polishing bores of shotguns

[Tater Pickens]

I have seen comment on these sites about polishing the bores of our shotguns. What purpose does that serve and how do you do it?

Tater Pickens

[Pettifogger]

Are you talking about polishing the chambers?  I don't know anyone that polishes bores for CAS shooting.  You polish the chambers on a double barrel because SASS does not allow EJECTORS on doubles only EXTRACTORS.  Polishing helps the shells fall out of the chambers for quick reloads.

[Tater Pickens]

Mis use of terms here-sorry. Yes, I am talking about the chamber, not the entire barrell.

Tater

[Tater Pickens]

To use a political term- I "misspoke" , sorry. I am speaking of polishing the chamber, not the entire barrell. Is it necessary to start with medium and go to fine or will fine do the job? I have a fairly new TTN and I don't believe there is any major machining marks in there but I had just heard of a lot of you fellas polishing the chamber for easy extraction. I use magteck brass and BP loads but the spent shells will not shuck just by throwing the open SG back as I have seen done.

Thanks

[Mako]

Are you talking about polishing the chambers?  I don't know anyone that polishes bores for CAS shooting.  You polish the chambers on a double barrel because SASS does not allow EJECTORS on doubles only EXTRACTORS.  Polishing helps the shells fall out of the chambers for quick reloads.

Pettifogger,
Actually a lot of times both are needed.  My girls have a couple of Stoeger doubles that both had rough areas right before the choke which fouled with plastic and residue.  Those were the last two bores I polished.  I polish almost all of my chambers on all shotgun types.  I actually have a complete set of ball hones for 12 gauge and I have never used the coarse hone in like thirty years.  I have used the medium hone a few times, but I think the fine is all that most people need.  I was amazed at how much they are these days.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=647/Product/SHOTGUN_BARREL_POLISHING_FLEX_HONE_reg_

You have to have the oil, use lots of it or you will glaze the balls over and ruin them.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=25280/Product/FLEX_HONE_OIL

I also have chamber hones they just come in fine now.  The chamber hone is what you are talking about.  If that is too much for your one shotgun then you can polish with a wooden dowel (3/8") wrapped with duck tape to build it up and then you roll wet and dry abrasive paper around it.  It has to be secured so it doesn't slip.  Roll it so that it doesn't try to unroll as you twist it.  Use a drill motor and keep the chamber fully lubricated with diesel fuel.  You need lot's of lubrication, you also need an area or containment technique to control where all of this oil is going t go.  Move the hone in and out back and forth constantly as you hone.

Start with 320 grit paper move to 400 and finish with 600.  Use the black/grey wet and dry type of paper, not the paper you would use on wood.

~Mako

[Shotgun Franklin]

I used a piece of cleaning rod with the slotted tip. Put a piece of thick cloth in the slot and smeared fine polishing compound on the cloth. Set the whole thing in my power drill and polished. Worked well for me. Tried to keep the tip from running out into the barrel but I don't think it would have hurt anything if it did run down the barrel a bit.

[Tater Pickens]

Thanks guys. Some good tips here. The Brownell hones are right pricey for just one SG so the Mako and Shotgun FRanklin methods sound much more cost effective for me.

Tater

[Montana Slim]

I have another type ofone, purchased from Brownells about 20 yrs ago. It's a simple 2-hone, spring-loaded bore hone that would typically be used for any cylinder honing of the approximate size of a shotgun bore...perhaps even automotive brake cylinders
Purchased this outfit for around $10, plus some extra stones. I've used it to smooth-up rough bores, both old and new, plus chambers, too. All I had to add was an extension (threaded rod), plus a coupler for about $5 at the hardware store.

Regards,
Slim

[Fairshake]

I have a TTN SXS that needed the chambers smoothed up some and even with my discount I found the Brownel's too much. I went to Harbour Freight and purchased a brake cylinder hone that worked perfect for a third of the chamber hone cost. Be careful when doing this as you can polish them too much and cause the sticking problem. A good cross hatch pattern and running the drill at slow speed with Kano oil is how I did it.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Also try a couple of different make's of shotgun shells. I have real good luck with Remington Dove Loads. They're slick and don't hangup.