Flex Hone
- Thread starter 44 Dave
- Start date
g.willikers
New member
Back in the day when using flex hones was part of rebuilding brake cylinders with parts kits, caution was required not to tilt the hone.
Otherwise, there was a risk of getting oval shaped results.
Just a thought.
Otherwise, there was a risk of getting oval shaped results.
Just a thought.
bedbugbilly
New member
I agree . . . why do it? It shouldn't be necessary. I've used flex hones many years ago in machining certain things . . . and as mentioned in regards to brake cylinders . . a lot of damage can be done if you aren't "square" with your work and if you don't know what you're doing (not saying you don't). Start honing that 44-40 cylinder and you just may end up with a 44 spl/mag cylinder.
I don't have any wheel guns that need to have or have had to have the chambers "honed" or polished. But . . . if I did, the very "most" I would do is to use something like a dremel tool with a very loose fitting to the chamber soft pad . . perhaps a bore mop . . and a very light polishing compound . . and even then . . adepending on the polishing compound grit you could end up with a slightly out of round chamber. I have often used just plain old "tooth paste" as a buffing coompound on such things as semi-auto slides/rail to smooth them out some.
As an example . . . on my 45 Colt which is considered a "straight wall" . . . I very rarely even have to use my ejector as I'm not loading max or near max loads. A 44-40 which is a bottleneck type casing . . . if you are using some stouter loads will usually fire form to the chamber and even more so due to the thinness of the neck area. That's why Colt bolted that spring loaded rod under the barrel on all of their SAAs - just in case a person needed it.
In essence . . . it's your handgun but if you end up taking material off the wall of a chamber . . . it will cost you a new cylinder which I'm sure wouldn't be cheap.
I don't have any wheel guns that need to have or have had to have the chambers "honed" or polished. But . . . if I did, the very "most" I would do is to use something like a dremel tool with a very loose fitting to the chamber soft pad . . perhaps a bore mop . . and a very light polishing compound . . and even then . . adepending on the polishing compound grit you could end up with a slightly out of round chamber. I have often used just plain old "tooth paste" as a buffing coompound on such things as semi-auto slides/rail to smooth them out some.
As an example . . . on my 45 Colt which is considered a "straight wall" . . . I very rarely even have to use my ejector as I'm not loading max or near max loads. A 44-40 which is a bottleneck type casing . . . if you are using some stouter loads will usually fire form to the chamber and even more so due to the thinness of the neck area. That's why Colt bolted that spring loaded rod under the barrel on all of their SAAs - just in case a person needed it.
In essence . . . it's your handgun but if you end up taking material off the wall of a chamber . . . it will cost you a new cylinder which I'm sure wouldn't be cheap.
I wouldn't use a flex hone but a polishing stick (stick with 1" slot cut down the center to hold emery paper). As to the grit, that depends on how smooth the cylinder is. Remember, you want to polish, not change dimensions.
ETA: Get a 6" long 1/4" diameter brass rod and hacksaw a 1" slot down it. You'll have a polishing stick that will last you a lifetime. My biggest polishing stick is a mild steel that is 3/8" diameter. My smaller is 1/8" brass.
ETA: Get a 6" long 1/4" diameter brass rod and hacksaw a 1" slot down it. You'll have a polishing stick that will last you a lifetime. My biggest polishing stick is a mild steel that is 3/8" diameter. My smaller is 1/8" brass.
45 Dragoon
New member
Hey Dave,
Another way might be some rouge on a felt wheel (dremel style!) Works with my .45s but they're straight. Hmmmmm. . . .
Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
Another way might be some rouge on a felt wheel (dremel style!) Works with my .45s but they're straight. Hmmmmm. . . .
Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
In what I have read and experienced is .44-40 is not the easiest to cartridge to resize and re load. If I use my old Lee "hit with a mallet" dies they will fit anything but the Lee sizing die for my press needed to be shortened to get the shoulder down to where it should be. still want the pistol chambers to be closer to my other guns.
Here is a quote from .44-40 For beginners.
The biggest problem with the 44-40 is matching the gun (throat, chamber neck, and/or bore), cartridge (bullet OD), and reloading die (sizing and neck expanding dies) diameters. Different 44-40's may use bullets as small as 0.425"OD or as large as 0.431"OD. Sometimes the guns are not even internally consistent (such as ones with tight chamber necks or throats and oversized bores).
