Torador once again.

rickystl · 12th February 2017, 02:12 PM

Hi Richard.

Knowing what we now know lol. I too would go with the leather bands. Maybe a dark brown ? How do you think the interior of the barrel looks ?

Rick

Pukka Bundook · 12th February 2017, 03:56 PM

Rick,

The interior of the barrel has light pitting and a few more scaly areas.
Been wracking me brains how I can lightly emery it. Yes, I could stick emery on a rod and spin it in the drill!...But that can cause ringing if you don't keep the drill moving evenly.
I would rather scour it up and down the bore, rather than a revolving scouring.

*** I Did fire it yesterday!!!***

Went off Very fast, and no problems with bits falling off!
Sarah took some photos. :-)
Accuracy -wise not good. 50 yard group was about 15". Ball (.530") was a tad small for no patch, but was fired with a felt wad above and below, and only 60-odd grains of powder. (2F Go-Ex)
Tried a patched ball with a wad under it. (Need the wad to fill that slightly constricted area right at the breech. No chamber remember.) Said patched ball felt scratchy on the way down, and it tore the patches to bits on firing!
So, I do need to smooth up the bore a bit more. The sights work well, so it is all very promising.
It actually felt smoother already when it came to cleaning.
I noted the barrel was slightly bent, but decided to try it as it was, and it does appear to shoot a bit low.
I have in times past straightened a barrel, only to find I should have left it alone...that it was 'bent' for a purpose!
When I get some leather binding and have the barrel removed, I will alter it a bit and see how it does then. It's a lovely barrel though.

Bindings I have seen vary from dark brown to a light tan. Indian tastes being what they are, maybe even yellow, blue, or red would work! I'll see what I can find.

So, the Torador has been fired. Now it's Your turn! :-)

Best,
R.

rickystl · 13th February 2017, 04:09 PM

Hi Richard.

OK....You beat me to it. YAY !!! VERY COOL !!! Wonder how long it's been since it was fired ? Lol. Congratulations.
Yes, sounds like the bore needs some more work. The scale can be especially difficult. What I use to use, and still sometimes do, is a modern shotgun hone. I found that just going back and forth, manually with the hone works much better then the Emory. And cuts faster. Even better, the hone using a drill with a VERY SLOW rpm setting. They are hard to find nowadays. The slow rpm with even motion is less likely to form rings. At least that's been my experience. Works great especially with pistol length smooth bore barrels.
On long barrels, I send them to the barrel smith. He has special tools and jigs to burnish a barrel in about 10 minutes. And can do barrels up to 72 inches. And very reasonable.
The "colored" leather bands is a good idea !!! I think red would look good. But any color would probably look good. Yes, I would go with the color versus the brown or tan.
Oh good. Sarah took some pics !!! Can't wait to see the finished gun. A smoother bore and closer fitting ball will probably reduce those 50 yard groups in half.

Rick

David R · 14th February 2017, 08:26 PM

According to my reading and observation the bands should be rawhide, bound over silver saddle pieces so that the hide (put on wet) does not directly touch the barrel.

Pukka Bundook · 15th February 2017, 03:56 AM

David,

On post 27 I believe in the previous page, there are two from Jaipur shown that have leather bindings and no saddles.

Eggerton has the bindings down as "leather" and Elgood shows examples of what Looks like leather, with no saddles in both the "Islamic Arms", and "Jaipur ", (The bindings also described as leather) so it would appear that India is up to its usual tricks, of being fickle in what we should expect. :-)

I will look for rawhide and saddles, and indeed Have seen the saddle bands and have a couple with those, but not the rawhide.
If you have some pictures of these ,I would appreciate seeing them!

All the best,
Richard.

rickystl · 15th February 2017, 01:54 PM

Hi Richard.

I have some close up pics of the saddles. I'll post this weekend when I return from out of town.

Rick

Pukka Bundook · 15th February 2017, 02:58 PM

Rick,

Forgot to thank you for your ideas on cleaning up the bore. Thank you!
Will try it again and see how it goes nowI have given it another scouring out.
If it still feels rough when loading, I will find some hones I have "somewhere"!

