chamfer cylinder

[ian45662]

How would I go about putting a chamfer in the chambers of my revolver?

 

[Zonie]

Very carefully. :rotf:

Not to make light of your question but I couldn't resist. :thumbsup:

You could do it several ways.

A 87 or 90 degree countersink could be used. These are normally made for use in an electric drill so they have a 1/4" shank on them.
I DO NOT recommend that an electric drill should be used to form the countersink in the chamber mouths on your gun.
Rather, by using your hand to guide and rotate the countersink you will be able to remove the sharp edges without much possibility of doing some real damage.

There are also abrasive cones that are made for use in electric drills. These also come in 90 degree cones.
Here again, do NOT use an electric drill to do this job. Your hand will be more than enough.

By using a small piece of wet/dry (black silicone carbide) sandpaper pushed down into the mouth of the cylinder and rotated on the end of your finger you will remove the sharp edge. It won't be a chamfer but it will round the edges off nicely.

Now we get to the question, "Why do you want to chamfer the chambers in your revolver?"

The sharp edge does a nice job of cutting off the extra lead as the ball/bullet is pressed into the chamber. A chamfer will make loading more difficult in my opinion.

Historically, Colonel Colt at one time did go from a sharp edge to a chamfered mouth on the chambers of his pistols but his company then went back to the sharp edges that are common on his, and reproductions of his guns.
I have never heard or read the reasons behind this but I know it is true.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I chamfer the chambers on my own revolvers with a tapered cone abrasive wheel in a drill. Swaging the ball into the chamber gives a better seal than cutting the ball to fit the chamber. It also better centers the ball. With the sharp mouth chamber you are shaving little rings of lead from the ball and you'll likely notice that they aren't of uniform thickness all around their circumfrence. When seating the ball you may not have the chamber perfectly aligned with the rammer and the ball becomes seated slightly off center. With chamfered chambers the ball does a better job of self-centering. Swaging the ball to fit gives it a smoother surface than cutting to fit. And you don't have those pesky little lead rings to deal with. If bits of lead get into the bore ahead of the ball you will have bore leading and an inaccurate shot. Reaming the chambers to full barrel groove diameter and chamfering the mouths will make most "out-of-the-box" revolvers much more accurate than "out-of-the-box". I prefer larger diameter balls than most people shoot, I like .457" balls for my .44's and .380" for my .36's. With chamfered chambers I have no problem ramming the oversize balls so long as they are pure lead.

 

[ian45662]

I would like to shoot a bullet instead of a round ball. The bullet mold I have is just slightly larger than the chambers so I thought if I chamfered the chambers the bullet would not only fit without shaving a ring along the base but line up better as well.

 

[KJGROHS]

One more thing too add is a heavier ball is more accurate, a nesecary thing in compitition.

 

[Mike 56]

I use a Lee cartage case chanfering tool.

 

[BrownBear]

I'm on a dialup and Brownell's site is a pain these days, so I won't double check. But at one time they sold a hand tool for this. I got mine about 30 years ago for chamfering the rear of cylinders to ease use of speedloaders in PPC competition. It worked quick and was very precise.

I can't see why it wouldn't work for you, but I don't know if, or in what calibers, it is offered today. Even back in the 70's it wasn't cheap, so I can't imagine what it costs today, if still available. Many of the other suggestions on here look like they'd do the same job for a whole lot less money.

 

[arcticap]

I would like to shoot a bullet instead of a round ball. The bullet mold I have is just slightly larger than the chambers so I thought if I chamfered the chambers the bullet would not only fit without shaving a ring along the base but line up better as well.

I don't believe that chamfering will work to help the bullets fit into the chambers better at all. Chamfering only creates a minute amount of angle around the lip of each chamber.
IMO the bullets should either be properly sized using a sizing die or the chambers could be reamed out which some folks also do to improve the accuracy of their undersized chambers.

 

[junkman_01]

ian45662 Said:I would like to shoot a bullet instead of a round ball. The bullet mold I have is just slightly larger than the chambers so I thought if I chamfered the chambers the bullet would not only fit without shaving a ring along the base but line up better as well.

Ian, You are exactly correct. A slight chamfer will do all that you imagine. I have done it to all my C&B revolvers and I shoot wheel weight balls. There is NO down side.

 

[KJGROHS]

Arcticap sorry buddy but chamfering works like charm, it works similar to chamfering a empty brass case , it also is easier to load the cylinder, as the bullet( round ball or conical ) slips into cylinder, instead of useing alot of force to cut a ring of lead, accuracy also improves , a minimum of 30-40% , with a chamfer it also guides the bullet, and you can use a heavier bullet I.e. .375 go up to .380 more lead equals more weight, better accuracy and, smoother feeding of projectiles Into
cylinders

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I've never gotten accuracy with bullets made for cartridge revolvers if that is what you mean. the issue is getting the bullet seated exactly straight. Molds made for conical cap & ball revolvers have a reduced base which will start freely and serve to center and guide the bullet as it is rammed on down. Even then the round ball is most often more accurate. Another issue is that C&B revolvers mostly have a rather slow twist better suited to the shortest possible projectile, that generally means a ball.

 

[ian45662]

I see. I just thought the chamfer would keep me from shaving a ring from the bullet. I have tried it and accuracy was not as bad as I thought it would be. I hit a pop can at 100 yards off hand one time but I cant rule out the possibility that it was luck but the bullets were coming close to it anyhow which was good enough for me. I have no real use for it but I just though it would add another dimension for the shooting of the c&b revolvers.