Joe Wood Coning Tool Question

[JW]

Hello, Gents. 

I have a question for anyone who has used one of Joe Wood's coning tools: Is it necessary to remove the barrel from the stock in order to use the tool?  The gent from whom I might be buying one from said that it did, but I want to know why. He didn't really answer my question.  I don't care for taking barrels out if I don't have to.

Thanks!

James

[Dennis Glazener]

Wasn't familiar with what Joe Wood's coning tool looked like so I did a search for one and found a photo of one that Tim Boone posted. Here it is:



It looks pretty much the same as the one I used on my rifle and I did it while in the stock. No problem at all. The jag end goes in the bore, the fine grit paper will do the coning. I turned the tool with a hand tap holder. This can be done without removing the barrel from the stock.

You will need to clean the abrasive/oil out of the bore but that is no different than any other cleaning of the barrel.
Dennis

[JW]

Dennis,

That's what I thought. The gentlemen told me that the instructions specifically said to remove the barrel, but I thought that seemed unnecessary and he couldn't tell me why.  I believe you're right.

James

[alyce-james]

Good afternoon; The Jag end that Dennis ,refers to in the picture, is the a pilot which holds the bore diameter true to the Coning tool. In this case per the picture .540 bore, pilot size .535 - .002. I have at this time used four (4) different sizes of this Wood Coning tool and had perfect success with each one. The process takes me about an hour plus to complete. Have a great holiday week end. AJ. PS. I cone the barrel before installation. That's just me.






  
 
 

[flehto]

Am interested in doing a .54 elk rifle. Does the coning eliminate the need for a short starter w/ a fairly tight PRB? Also...the angle seems to be very slight and how is the grit paper held onto the mandrel? Also.. is the cone dia at the muzzle  as large as the groove dia?. Can a loading block still be used w/ a coned muzzle....might lose control of the PRB coming out of the loading block. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.....Fred

[alyce-james]

 Good afternoon; A) In most cases a short starter is not needed. B) Grit paper held in place with Duro"All purpose Spray Adhesive". Fast dry easy to remove. C) The depth 1 to 1 1/2 ,  depth of tooling is up to you, remove the corners of rifling or leave some edges. Check ball desired with large patch material and ball used to fit and remove handful of patch material with ball so it will be easy to hold on too.
D) continue to use loading block if so desired. I just spit the patch push the ball in and cut the patch.
 Hope this will help you flehto, best I can do. Thanks, AJ. PS. Accuracy has been a non -issue for me, nothing has changed.

[QuanLoi]

I've used a Joe wood coning tool on both .45 and .54 barrels.  I abrade the barrel to the point that the patched round ball can be started with my thumb... but at that point I still use a short starter.  The abrasive paper is held onto the tool with double sided tape.  At the muzzle, the diameter, after coning, can be as wide as the groove diameter... it depends on how far you want to go.

By the way, before coning, I shot a group at fifty yards (several) and found no accuracy difference after coning.

[Turtle]

 I remove the barrel and turn barrel and tool I opposite directions. I think I read that in the instructions. I have coned all my guns,.32,.45.50,.54. with Joe's tools I use a thin loading block so I can find the muzzle easy and push the patched ball through with the ram rod-no short starter. I go progressively finer with my sandpaper starting with 400 and ending up with crocus hyd valve spool paper. If you lap the bore with some JB paste after, it smothes it more yet.
                            Good luck,Turtle

[Dennis Glazener]

I remove the barrel and turn barrel and tool I opposite directions. I think I read that in the instructions.

Mine did not mention turning the barrel, just the tap wrench. The only reason I can see to remove the barrel and turn it in the opposite direction would be to speed the job up. Guess you could just turn the tap handle twice as fast
Dennis

[flehto]

Thanks to all for the expert info. Has anybody got Woods' contact info?. Again, thanks.....Fred

[Cuboodle]

I coned a .58 Rice barrel some years ago without removing the bbl. it's just about goof proof

[alyce-james]

Wood Coning Tool.

Joe Lane Wood
THE FIRELOCK SHOP
5311Briar St.
Amarillo, Texas. 79109


.

[flehto]

Thank you.....Fred

[David Price]

I have coned many barrels with Joe Woods coneing tool and every one was satisfactory.  I found no increase or decrease in acuracy with any one of them.  When I first started using that tool I shot the barrels before and after coneing.  I don't bother  any more I am coonvinced that it makes no difference.

 If you cone it to the point of removeing  all the rifling you don't need a short starter.  The instructions  that I got with the first coneing tool said to remove the barrel and rotate both the tool and the barrel at the same time.  I am guessing that by rotating both you are not as likely to lean
on one side more than another.  That is the way that I do it, and I wouldn't recommend doing it any different.

