to check throat diameter and know for sure is to buy a couple gage pins in the size range you think it will be.
https://www.amazon.com/HHIP-4103-043...dp/B01BHHOG2C/
https://www.amazon.com/Vermont-Gage-...dp/B0006JCMIS/
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Not another dime.
BCM
Glad to hear that you got the carbon out.
As to the other issues, I assume that you mean you checked the chamber dimensions and found .432 which according to SAAMI is correct. (.4325)
If you are using the Oregon Trail 200gr bullets they show a hardness of 15 on the BS. That's not hard. Sized to .431
https://oregontrailbullets.com/xcart...ab-description
Missouri Bullet Co sells a .44 cowboy bullet that's a little softer at 12 BS sized to .430
https://missouribullet.com/details.p...238&category=5
The lighter you want to make the load the softer the bullet you want to use.
If you are going to continue to shoot .44 special in the gun you will always get a carbon ring in the chamber. Just clean the chamber well after each session and you won't get the hard build up.
It will be interesting to hear how your different loadings work out for you. Small subtle differences in powder amounts can make a big difference in bullet performance and leading with minimal effect on felt recoil.
If you're not recoil sensitive standard .44 special load data (with subtle adjustments) should work for what you are looking for in that gun.
Remember that just because these bullets were loose in the chamber when you dropped them through doesn't meant they are still loose when fired under pressure. If the chamber is .432 and the bullet is .431 it will drop through.
Dean,
“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine
"The problem is not the availability of guns, it is the availability of morons."- Antonio Meloni
Another thing that may help is cleaning the cylinder while the gun is still warm at the range.
When shooting my GP, I take some paper towels in the range bag. Wipe it down immediately after shooting, while it's still warm, and the vast majority of the soot comes right off with a gentle wipe and no chemicals. Wait for all the carbon deposits to cross link and adhere to the steel as they cool, and there will be scrubbing and/or chemicals required.
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Not another dime.
Yup, I've been down this road. I inherited an early 1980's S&W 629-1, and couldn't figure out why I often had leading issues, until getting some pin gauges and measuring the cylinder throats, and realizing that they were all 0.432". I later learned that most 29's and 629's made prior to the mid - late 1980's all had that size throats. I've read that after the late 1980's, S&W reduced the size of the throats to around 0.429 - 0.430. The problem, as you've noticed, is that most commercial casters are focused on guns manufactured after then, so their bullets are 0.430 wide.
So far, my solution has been to purchase bullets from makers that will cast bullets at 0.432. That includes moyerscastbullets.com, and gtbullets.com. Bullets from both entities were fantastic, and going with the wider bullet made the leading disappear completely.
Other options I'm considering, but haven't tried yet, include trying to find cast bullets sized at 0.431 a bit more on the soft side (like bhn around 12 or so), hoping that the bullet will obturate fully. Or checking with Missouri Bullet to get their 0.430 bullets unsized, hoping that unsized they're closer to 0.432, but if they're over 0.432 I might have to size them, and I will definitely have to lubricate them.
The best option, though, will be get into casting and make the bullets myself. I'm not there yet, but I'm considering it.
One thing I strongly suggest is to stay away from undersized bullets that have a poly or moly or Hi Tek - type coating. When the bullet is undersized and that coating gets smeared in the barrel, it's much more work to get that out of the barrel than just regular leading.
Ordinary guy
baddean, what I mic'd was the bullets. I don't have a set of go, no - go gauges to check the chambers, but if the bullets fall through at .432" what are the chamber dimensions?? One more question, if I get a plug gauge and lets say the chambers are in fact .432" what is the ideal cast bullet to run in this gun? .433" or maybe .434"? I don't know, I'm asking. Let's say for talking purposes the chambers measure .432" and .433" is the ideal size for this gun, would that also apply for a .38 / .357 magnum also? One thousandth over chamber size? And my wife's .32 H&R magnum/ .327 Federal? One thousandth over again? Does caliber have any effect on bullet to chamber size?
I'm going to shoot the loads I mentioned and if your interested I'll post the results. Thanks to all once again for your help. BCM
As I understand it, the starting point is the barrel groove diameter.
Slug the barrel. Cast bullets should be ~0.0005 to 0.001 inch larger than that so they seal very well and are guided precisely and consistently down the bore the same way every time.
The bullets should be a slip fit or very slightly undersize in the throats. Like +0.000/-0.0005 inch in the throats. You don't want the bullets to be larger than the throats, because then you are using the cylinder as a sizing swage every time you fire it, which will quickly lead to end shake. But you don't want clearance around the bullets, because then the charge gasses flow past the bullets, melting the surface of the lead, and coating the throats, forcing cone, etc. with molten metal.
If your throats are too small, you can get them reamed/honed up to the size they need to be.
If you throats are too large, you can become familiar with the Lewis Lead Remover or shoot jacketed bullets.
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Not another dime.
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