Author Topic: Breaking in barrel - that didn't work so well (Read 691 times)

poorcountrypreacher · « **on:** June 29, 2004, 04:09:54 AM »

Hi guys - At the rec of several of you, I bought some lead bullets - Hornady Great Plains - to fire thru my .45 Knight to help break in the barrel. I had previously shot only sabots thru it. I still haven't found any loose powder, so I used 1 Pyrodex pellet.

The directions with the bullets said they would be real hard to start down the barrel - they were, but once they got in they almost dropped down the barrel with very little pressure. Shot #1 reminded me of a .22 mag as far as noise and recoil. Shot # 2 was the same- both hit about a foot low at 50 yds. Shot # 3 was a dud; the primer went off, but the powder pellet came out of the barrel on fire and looked like a bad bottle rocket; went about 20 yds flying in an erratic manner. That kinda spooked me; I took it all apart and everything seemed ok, so I tried again and the next shot was ok. Then the 5th shot was another dud. I shot a few saboted bullets and called it a day.

I assume that the bullet was so loose in the barrel that it didn't keep the powder under enough pressure to ignite - am I right? I don't know about a ML, but that can be extremely dangerous in CF and can result in something called SEE and blow up your gun. I knew of a guy that destroyed a nice Contender this way. I don't plan on messing with non-saboted bullets anymore, but I would like to understand what was going on. I doubt that these bullets helped my barrel at all, as they were so loose in the rifling they couldn't have done much in smoothing it out.

Can somebody explain what happened? Thanks

Wolfhound · « **Reply #1 on:** June 29, 2004, 04:43:13 AM »

Lol! I've had it happen myself. What it's doing is expelling the bullet before the pellet fully burns. Basically your pellet is igniting and the resultant gas pushes the loose fitting bullet out of the barrel. The bullet does not obturate (expand) into the rifling. As for why some did it and others didn't I haven't a clue. It's only an issue with pellets, as far as I know, since loose powder burns much faster and also creates pressure faster.

There are ways to work around this. The first obviously is use loose powder. The second is place a tight fitting wad on top of the pellet and before seating the bullet. The third is ditch the pure lead conicals and use Powerbelts as they have a gas check built in. Out of the 3 the last is my suggestion. You can break in a barrel with the lead, but it's messier. I prefer a powerbelt, but I'm not always able to find em.

RandyWakeman · « **Reply #2 on:** June 29, 2004, 02:22:27 PM »

Quote from: Wolfhound

Basically your pellet is igniting and the resultant gas pushes the loose fitting bullet out of the barrel.

Yes, it is very cool for the 4th of July-- and chicks dig it.

I'm with Wolfhound as to shooting a dozen rounds of Powerbelts through a barrel for a light smoothing, but "break-in" is really not necessary that I can see on most current Knight barrels.

poorcountrypreacher · « **Reply #3 on:** June 29, 2004, 05:02:24 PM »

Thanks guys - I think I am declaring this barrel to be broken-in. It was already shooting at least as well as their 2.5" guarantee. I've got 3 types of bullets to shoot and make a final decision on which to use. Then I'm going to put this thing away until closer to deer season. Thanks for all the help.