Another fire lap ?

[facetious]

I have been going through some old projects that have been mothballed for a long time, one of witch was to firelap two of my ruger .357s. A BH 6in. and a Security Six 4in. Both SS.

In the 90s I got some lap stuff from LBT to do a rifle and it came out good so I thought I would try it on my .357s. It took ten shots to do my .308 so not knowing how many it was going to take I made up 12 for each gun and fired them cleaned them up and that was it. Thy were shiny and cleaned up good .

Then over the years I have read about the barrel choke thing and pushing a patch on a jag I thought I could feel a tight spot at the frame but it was hard to tell. So I thought I would mess with it some more . This time I had some Lee 140s cast soft to use to slug the bore with. With the barrel well greased I had to tap it with a hammer to start them but was able to push them the rest of the way with just the rod I was using. What I found was that thy were both a bit tight at the front site but then it was easier till I got to the roll stamping, where it got tighter as I got to the middle of the roll stamping and then got easier again till it was out of the barrel. This was the same on both guns. The thing is that I didn't feel any resistance at the frame , just under the roll stamp. Slugs that were pushed through fit through the cylinder throats with just lite finger pressure .

After reading everything I could find with the search I haven't seen anything like this. Most of it has to do with the choke at the frame with most saying thy needed 50 to a 100 shots to get rid of the choke . But if all I want is to get rid of the tight spot under the roll stamp how many shots do you think it will take? Have any of you came across this?

Also I have some cast wadcutters and some HB wadcutters that are softer and was wondering which would be better. The harder ones may cut faster but would the softer ones give a better finish?

I may not get to this till next summer but it's something to think about in the mean time.

[Winger Ed.]

I'm real hesitant about taking off metal anywhere since if I take off too much, I can't put it back on.

If I was doing it, I'd go slow and easy and check it after every 3-4 lapping shots.
I'd also lean towards the finer and less aggressive lapping compounds too.

[nicholst55]

Ruger's SS barrels are hard, and can take many, many firelap rounds to make a measurable difference. I would check how your revolvers shoot, before I did a lot of firelapping. There's a very good article on firelapping by a very experienced shooter and gunsmith at the link. It's definitely worth a read.

https://www.gunblast.com/FerminGarza-Firelapping.htm

[AlHunt]

Are you trying to solve a problem of some kind with the gun? I'm kind of new round here so if this is some ongoing issue, I'm not aware of it.

[PJEagle]

I second the recommendation to test shoot the firearm first. If the groups are good I wouldn't do any firelapping.

Have you read Veral Smith's instructions for using his lapping kit?

He says that Ruger stainless barrels are very hard and will take a lot more shots than other barrels. He recommends lapping bullets with a BHN of 14. You need to clean the barrel and cylinder after every 6 shots.

[BK7saum]

Sounds like you are trying to find a solution to a problem that may not exist. The barrels appear to be tapered and tighter at the muzzle, which is the ideal situation for cast boolits. The thread choke, a real problem sometimes, doesn't exist in your pistols.

The tightness at the roll stamp did not require a hammer to get past. You were able to push past the stamp constriction with hand pressure. How much tighter is the bore under the roll stamp? 0.0001"?, 0.0005"?. I think that you are looking at just a very, very slight constriction under the roll stamp.

I would not do anything else to the rugers as long as they are accurate. I do not think that you will gain anything from fire lapping and could likely case other issues. Chances are slim, but you could open up the bore and then the cylinder throats may be too small. This would require having the cylinder honed to get back to the good conditions that you have now.

So, shoot it, check for accuracy and leading, and see where you are at. I would suspect that you are good to go and the revolvers do not require anything else.

Brad

[BK7saum]

Lots of times, we create problems for ourselves when we perceive a problem that doesn't exist because we read about this or that. Yes, BTDT, got the Tshirt.

[Elmer Fudd]

I say go ahead and lap it. A smoother bore with more consistent constricting diameter can't hurt anything. I just did one with LBT process and got wonderful results. Groups went from about 2" to bullets touching, same ammo.

[facetious]

Ya it may be true that I'm looking at a problem I don't have, but then it is a hobby without end, for a few more years I hope.

I got the BH in 1982 I think, it was new in the box. As a side note this gun has never had a jacketed bullet in it. It is the gun I learned to reload with and the guy who thought me started with cast and showed me how to cast. As for testing , I'm sure I'v put 5000 rounds or more through it.

The Security Six I got used in the late 80's. I had got one for my wife and liked it. With Harret stocks made to fit her I found it to fit my hand better than the BH and when I found this one at a good price I got it . It looked like it had hardly been shot, not so much now. With Hogue grips it fits like it was made for me. This is my "always works points where I look gun" It's the one by the bed. I have put more than a few cartons of primers through it also.

The last time I shot the BH the locking bolt didn't want to drop down when I opened the loading gate so I took it apart gave it a good deep clean and made everything good again. This is when I decided to push a slug through it to see how bad it was. I did use a rag folded up in the palm of my hand to push it through I don't think I could have done it with a bare hand. This with a thick piece of rod I use for this not a cleaning rod.

What surprised me was that the constriction was not at the frame but the middle of the barrel with a inch or so to the front site from the end of the rollmark that was loser.

So I thought I would check the Security Six. With this one I expected to find a choke at the frame. Reading some of the stuff using the search I found a number of guys saying that they would get some leading just past the frame, so do I. Not bad and it cleans out with a patch. This was said to be from the choke at the frame. But I found the same thing as the BH, tight under the front site then a bit loser then tighter as you get to the middle of the roll mark and the start getting loser as you get to the frame, but with a 4 inch barrel the rollmark go's almost to the frame. Right were the leading is.

The best I have ever got from ether gun is about 4 inch's at 25 yards on a good day and can't help but wonder if this could be why. Going from lose to tight to lose to tight and out.

Any way it's something to think about, whether I get to it is yet to be seen.

[AlHunt]

The best I have ever got from ether gun is about 4 inch's at 25 yards on a good day and can't help but wonder if this could be why. Going from lose to tight to lose to tight and out.

Any way it's something to think about, whether I get to it is yet to be seen.

4" at 25 yards is definitely a problem worth chasing. If you can't find a load that does better, lapping it is certainly worth a try.

I'll be interested to see how it pans out.

[1006]

Sounds like an attempt on Security Six is warranted.