Lapping powder charge

[starmac]

Showing my ignorance here, but why does it need to be going so slow that you might get stuck boolits??

[huntrick64]

I can't tell you for sure, but I have my own guess. I would think that an impregnated boolit would significantly increase chamber pressure due to it's resistance going down the bore. And, this pressure increases with each round as it cleans up the barrel and makes more and more surface contact. Slowing that bullet down so that it barely clears the muzzle, is the lease amount of chamber pressure you can generate and still get the lap to do it's job.

Again, just a guess. The real reason I do it is because ALL of the directions that I have read use this method.

[tomme boy]

Slower helps to cut better from all the reading I have done on this. Just going off of what I have done and what I have read. You can go fast than what I posted, but I wanted to also see how slow I could go with my 9mm in case I ever get a low charge on my progressive. So "I" accomplished two things at once. I also was doing this in my basement so I just wanted it to make it out the barrel and that was it. I was shooting mine into a bucket of range pick up bullets and another bucket of scrap brass. Both worked perfect. I set up a couple pieces of cardboard over the top of both to make sure that nothing was going to fly all over the place.

[DougGuy]

Use the largest boolit you can. If it just barely fits in the throat from the front, you are doing it right.

Funny, when I firelapped my first Ruger, there wasn't a lot of detailed instruction around, I used a broken bottle of JB bore cleaner, had been sitting for years on a shelf, so without disturbing it, I poured off the oil and used the paste. I had some Keith type LSWC boolits, I boiled the red lube off them, seated them partially in flared cases over 8gr of Unique, then packed the groove full of the bore cleaner paste, seated and crimped the bullets. I think I fired all 50 of them and man that bore was a night and day difference in appearance, and it cut the groups in half. Sure made one heck of a mess!

[dubber123]

Use the largest boolit you can. If it just barely fits in the throat from the front, you are doing it right.

Funny, when I firelapped my first Ruger, there wasn't a lot of detailed instruction around, I used a broken bottle of JB bore cleaner, had been sitting for years on a shelf, so without disturbing it, I poured off the oil and used the paste. I had some Keith type LSWC boolits, I boiled the red lube off them, seated them partially in flared cases over 8gr of Unique, then packed the groove full of the bore cleaner paste, seated and crimped the bullets. I think I fired all 50 of them and man that bore was a night and day difference in appearance, and it cut the groups in half. Sure made one heck of a mess!

Well, not the normal method, but results are what we are after, right? I love watching a chatter marked up junk factory barrel clean up and start grouping like a champ. The massive reduction in fouling is a nice side benefit too.. Firelapping is a pain, but the results are so worth it.

[Tn Jim]

OK, so since the weather was nice and very little wind, I decided today was the day to do this. Loaded all my stuff in the truck and went to the range. I started at 3 grains of W231 and started working my way down. 2.2 grains ended up being the magic load, anything less and I had to drive the boolit out with a hammer. The portable bench was a great idea. I used the same six pieces of brass for the entire process. Since I had never done this or even seen it done I was a little apprehensive about whether or not I was doing this right, especially if I had enough lapping compound on the boolits. Now that I am finished I think it was right. I used a LBT lapping kit and rolled the boolits between the metal plates for a good two minutes, 6 at a time, until I had 50 of them. I pulled the cylinder and cleaned the gun after every six.

Now for some notes...
1. That small a charge of fast burning powder leaves a lot of residue. It's hard to see down the barrel with all the soot in there.
2. I started off oiling the bore, but stopped after the first cylinder to see what would happen. I had gotten down to 1.8 grains but the boolits stuck without the oil and I had to go back up to 2.2 grains. Even without the oil I had no visible leading.
3. Checking the groups wasn't even a option. At 25 yards I was over a foot low! So much for using a 12"x12" pistol target. Boolit impact sounded like a golf ball hitting the ground. Every now and then I did see a little dirt fly from the backstop.
4. There were several guys there sighting in hunting rifles. (Gun season opens here in two weeks. Muzzleloader opened yesterday.) A couple guys asked if I was shooting a 22 mag. The look I got when I told them it was a 44 mag was priceless! Trying to explain what I was doing and why got this look.
5. Once I got home and cleaned the gun as clean as I can get it, along with some Chore Boy on a tight brush just to make sure there is no lead, I used a couple of LBT push through slugs to see how it turned out. The bore looks great and is smoother than I ever would have guessed it would turn out. The odd thing is I still feel the barrel thread constriction, even though a slug driven in about a inch and pulled back out and one driven all the way through measure the same. Maybe it's all in my mind. I will know for sure once I get my mould back from Erik at Hollow Point Mold and I pour some new boolits. These will be sized .431 and I think they will work better than the same boolits at .429.

All in all I think everything worked out pretty well. I want to thank everybody that helped me with this project. I don't think I would have had the guts to try this without you guys.

[dubber123]

The last Ruger I did took close to 100 to get the choke out, so you may still have a bit left. Now you know how to get rid of it though.. It is amazing how smooth the bores come out, isn't it?

[huntrick64]

You might have enough of it out to not matter any more. If it shoots great and doesn't lead, don't get too anal on getting all of it out. The three things I noticed after fire lapping was 1. Drastically improved accuracy. 2. The barrel cleans up so easy (usually just one tight dry patch) and 3. NO LEADING (which was my primary reason for doing this). Glad to hear it worked out. You could have achieved the same results by firing a few thousand rounds of jacked bullets over your lifetime. Then your kids could say "look how accurate my dad's old gun is. Now YOU can say that without having to wait.

[Tn Jim]

Dubber, it really is. It looks like a mirror now. I am considering lapping my Henry 44 rifle, but the idea of sticking a boolit half way up a 20" barrel is a little more intimidating than a 4 5/8" barrel. I can see some tool marks in the Henry bore and I would love to make it look like this Ruger barrel. But the Henry shoots great with no leading or any other problems. You know what they say about something not being broke...

Rick, my reasons for doing this are exactly the same as yours. I should have my mold back pretty soon and after I cast a few and let them season for a couple weeks I will have my answer as to whether or not all this worked or not. I will give a update when all that happens. Stay tuned guys, I'm not done yet!

[dubber123]

I did my Marlin Cowboy in 45-70 with a 26" barrel. Major difference in that one. Of course the bore looked like an old railroad track before I started. I did get away without having to pound any out. I find rifles easier to lap than revolvers.