Chamber Polishing

[skidsteer]

I recently purchased double barreled shotgun for cowboy. I have been using 0000 steel wool and Flitz to polish the chambers with a 20 ga bore brush. It wasn't enough to open/and polish the chambers as the shells still stuck after firing. Can I safely go with something a little coarser to open them up a little more and then finish off with the 0000 steel wool and Flitz? Please advise. Thanks.

[Doc Waxham]

I know a lot of people use brake cylinder hones to do this.

[Abilene]

What type of shells are you shooting?  That can make a big difference.

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[August]

What type of shells are you shooting?  That can make a big difference.

Yup.  That's what I was gonna say too.  It would be a lot easier to find shotshells that run in the gun rather than altering the chamber.

If  you don't want stuck hulls, clean your chambers after every stage!!! 

Try Winchester Low Noise, Low Recoil, and Federal Metro loads.  And, you'll have to gauge ever shell if you want 100% reliability.  The shotgun chamber gauge from Uniquetek is a necessity for reliable shotshells in this day of Chinese supply.

[Coffinmaker]

The fastest way I know of to turn a shotgun into junk is taking a Break Cylinder Hone to it.  Break Cylinder Hones don't "polish" chambers, they put a cross hatch scratch pattern into the cylinder to give the piston something to wear into.

The biggest reason for sticking hulls is using the WRONG hulls.  Changing your ammunition will eliminate of 99% of sticking hull problems.  You may even have to try several different brand of hulls.

If you elect to attack your shotgun with a Break Cylinder Hone, give me the shotgun first.  One of us will be happy.

[hp246]

The proper tool would be a flex-hone.  Available through Brownells.  Made exactly for honing shotgun bores.  They are not that expensive.  I believe they are available in several different grits.

[Baltimore Ed]

I've been told that ribbed shells are stickier than smooth shells. WW AAs shouldn't stick. Steel wool isn't going to polish, you want 400 to 600 grit emery with a solid backing otherwise you will make highs and lows. A large dowel with a split with a cut off lag bolt centered on one end where you can slip a piece of emery in the slit and a power screwdriver with plenty of oil will polish. Keep it moving, clean it and check often. Don't use a brake hone. Or get a flexhone or a cas smith. Try the shells first though.

[skidsteer]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I found a very effective and economical process. A circular piece of scotch-brite slightly bigger than the chamber super glued to a wooden dowel, a cordless drill and Flitz. My Remington shells fly out!

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

I have a Norinco double with hammers in 12 ga and Winchester AA shells are the only ones that drop out.  Other shells stick.  I used steel wool wrapped around a brass cleaning brush with WD 40 and then chrome polish on the chambers, both on my cordless drill and that was 12 years ago.  I only clean my shotgun at the end of the season and not cleaning it doesn't make any difference when shucking the shells. But, like I said it will only take Winchester AA's.

[Bibbyman]

I recently purchased double barreled shotgun for cowboy. I have been using 0000 steel wool and Flitz to polish the chambers with a 20 ga bore brush. It wasn't enough to open/and polish the chambers as the shells still stuck after firing. Can I safely go with something a little coarser to open them up a little more and then finish off with the 0000 steel wool and Flitz? Please advise. Thanks.

You mentioned a 20 gauge bore brush. Is the shotgun a 20 gauge?   I've seen a number of shooters with 20 gauge and none do worth shucks at shucking.  All have to have hulls pulled.   Sometimes they are even hard to open. Maybe better choices of ammo would help but seems like a 12 gauge has a better chance of working. 

[Coffinmaker]

I once had a really nice 20Ga Hammer Double.  This was some Lustrum(s) ago.  Coach gun.  Light, fast handling, good looking, I hated it.  It beat me like a Rented Mule.  This happened before I truly understood Scattergun Ammunition.  With one or two exceptions, "Target" ammunition is NOT light ammunition.  12 or 20 doesn't matter.  Target ammunition was developed and intended  to break little clay birds at 30 to 40 yards.  That is NOT light ammunition.  12Ga Light Target is NOT light with the exception of WW Featherlight.  May years later I discovered Ficcochi "Trainer" in 20Ga.  Soft.  Mostly no discernible recoil.  Effective for cowboy stuff.  Shucked well.  Just some thoughts.

There are right ways and wrong ways to Polish shotgun chambers.  Shotgun chambers DO NOT need to be "open'd up."  If you "funnel" the breach end of the barrel to make the double gun "faster" to load, you will have destroyed any value the gun ever had.  Think lang and hard BEFORE you jump in there and destroy a shotgun.  I posted before, 99% of hulls sticking in the chambers is because the shooter is using the WRONG ammunition.  Wally World on special is not necessarily a bargain.  Cheap doesn't equate to good.  Be careful.

[Bibbyman]

Mary uses the Ficcochi trainer loads in her 12 gauge Stoeger Uplander.  The gun is box stock. The Ficcochi hulls fall out of the uptipped barrels 99% of the time.  I got a flat of AA Featherlites when they had the 2$ rebate.  She tried a few and didn't like them.  I sold 9 boxes of the AAs to a buddy for what we had in them.