RotoMetals2Inline FabricationLoad DataWideners
Titan ReloadingRepackboxReloading EverythingMidSouth Shooters Supply
Lee Precision
Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: lapping a revolver

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    boise idaho
    Posts
    19

    lapping a revolver

    Hey i need to get my revolver lapped to get rid of the choke point where the barrel is in the frame. I've seen when they put lead in the barrel and lap it that way and i've seen the fire lapping process. i was wondering if anyone has experience with either method. if you have i would like to know how it turned out

  2. #2
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    VA
    Posts
    5,574
    How do you know you have a constriction?

  3. #3
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    boise idaho
    Posts
    19
    As i slugged the barrel it went in fairly easy up to the point where my barrel goes into the frame. At this point is where it leads when i shoot my bullets.

    I talked to Gear about it and he said Rugers did this often and suggested lapping

  4. #4
    Boolit Master detox's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Posts
    1,467
    My Blackhawk shot verywell using 20/1 lead tin mix, but I was just not happy with that little ristriction. So I hand lapped the restriction. Slug will now slide easily thru forcing cone area. I have not shot gun since lapping, but i believe it will shoot atleast as good as before.

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...hand-lap-only)




    .....

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Switzerland of Ohio
    Posts
    6,314
    A lot of us do what is called fire-lapping to deal with that problem. Do some searching on the forum and you'll find a number of threads on the process. It did a great deal of good for a S&W I acquired.
    Cognitive Dissident

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Utah (Salt Lake Area)
    Posts
    788
    I would fire-lap it if it were me. If the gun is stainless steel and a Ruger be prepared. That is some tough steel and will take some work.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master detox's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Posts
    1,467
    Quote Originally Posted by uscra112 View Post
    A lot of us do what is called fire-lapping to deal with that problem. Do some searching on the forum and you'll find a number of threads on the process. It did a great deal of good for a S&W I acquired.
    Fire lapping may be best route for the do it yourselfer.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    578
    Wouldn't fire lapping also open up the cylinder throats a little also?

  9. #9
    Vendor Sponsor

    DougGuy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    just above Raleigh North Carolina
    Posts
    7,395
    Are we talking about a Ruger here? I can only assume yes because they are notorious for tight cylinder throats and thread constricted barrels.

    You don't say what caliber it is, but I am assuming it is a .45 because they have the thinnest barrel walls and therefore the greatest amount of "thread constriction" plus they are well known for that area in the barrel being anywhere from .003" to .006" constricted. If yours is stainless, firelapping won't be the best approach. By the time you firelap 400 series stainless enough to remove or even relax that much constriction, it would pretty much lap the rest of the barrel in uneven areas and that would be just about as bad as leaving it like it is. Ruger 45 cylinders can be as tight as .4485" but most run closer to .450" or .4505" it works very well to ream them to a uniform .4525" size.

    If this ain't a Ruger 45, excuse me for assuming it might be. If it is, and your barrel is choked down over .003" you may want to look into having it Taylor throated. Blued steel and not stainless, with constriction less than .003" firelapping would probably work very well. I firelapped a blued Vaquero and a blued Blackhawk both .45 Colt and also a .44 magnum Super Blackhawk and shrunk groups by half, but the stainless Vaquero I have, I reamed the cylinder to .4525" and Taylor throated it, currently waiting on some gas check boolits to arrive before range testing.

    Before I did this work, a .451" jacketed hollowpoint wouldn't go in the cylinder from the front. In slugging the barrel, driving a dead soft lead ball down the barrel, when it got to the threaded part, it stopped. I couldn't believe the additional effort required to drive the ball the rest of the way. That, was what made me decide it was too much for firelapping to fix, and I decided on the Taylor reamer. Now, I can drive a new lead ball down the bore, and it will slide snugly into the front of the cylinder with about half a thou to spare. I have good expectations for this next range trip..
    Last edited by DougGuy; 04-07-2013 at 01:27 AM.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    1,385

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master

    MtGun44's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    eastern Kansas- suburb of KC
    Posts
    15,023
    If you have decent pistolsmith available have him unscrew the barrel, remove a hair from the shoulder
    on the barrel and reset with red Loctite. Much easier and no damage to anything else.

    Bill
    If it was easy, anybody could do it.

  12. #12
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    boise idaho
    Posts
    19
    its a blued .357 ruger blackhawk

  13. #13
    Vendor Sponsor

    DougGuy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    just above Raleigh North Carolina
    Posts
    7,395
    Quote Originally Posted by boarder14 View Post
    its a blued .357 ruger blackhawk
    Ahh. It sure sounded like you were talking about a 45 it might not be so bad then..

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check