Bore Horny!

[ArmedinAtlanta]

Thanks, RamRoddoc, for the very informative post. This is exactly the kind of stuff I love seeing on ODT. No politics, no price debates, just hot, nasty badass gun info showing us all how to do something that most of us previously 1) haven't done; and 2) wouldn't have the stones to try (maybe I'm just speaking for myself on that 2nd one.) Great job on the work and the post!

 

[Clarke123]

Thanks, RamRoddoc, for the very informative post. This is exactly the kind of stuff I love seeing on ODT. No politics, no price debates, just hot, nasty badass gun info showing us all how to do something that most of us previously 1) haven't done; and 2) wouldn't have the stones to try (maybe I'm just speaking for myself on that 2nd one.) Great job on the work and the post!

Ahem ... that would be me as well!
I can't "measure thrice and cut once" and come up with a straight, even, accurate cut!

 

[RamRoddoc]

Ahem ... that would be me as well!
I can't "measure thrice and cut once" and come up with a straight, even, accurate cut!

I'm not the sharpest tack in the box and Mom/Granny said I was bull headed. I'd rather think I was just committed.....

Update gentlemen!

I ordered”bore hone" 320 grit and an 800 grit hone through the webs rather cheap, I'll add. However the performance was minimal. If you have a bore that has no issues and want to just polish it a bit then buy one or two like I did, they are cheap. However if some metal removal is needed and you really don't want to ream the crap out of it and open it up a heck of a lot, then the expended cartridge case comes to your aid.

I have a 9mm Storm Lake (isonite processed) G34 barrel that needed a bore horny too in order to accept my reloads. I will say up front the depth of the bullet is critical as it momentarly confused me as I was removing thousands of an inch of metal with the red neck chamber polisher. Ensure the round is at optimal seating depth (check it with several different depths). Don’t over polish! Just enough to seat your rounds and you will not get a more accurate chamber for your reloaded rounds.

First the commercial bore hone takes precious little off the surface. For my application it failed and was a waste of money. However a .30 Carbine case served me very well in polishing and metal removal allowing me to fit my reloads to the 9mm chamber.

Heck this red neck chamber polisher works so well I'll never buy a "bore hone" and the cool thing is you choose the grit you want (220, 400 and 800) by cutting strips of sand paper and inserting into the red neck polisher. You can adjust the depth by cutting shorter width and increase pressure on the chamber walls by cutting the paper longer. That's a lot of flexibility anyone will never obtain from a commercial bore hone.

Here is the commerical bore hone and the the red neck hone. The 9mm red neck bore hone based on a .30 Carbine case:

 

[Hayata]

Yet ANOTHER reason to own a .30 carbine...

 

[Clarke123]

Where can we put posts like this so that they are available for "future" problem solvers?
The ODT Forum is full of "STUFF" a few (like this one) are truly "GEMS" of Experience & Knowledge
that should be part of a special reference library!

 

[RamRoddoc]

Where can we put posts like this so that they are available for "future" problem solvers?
The ODT Forum is full of "STUFF" a few (like this one) are truly "GEMS" of Experience & Knowledge
that should be part of a special reference library!

There were a bunch, only a few became stickies but sadly were lost with upgrades to the ODT. There are some new ones and fresh blood, always a good thing.

 

[jglenn]

I use quit a few of the flex hones as I've had a ton of experience with them from my engine building days... Excellent tools and a great family owned business.. they are simply designed to finish a cylinder not to remove material or straighten up a cylinder... We always used a positive pressure hone like a Sunnen to straight any bore then used the flex hone for the right finish

what you duplicated is more of a blind hole hone which I use quite a few of for my 1911 work( slide bore area for the barrel bushing, firing pin and extractor holes etc). nice job BTW

http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/05070321

great little tools for polishing and removing minor material. they are pretty cheap in the smaller sizes and are adjustable in size..

BTW, the secret to Aluma-hyde is that it is a bit thicker than Cerakote so go light on the application.. you can re-coat within 20 minutes or so but keep it thin... then put it somewhere and forget it for 2 weeks.. It will harden over that time and work pretty darn well for the simplicity of application. works well on gun stocks too. you might as well buy some extra spray nozzles from Brownells too... they clog up pretty quickly even if you clean them with carb cleaner each time.. it is similar to Cerakote air dry, but I think the Cerakote is eventually harder

H series Cerakote is terrific.. easily the best home applied finish other than bluing... best thing I can recommend is getting their training manual online and follow it to a T. use a small spray gun or turn the volume WAY down on larger guns.. years ago we used nothing but air brushes and they still are not a bad way to start.. we now use a small gun that barely covers as it sprays.. coating is very thin(about .001) but cover anything that is tightly fit such as any pin hole or slide rails on a 1911.. Heat boxes can be as fancy or simple as you care to make.. we still use a box we built that has a heat gun for input.. we regulate temp by exhaust holes. Simply line the box with aluminum faced insulation board from the home box stores.. use a temp gage that has a long probe such a Lymans casting thermometer. Did I say keep the application thin.... use only AO or Garnet to prep the materials..

you can also play with Cerakote colors by mixing two or more colors together.. I use a combination of Socom blue and midnight black to better simulate the color of most bluing.. interesting colors can also be done by using excessive heat for long periods of time ( another story) have fun with it.. if you screw it up you get to start completely over!!