Thanks for all the replies so far. The hose clamp looks like a great idea, so does the q-tip/cotton ball trick. Couple questions though:
What is a mouse ball?
What lapping compound did you use and where is it available?
How does a brass screw work for crowning and cleaning up the rifling? Seems like the steal barrel would just tear up the brass screw.
CB
With effort, I will pass on the jokes relating to rodent testicles.
A mouse ball is just the round rubber ball from a mechanical computer mouse (hard to find nowadays because they are all optical and without balls, so to speak!). I don't know how you would spin a rubber mouse ball easily -- I used a brass screw in a cordless drill and wobbled it about on its axis. You want the screw head to stay round and not get a groove worn into it.
I don't recall the grits of lapping compounds I used, but I first used a moderately coarse one to speed things up, followed by a fine one. Auto supply shops use these compounds for lapping valves. You really are not removing much metal at all so it goes fast.
The idea with the round head brass screw is that the lapping compound imbeds in the soft brass which then moves past the harder steel abrading it. It seems odd, but the steel barrel really does wear much faster then the soft brass screw.
John
