16 gauge military bullet puller....worm....cleaing jag..?

[sonny]

hello all........anybody tell me where i can get the correct size cleaning jags for a sixteen gauge smoothie? I don;t want an undersized screw on attachment with leather gasget size take-up.I want correct 8x 32 cleaning screw on tools for cleaning,period correct,,,,,,,,thanks........sonny

[smokinbuck]

Sonny,
I "think" the 16 Ga is +/- .648. If you contact TOW or Log Cabin Shop they can send out what you need.
Mark

[Daryl]

16 gauge is .662".

[Collector]

I think the best answers are derived from having the most accurate information to work with.  Having the actual/accurate bore diameter would help all of us.  Variations between manufacturers, in smoothbores and rifle barrels, are not uncommon.  My 16 ga. is an early production Getz (~#400) and mikes to .652"

A few years back, we had a pretty good discussion going on "16 ga. loads" and a fairly wide variation was found, in bore diameters, amongst members with "16 ga. smoothbores" 

At the time, if I remember correctly, the discussion ran towards the 'popularity' of the 20 ga., which in part, was due to the 'standardization' of the 20 ga. bore diameter amongst barrel makers and the inherent ability of the buyer in easily finding accessories and components.  Perhaps the 16 ga. is reaching that point also.

Good luck!

[Nate McKenzie]

For period correct, Don't use cleaning jags and cloth. Use tow worms and linen tow. It does a much better job of cleaning and does it quicker and can be washed and reused.

[Daryl]

 Gauge = number of pure lead balls   (specific gravity of lead as being 11.34)  that size that make one pound, therefore a 16 gauge ball is 1oz. which is 7,000 divided by 16 = 437.5gr.
20 gauge =  .615" = 350.0gr.
19 gauge = .626" = 368.4gr.
18 gauge = .637" = 388.9gr.
17 gauge = .650" = 411.8gr.
16 gauge = .663" = 437.5gr.
15 gauge = .677" = 466.7gr.
14 gauge = .693" = 500.0gr.
13 gauge = .710" = 538.5gr.
12 gauge = .730" = 583.3gr.
11 gauge = .751" = 636.4gr.
10 gauge = .775" = 700.0gr.

IMHO, a 'proper' sized jag would be one that allows 2 thicknesses of cotton cleaning patches. 2 thicknesses holds more water/sovent/lube and does a better job of getting into the corners of rifling to scrub out the fouling.  Some like tow as it's very nature should allow it to get into all nicks and crannies.  I prefer the cloth as it allows suction to bring in water out of the bucket and then force it back out the vent with some amount of pressure, which helps blast/errode the loosened fouling off and around the plug and from the vent's inner cavity.

[sonny]

daryl......should the body diamater of the leaning jags match the inside diamater of the barrel?so it won't bounce off barrel walls going down the bore???........I would think it should be so the bullet puller would hit center on the ball an not a little to the side of the ball......would make pulling stuck ball a lot harder to do..............heck the cleaning jag should be a little under bore size so why not the rest of the jags??......sonny

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Here's a set I made for the Baker rifle.  They work very well.

[Daryl]

Sonny- the jag is an elarged, ribbed protrusion screwed in to the end of the cleaning rod(or ram-rod. The cloth patch completely covers the jag- so there is nothing to bounce - if you're getting 'bounce' you need a thicker patch.