Here is a quote from .44-40 For beginners.
The biggest problem with the 44-40 is matching the gun (throat, chamber neck, and/or bore), cartridge (bullet OD), and reloading die (sizing and neck expanding dies) diameters. Different 44-40's may use bullets as small as 0.425"OD or as large as 0.431"OD. Sometimes the guns are not even internally consistent (such as ones with tight chamber necks or throats and oversized bores).
45 Dragoon
New member
Yep, I've always heard they're a pita!! That's exactly why I've never owned one!! I've got enough pita's in my life without actually buying one on purpose!!!
Good luck!
Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
Good luck!
Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
I have a rifle and a revolver in 44-40. Had two revolvers but one got stolen. Learning to reload them is a bit of a learning experience but once you figure out most modern guns have .429 bores and most reloading dies size to the original .427 it gets easier. It's hard to stuff a .430 bullet into a .427 case without crushing that thin neck. RCBS makes a cowboy die that sizes to .429 or you can use a .44 mag expander plug. You can keep your dang ol .45 Colt.
I have polished a chamber or maybe even two, and never used anything other than a polishing stick as Gary says or a slotted cleaning rod, the same idea.
On rare occasions when the chamber was really bad, I used power, but mostly worked by hand. If you get the front of the chamber larger than the back, which is easy to do with a power tool, you will have extraction problems.
Jim
On rare occasions when the chamber was really bad, I used power, but mostly worked by hand. If you get the front of the chamber larger than the back, which is easy to do with a power tool, you will have extraction problems.
Jim
45 Dragoon
New member
Ha!!!!
" .... dang ol .45 Colt."
OK!!
Lol!
Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
" .... dang ol .45 Colt.
"OK!!
Lol!
Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
Follow me on Instagram @ goonsgunworks
bedbugbilly
New member
When I was looking to get a new SA and a new to reload cartridge . .. I was seriously considering the 44 WCF just because of the historical nature of the cartridge. The more I looked in to it the more advice I got from some to consider a different cartridge due to the nature of the cartridge - as pointed out by 44 Dave. That's not to say it can't be done as a lot of folks do it and enjoy it.
I also looked into the 38-40 but decided to avoid that as well as I was advised by several of the same type of problems.
I went with the 45 Colt (which I had always wanted to reload) and I'm really enjoying it. I'll say one thing though for my Uberti 7 1/2" Cattleman . . . . the chambers are so generous on it that I'll never have a problem like 44 Dave is concerned with.
Of the several hundred rounds I've put through it so far, I have had to use the ejector twice - otherwise - open gate, hold muzzle up and rotate cylinder and they fall right out. The loads I'm using are very accurate and I couldn't be happier with the Cattleman but I'm kind of glad I went with the 45 instead of the 44 WCF.
But . . . the next revolver I'm looking for is one in 32-20 (32 WCF). I'm all set up with molds, brass, dies, etc. but just haven't located a revolver yet. From what some have told me - the 32-20 can be a "learning experience" was well. But who knows . .. if I find a revolver and can get the 32-20 figured out . . . maybe the experiences will help with a 44-40. What would life be without challenges?
I also looked into the 38-40 but decided to avoid that as well as I was advised by several of the same type of problems.
I went with the 45 Colt (which I had always wanted to reload) and I'm really enjoying it. I'll say one thing though for my Uberti 7 1/2" Cattleman . . . . the chambers are so generous on it that I'll never have a problem like 44 Dave is concerned with.
Of the several hundred rounds I've put through it so far, I have had to use the ejector twice - otherwise - open gate, hold muzzle up and rotate cylinder and they fall right out. The loads I'm using are very accurate and I couldn't be happier with the Cattleman but I'm kind of glad I went with the 45 instead of the 44 WCF.
But . . . the next revolver I'm looking for is one in 32-20 (32 WCF). I'm all set up with molds, brass, dies, etc. but just haven't located a revolver yet. From what some have told me - the 32-20 can be a "learning experience" was well. But who knows . .. if I find a revolver and can get the 32-20 figured out . . . maybe the experiences will help with a 44-40. What would life be without challenges?