Bore lapping

[Beekeeper]

I did not want to take away from 303Guys post as it has a lot of good advice so thought to start a second post concerning my particular rifle!
I have an Israeli Mauser in 308.
It was originally a Chech Mauser in 8x57.
The barrel isn't quite toast but close so I know it will eventually need to be replaced but I want to use it as a learning curve for lapping.

The bore has reasonably sharp rifling but is heavly pitted.
Will shoot j-word bullets but isn't doing very well with cast.

Have thought about lapping it to see if it will at least shoot reasonably good.
How much of the rifling will I lose by lapping?
Will the land and groove stay about the same just get larger all around?

And last since I am a lousy reader and don't get much from reading with out getting my hands dirty is there any books or pamplets with info on fire , or hand lapping?


beekeeper

[leftiye]

You should not be able to measure the wear from lapping, though it could be worn enough to measure, but smothing is the idea. That having been said it is obvious that a heavily pitted bore probly won't be possible to "smooth" up enough to remove the pits (try a good carnauba lube). I've got a 94 Marlin that some Do Do lapped and ruined (and then sold to me through gunbroker). Many full length scratches and almost removed the rifling. Coarse abrasives are not a good idea past a certain point, and not too many rounds. Using a milder abrasive to start and more rounds may be the wiser course.