Good advice KN. It is always good to learn from the sometimes hard-earned wisdom of those with experience like you have. I have never attempted to change a barrel in a revolver (except my Dan Wessons of course) because I can mess up a ball bearing, and the fine finish on a gun I could mess up in a heartbeat.
As for the diameter reduction at the beginning of a revolver barrel, there is another very well versed person that has some interesting things to say about that. The owner of Beartooth Bullets, Marshall Stanton, has the following posted in his FAQ section. He is one of the most knowledgable persons I have ever read on the subject with a LOT more hands on experience than I have in this area.
Quote from Beartooth Bullets FAQ
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> Firelapping... What is it and what will it do for my gun? :: By on 2001-01-29
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Fire lapping very basically involves shooting a soft, BHN 11, oversize bullet impregnated with a high grade lapping compound through the bore of your firearm at airgun velocities. These abrasive bullets act like self conforming lapping plugs which incrementally remove constrictions in the barrel, uniform it dimensionally and smooth out the tooling and chatter marks in the rifling. Complete fire lapping step by step instructions may be found in the fire lapping chapter in the Beartooth Bullets Technical Guide.
In virtually all firearms it will either greatly reduce or totally eliminate both barrel leading and jacket fouling by smoothing out the tooling marks left in the barrel by the equipment used in barrel manufacture and by easing the sharp corners and edges inside the bore which collect fouling.
In most guns, there will be at least a modest increase in accuracy potential, to often times dramatic improvement in accuracy from increasing the uniformity of the bore dimensionally, and eliminating the constrictions which are common under dovetails in barrels, and barrel bands.
Especially in revolvers where the threaded barrel shank is screwed into the frame of the revolver, dramatic improvements in performance may be achieved. This is particularly true where cast bullets are used in the revolver, because the constriction under the threaded barrel shank (which can be from .002"-. 004" depending on make and caliber), acts like an undersize, bullet sizing die, thus sizing the bullet down under barrel groove dimension, creating an improper bullet to barrel fit. Not only does this condition deteriorate accuracy; it also promotes barrel leading. Fire lapping, properly done eliminates this condition.
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Food for thought.
Roll Tide
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