I have a matchlock with these saddle bands, but have not seen David's saddles he mentions.
See below;

15th February 2017, 02:58 PM	#7
Pukka Bundook Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 803	Rick, Forgot to thank you for your ideas on cleaning up the bore. Thank you! Will try it again and see how it goes nowI have given it another scouring out. If it still feels rough when loading, I will find some hones I have "somewhere"! I have a matchlock with these saddle bands, but have not seen David's saddles he mentions. See below; Attached Images

12th February 2017, 02:12 PM	#1
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,633	Hi Richard. Knowing what we now know lol. I too would go with the leather bands. Maybe a dark brown ? How do you think the interior of the barrel looks ? Rick

12th February 2017, 03:56 PM	#2
Pukka Bundook Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 803	Rick, The interior of the barrel has light pitting and a few more scaly areas. Been wracking me brains how I can lightly emery it. Yes, I could stick emery on a rod and spin it in the drill!...But that can cause ringing if you don't keep the drill moving evenly. I would rather scour it up and down the bore, rather than a revolving scouring. * I Did fire it yesterday!!!* Went off Very fast, and no problems with bits falling off! Sarah took some photos. :-) Accuracy -wise not good. 50 yard group was about 15". Ball (.530") was a tad small for no patch, but was fired with a felt wad above and below, and only 60-odd grains of powder. (2F Go-Ex) Tried a patched ball with a wad under it. (Need the wad to fill that slightly constricted area right at the breech. No chamber remember.) Said patched ball felt scratchy on the way down, and it tore the patches to bits on firing! So, I do need to smooth up the bore a bit more. The sights work well, so it is all very promising. It actually felt smoother already when it came to cleaning. I noted the barrel was slightly bent, but decided to try it as it was, and it does appear to shoot a bit low. I have in times past straightened a barrel, only to find I should have left it alone...that it was 'bent' for a purpose! When I get some leather binding and have the barrel removed, I will alter it a bit and see how it does then. It's a lovely barrel though. Bindings I have seen vary from dark brown to a light tan. Indian tastes being what they are, maybe even yellow, blue, or red would work! I'll see what I can find. So, the Torador has been fired. Now it's Your turn! :-) Best, R.

13th February 2017, 04:09 PM	#3
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,633	Hi Richard. OK....You beat me to it. YAY !!! VERY COOL !!! Wonder how long it's been since it was fired ? Lol. Congratulations. Yes, sounds like the bore needs some more work. The scale can be especially difficult. What I use to use, and still sometimes do, is a modern shotgun hone. I found that just going back and forth, manually with the hone works much better then the Emory. And cuts faster. Even better, the hone using a drill with a VERY SLOW rpm setting. They are hard to find nowadays. The slow rpm with even motion is less likely to form rings. At least that's been my experience. Works great especially with pistol length smooth bore barrels. On long barrels, I send them to the barrel smith. He has special tools and jigs to burnish a barrel in about 10 minutes. And can do barrels up to 72 inches. And very reasonable. The "colored" leather bands is a good idea !!! I think red would look good. But any color would probably look good. Yes, I would go with the color versus the brown or tan. Oh good. Sarah took some pics !!! Can't wait to see the finished gun. A smoother bore and closer fitting ball will probably reduce those 50 yard groups in half. Rick

14th February 2017, 08:26 PM	#4
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,123	According to my reading and observation the bands should be rawhide, bound over silver saddle pieces so that the hide (put on wet) does not directly touch the barrel.

15th February 2017, 03:56 AM	#5
Pukka Bundook Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 803	David, On post 27 I believe in the previous page, there are two from Jaipur shown that have leather bindings and no saddles. Eggerton has the bindings down as "leather" and Elgood shows examples of what Looks like leather, with no saddles in both the "Islamic Arms", and "Jaipur ", (The bindings also described as leather) so it would appear that India is up to its usual tricks, of being fickle in what we should expect. :-) I will look for rawhide and saddles, and indeed Have seen the saddle bands and have a couple with those, but not the rawhide. If you have some pictures of these ,I would appreciate seeing them! All the best, Richard.

15th February 2017, 01:54 PM	#6
rickystl Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO area. Posts: 1,633	Hi Richard. I have some close up pics of the saddles. I'll post this weekend when I return from out of town. Rick