Shoot a cast bullet with just a primer for test purpose?

Arlon

Member
Any issue firing a soft cast bullet with just a primer to get it well into the forcing cone? Still messing with the S&W 625-8 and I'm curious if the bullet is hitting the bottom of the forcing cone. I'm thinking if I shoot a round with no crimp and use a magnum primer I might get it into the barrel. Then I can push it out and check for any unusual deformation. Maybe lube the bore well first, might be easier to get out or get lucky and have it exit the barrel on it's own?

Gun cost me another $88 dollars today. Ordered a set of .251-.500 pin gages to help figure out some other stuff. At least I can use the pin gages for other things.. (-:}
 

Ian

Notorious member
You'll have to play with it a bit to get just what you want but it should work. A CCI LP primer will put a 200 grain air cooled wheelweight .45 ACP bullet 3/4 of the way into the rifled part. If you aren't getting enough distance try drilling the flash hole a little larger.
 

Arlon

Member
If I could stick it in the forcing cone without damaging the base of the bullet, that would be about perfect. Guess the best way to find out is just to go do it. I don't think I can do any damage.



Yep, worked like a charm. Bullets made it about half way down the barrel. The primers did a good job of "smoking" the forcing cone so I could see exactly where the next bullet was hitting it. No new answers but at least it's obvious the bullets are pretty straight with the forcing cone.

One observation is how little (if any) the .452 sized bullet is being sized by the bore. I think they would run better if the bullets were a little bigger.
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I used a very small charge of powder to stick a bullet in the barrel on my 44 mag. Takes more than expected to get it into the bore.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I used Winchesters to bump bullets into the throats of several of my semi auto's.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I sure did. I wanted to see what kind of deformation was caused by entry into the bore. Strictly an experiment to recover a minimally damaged bullet,
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Win spp will stick a Lee 358140 toward the end of a snubbie muzzle.