Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt

[Quan Toi]

Veral, as they say, "The check is in the mail." Yesterday I ordered a 325 gr. WFN GC mold for the above listed gun. I thought it was great when I bought it (see previous post) but after shooting it I found out different. Anyway I ordered your lap kit and push-thru slugs and I used 78 Lyman# 452424 bullets cast, 14 bhn on your tester. Trouble is my muzzle is .4517" and my forcing cone is .4504! After 78 rounds, should I shoot more (and if so...how many more) or wait and try the new bullets from your mold? If I use  bullets from your new mold (WITH OR WITHOUT GAS CHECKS) to do any final lapping??? Also in your catalog on (page 6) regarding sizing and lubing, you give info on the Star pusher plug size necessary for the sizing with gas checks. My question is will Magma make one for me or do I have to have a local machinist convert my existing .45 top punch? Thanks for all you do for the cast bullet fraternity!

[Veral]

  You missed one VERY IMPORTANT piece of information in the lap instructions.  Maximum hardness for lapping is 12 bhm.  Harder and they will spring back larger after passing through a constriction.  I believe that pretty well explains your large muzzle. 

  You can lap some more with that mold or wait till the LBT mold arrives.  Don't use gas checks when fire lapping.  Just leave them if the bullet is cut for gc's.

  Star will make the pusher punch any diameter you ask for, and cup the end a little.    Or they will sell you full size blanks which can be machined by any competent lathe operator.  I've even been able to do a few for customers my own self!!!   --  Best shot is to ask Magma to do it because you have to order the punch from them anyhow.  They are good people.

[Quan Toi]

Veral,
     My bad. I added lead to my pot and now have a mess of Lyman 452424 bullets that register 12 BHN on your tester 2 days after casting. Any suggestions on how many more lap bullets to shoot based on my previous mentioned measurements? I don"t want to open the muzzle up any more than it is. Thanks for your reply.

[Quan Toi]

Veral,
     Hello...is this thing on? Have you red my previous post? Many thanks in anticipation of a response.

[Veral]

  Yessir, the forum is running 24/7, but I don't!   There are times when I don't have time to answer for a week or more, so it is best to email me direct with personal questions like this, especially if in a hurry.  You see, I consider this forum as being useful information to all readers, and try to operate it, and write my answers  pretty much for that purpose. 

  my email addrress is    LBTisAccuracy@localnet.com

  12 bhn bullets will not open up the muzzle of a gun until after all constrictions farther back in the barrel have been removed.  There is ony one way that I know of to know when the bore is lapped perfectly, and that is with our push through slugs, which will feel out changes in diameter as small as 100,000 of an inch.  That is 1/5 the thickness of saran wrap, which is more precision than the finest target grade barrels.