Had the chance to slug barrels on a #4 MkI Enfield and a P14, both with very nice rifling. The #4 showed a bore just a fraction larger than .309, the P14 .309". Both much tighter than the #1 MkIII I tried the cast bullets in; I'm looking forward to seeing how the cast loads shoot in them. Considering the bore of my M39 slugs out at .310" as I recall, and shot quite nicely with them, I think these other two will work nicely with the loads.
If you've not heard of it before, slugging the bore means pushing a soft lead slug down the bore so you can measure the exact diameter across the grooves. In this case I used pieces of 00 buckshot. Grease the bore, tap the shot into the bore at the muzzle and then carefully drive it all the way through. Catch the slug at the breech end and you can use a caliper or micrometer to measure it. Ideally you want a very soft lead to make the job easier, I've heard of a lot of people using small fishing sinkers to do it; I actually had the buckshot so I used that. I have a long brass rod I used to drive them through. One guy suggested get a dowel rod just small enough to fit the bore, cut into 6" lengths; get the slug started, tap on the first piece until it's down to the muzzle, then use the second piece, etc. That method does work nicely. If the bore is smooth, once the slug is started it should push the rest of the way without much difficulty.
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