New Pellets in Holland

[rsterne]

Yes indeed.... Can you imagine squeezing off the fifth shot, knowing what the group looked like after four?....

Bob

[SeanMP]

No doubt.....I would be seriously ticked if I pulled it

[SeanMP]

I had some time tonight to do a push through of the 41.5gr RWS pellets in the .223 Hornet barrel.

It required a heck of a push. Very similar to shoving a patch ball down my old 45cal. It was choke tight all the way down which clearly says it's a prime candidate for a classic lead lap.

Here are the pics at three rotations

Attachment 680Attachment 681Attachment 682

[rsterne]

and we were worried about it being LOOSE !!!

It looks like the groove diameter is actually shaving a small amount of lead from the second and particularly the third driving bands (but not the front one), let alone the lands....

I'd a heck of a lot sooner have the bullets tight than loose, though.... I've never done a lead lap but I happen to know somebody who has.... *wink wink nudge nudge*....

Bob

[SeanMP]

Yes I agree on both counts. Tight is better...I can work with tight. I was actually considering the possibility of having to roll on a little choke at the muzzle.......NOT!

Yes the band is being shaved. But that was on a raw start. It will look a little less violated after I put a good chamber and a really shallow leade in. There is way too much smearing.

I know a guy who does lead lapping as well and there is no way he would let that get out of the shop without having a go.

On a really good note the barrels are uniformly tight all the way down Kudos to TJ's

[rsterne]

I'll give Mike a call and report that to him, with our compliments.... Do you have a dimension on the groove size (ie can you measure the bullet OD now, after having pushing it through?.... I'd like to let him know....

Bob

[SeanMP]

Groove 0.2233"
Land 0.2178

Bullet 0.2243


Sorry I can only go to the 4rth decimal....I think my dog ate my airgage

[rsterne]

Thanks.... So less than 0.001" needs to be removed?.... Isn't a very slight interference (less than 0.0005") supposed to be the best?.... Are you going to try and leave a couple of inches at the muzzle the existing size only polished?.... I tried to call Mike but he's away until Aug. 29.... I'll do it then....

Bob

[SeanMP]

Yes this is a perfect example of a classic taper lap. Whereby the whole barrel becomes a choke with the muzzle being the typical .0005 to .001 tight and the breech lapped to dead on. This is the way Pope et al would have made a barrel for the ballard style action. ie. a pure lead projectile loaded separately from the charged case. Which has always been in my mind the best correlation to what we do with air rifles.

[SeanMP]

Here is a carbon fiber barrel ready for lapping
IMG050.jpgIMG048.jpgIMG049.jpg

believe it or not the CF was not as much of a PITA as I was expecting.