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Coneing, I did it. Joe wood tool

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KV Rummer said:
I see a problem with a reamer. The number of flutes on the reamer is important. If the number of flutes was the same as the number of rifling grooves, the reamer could wobble when the flutes were over the grooves. You would need a reamer with at lease twice the number of flutes as there are grooves. I never saw a small dia (.500) reamer with 12 to 16 flutes.

The Wood tool looks like the most precise solution to put a taper into the rifling.

Yup. No flutes at all on the Wood tool. It's easy and effective, and I can't see any way to screw up. Took me less than two hours sitting in front of the TV, and it could have been done a lot faster if I felt like hurrying. Nah.
 
Joe Wood highly recommended that I do not cone my barrel because of the deep progressive depth of the 5 groove rifling. He said it would adversely affect the accuracy of minies.

I'm learning, little by slow.
 
58cal. said:
Joe Wood highly recommended that I do not cone my barrel because of the deep progressive depth of the 5 groove rifling. He said it would adversely affect the accuracy of minies.

I'm learning, little by slow.


I would love to see a serious accuracy study of the coning currently done vs unconed barrels.
Based on John Baird and TK Dawson dimensions of the bore of an original 50 caliber Hoffman and Campbell "Hawken" the current practice removes far too much metal from the bore.
This is detailed in Bairds "Hawken Rifles" detailing the choke and the funneling which at most enlarged the bore by about .002". Hardly enough to even notice by "eyeball".
I have a swivel breech rifle with 50 caliber GM barrels. It loads so easy with a .495 ball and a .018" cotton ticking patch that I am going to try some .500" balls to see how it shoots.
The crown looks like this. There is no other relief at the muzzle.
P1010351.jpg


Most loading problems are crown related.

Dan
Dan
 
There was a study done on conning done and posted in Muzzle loader magazine a while back. End results accuracy was better before it was done in most cases. Some loads did shoot well, but in the end, I'll not be doing it.
 
A "test" or "study"?

People keep posting that "So and So, in a magazine or book, did a study and found this”¦".

Dozens of people on this board have coned their muzzles and reported no loss of accuracy. If that's not a "test" or "study" I don't know what is. Why is a single test in a "magazine" any more credible? The tests done by people on the board are real-life situations.

All my rifle muzzles are coned. I saw no difference in accuracy after it was done. Add that to all the studies. I think if you total up the two columns of "No Difference" and "Lost Accuracy", you'll see very few in the "lost accuracy" column. Maybe they didn't do it correctly?
 
An actual true test would be so detailed, basically nobody is going to do it & do it properly. It would be hundreds of documented steps on each barrel, before & after coning, etc.....

End result is allot people still are not going to believe it, one way or another. :hmm:

So...... why go thru the time & expense.....
:confused:

Most of the testing I have seen was not even a test. They cone the barrel & then say it shot better or worse.... What kind of test is that ? You would have to spend hundreds of hrs. in load work & detailed documentation, bench shooting with the barrels clamped to benches, dif loads, patches, balls, etc. to find the absolute Best load for the barrel before & after. And even after all of that, someone will find fault with the testing...........

so...... my theory is if you want it coned, do it & if ya don't, then don't.... :idunno:

If you are a VERY good marksman, you might see a dif., be it one way or another. Or you may need to rework all you loads & find that new best load & combo all over again & get right back to where ya were or even better.

You change Anything in the barrel, be it length, charge, powder, ball, patch, lube, vent size, nipple, ANYTHING..... IMHO it will change the group....... some allot, some little.. Some notice it, some cannot see a change at all....

Keith Lisle
 
58cal. said:
Joe Wood highly recommended that I do not cone my barrel because of the deep progressive depth of the 5 groove rifling. He said it would adversely affect the accuracy of minies.

I'm learning, little by slow.

58 Cal: The reason I suggested you not cone the barrel is because you're going to be shooting conicals in it. Roundball guns love coning but slugs do not.

I do appreciate all the compliments about the tool I make. A lot of my tools are out there and I never receive complaints about accuracy being hurt. But a bunch of folks call and tell me how happy they are with the ease of loading.
 
:thumbsup: All of my rifles have been conned with your tool Joe. I love it, being able to thumb start the ball and they all shoot into one ragged hole.
 
If someone would kindly send me 12 nice, custom flintlock longrifles, I would be happy to cone 6 and leave 6 stock. I'd then shoot them regularly for a year and publish the results. Deal? :hmm:
 
Dose any one know where to get a Joe Woods Coning Tool . Tried getting in touch with Joe Woods No Good I have aThompson Center Hawkins 50 that I want to Cone.
 
Yes, due to the very gentle taper of the tool it has to be caliber specific. But it results in a cone that will be about 1 3/4” deep and only thin the rifling at the muzzle about .007 or less. This allows the ball to be started gently and being swaged into the bore rather than rammed.

—Joe Wood

806-352-3032
 
I have never coned a barrel.I will crown any barrel if need be. I have two ways to crown a barrel one being using a chanfer bit and the other is using a ball file.I have never seen crowning hurt accuracy. My dad bought a Geco 220 swift that had a damaged crown and accuracy left a lot to be desired. You couldn't tell that it was damaged by looking at it. The Geco is a very fine rifle but some how this one had a bad crown or it could have been damaged by an accident while handling? After crowning it was extremely accurate.I personally prefer to crown a barrel with a ball file as you don't have to worry very much with lining a ball file up due to it being round. If you are not exactly straight the ball still sits in the barrel the same.The chamfer bit works best using a lathe to keep everything lined up.
 
Yes, due to the very gentle taper of the tool it has to be caliber specific. But it results in a cone that will be about 1 3/4” deep and only thin the rifling at the muzzle about .007 or less. This allows the ball to be started gently and being swaged into the bore rather than rammed.

—Joe Wood

806-352-3032

Can one’s ball be thumb starter with the results from your tool, sir?
 
Yes, that’s the purpose of coning. I prefer to open the muzzle enough so that the ball can be thumb pressed level with a firm push. I do not recommend more than this, especially if the patch is being knife cut at the muzzle.

Here is a link to a very good video Mike Bellevue, aka Duelist, made of using the coning tool. I do not know him, other than his reputation, and I guess he bought my tool years ago and just got around to trying it.



Here is a second video Mike Bellevue made showing shooting the rifle with its coned muzzle.

 
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Yes, due to the very gentle taper of the tool it has to be caliber specific. But it results in a cone that will be about 1 3/4” deep and only thin the rifling at the muzzle about .007 or less. This allows the ball to be started gently and being swaged into the bore rather than rammed.

—Joe Wood

806-352-3032

I been searching high and low for these tools.Why is it so hard to find them on google searches?
 
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Yes, that’s the purpose of coning. I prefer to open the muzzle enough so that the ball can be thumb pressed level with a firm push. I do not recommend more than this, especially if the patch is being knife cut at the muzzle.

Here is a link to a very good video Mike Bellevue, aka Duelist, made of using the coning tool. I do not know him, other than his reputation, and I guess he bought my tool years ago and just got around to trying it.



Here is a second video Mike Bellevue made showing shooting the rifle with its coned muzzle.



Thank you so much.
 
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Thanks for the inquiries. I’m hesitant to make this thread seem an advertisement for my tool, I don’t mean to. I don’t advertise but word of mouth has proven to be best. Call anytime. We will visit. The email address he shows in the instructions is no longer valid.

PS: The only mistake Mike Bellevue made in the video is he said he had to make a template to cut out his working pieces of grit paper. I send a template with each tool. He must have lost his.

Joe Wood
806-352-3032
 
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