The instructions say to use a tap wrench and turn the tool by hand.  I have become  so comfortable with the tool that I use my electric drill at a very slow speed and rotate the barrel  at the same time.  I don't recomment doing that until you have become very familiar with the procedure and get a feeling for the tool.  I think it would be much harder to rotate the barrel if it was still in the stock.  Why would you not remove the barrel from the stock ?

I know some shooters are very much against coneing and I don't know why, I have never had
a problem with any of the dozen's of barrels that I have coned.   NOT A ONE !

DAVID PRICE

[wattlebuster]

What David said +1. All my barrels are coned and I love them. They hit what I aim at an thats all I ask them to do. My last was coned by the man that made the barrel (Charles Burton) an its a very accurate rifle. Dont be scared to cone if its what you want to do

[Turtle]

 I too have graduated to using an electric drill. Its easier on my arm and shoulder. I have researched this because of my good results, and poor results reported were with other methods than Joe's tool. Another tip- pulling the tool out of the barrel often and brushing off the sandpaper off makes a faster job with fewer sandpaper changes. Don't start with sandpaper courser than 400 or it will take forever to remove the scratches. I got my selection of coning tools by doing others guns for free if they buy the tool except for my .32. A warning, once I shot one coned gun-Il had to do all my others.
                                                            Turtle

[newtire]

I used one of Joe’s tools in .45 and another in .50.  Both projects turned out great and I did not need to use a short starter after that either. The instructions said to rotate the barrel in one direction and the tool in the opposite.  The barrel and stock on my rifle was thin enough so I could turn it in one hand and the tool in the other.  Didn’t take too long and the only thing I had any trouble with was getting the glue to stick to the paper and tool.  The tape I bought wasn’t strong enough to hold.  Now, I need to get a tool to do my .54.

[PIKELAKE]

All of my 45's, 50's and 54's are coned with Mr. Wood's tools. I always remove the barrels and feel it is easier and I pull the plugs too. The hard part lately, is finding the light duty  carpet tape. All I can find is the heavy duty stuff and that stuff don't work. I fact, I should sell my tools cause I'm all done.  JZ

[smallpatch]

The reason you turn the barrel, is to make sure you are applying equal pressure to all sides of the barrel.
Joe’s tools are great.

[JEH]

I've done several guns with Joe's tool both barrel in and out. Takes a bit of time but sure makes loading easier. If stocked I stand on the stair so there is room to maneuver it. Push a cotton ball down the bore a bit that I can fish out later with a bore brush to keep most of the $#@* out of the breech plug. I'm a fan of a coned muzzle!

[smylee grouch]

My first two swamped barrels had a coned muzzle, coned by the barrel maker. The cutting was done very nice but deep into the bore ( maybe 2+ inches ) and with no lands at all at the muzzle. This made for some real easy loading with pre cut patches and a short starter. BUT I tried and tried to get those two rifles to shoot decent groups with many different load combinations and never got acceptable to me accuracy. 4+ inch 3 shot  groups at 50 yds was about as good as I got. I sold the guns.

[Kmcmichael]

I do not remove the barrels.

[JohnnyFM]

I second (or third) what Dave Price said. We’re talking specifically about the Joe Woods coning tool.  Every time this subject comes up the anti-coners  pop in to tell their tribulations with generic coned barrels.  It seems all coned barrels are not the same. I have not heard of anyone having a bad experience with the Joe Woods tool when they follow the instructions. And the instructions are fool proof.  After all, I have done it successfully so it can’t be too challenging.
The instructions state to use light duty carpet tape.  Do not use heavy duty tape.  You want the thin stuff.
I take the time to pull the barrel from the stock and turn the barrel in the opposite direction that you turn the tool.
My goal in using this tool was to eliminate the short starter and it also eliminates cutting patches on the muzzle which is not an issue for me.  I like using precut patches that I make myself.  If you want to eliminate the short starter but still like to cut patches on the muzzle, then I do not recommend the Joe Woods tool; perhaps there are other coning options to better suit your needs.

[Daryl]

Yeah - you are right, JohnnyFM.  I wonder why Accuracy shooters don't use them, bench, plank or chunk?

[Bob Roller]

In the early 1990's I made a portable muzzle facing tool  that can be powered at the range with a charged portable drill or used it the shop with an ordinary electric drill. It is a fly cutter with a land diameter insert and a 1/4" guide.It is held snug with a tapered set screw that pushes a brass plug against the bore.I tested it at Friendship during a BPCR shoot and got 9 out of 10 hits at 500 yards in a practice session.
I also used it on my 451 muzzle loader with equal results.The test is ONE shot and then look at the star burst pattern on the muzzle and if it's strong and equal,the job is done.This idea could be adapted to a cone/tapering cutter.Harry Pope said that the base of the bullet is the
"steering end" but all is lost if the muzzle is not right*.A funneled muzzle on a round ball may be OK and will help loading.
Bob Roller 
* Harry Pope never thought of a round ball as a projectile.