Firelapping question

[Little Big Oz]

I have a stainless Super Blackhawk in 44 Mag. Cylinder throat and bore dimensions are fine. I'm pretty happy with its performance with cast bullets but have wondered if firelapping would make it even better.

Best performance is achieved with water-dropped COWW or isotope lead over 20.0 gr of 2400. Leading is almost non-existent and accuracy is around 3 inches for 12 shots at 25 yards. (Accuracy disclaimer - this is with iron sights and 55 year-old eyes that struggle a little.) Also good is air-cooled range scrap and 8.5 gr of Unique.

Air-cooled COWW or isotope lead over 20.0 gr of 2400 or 10.0 gr of Unique leads the barrel a good bit more and takes awhile to clean out. I'd like to be able to use these loads but the effort to remove the lead afterward is frustrating.

Using pin gages, it appears that I have a slight thread choke of about 0.0004 inches at most. Would firelapping this barrel be expected to improve accuracy, minimize leading with the air-cooled COWW/isotope loads, or both?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[huntrick64]

I am a really big fan of firelapping, but probably would not lap your gun.

First, if the thread constriction is truely only .0004, that alone should not change accuracy or cause leading with the proper bullet. If it is over .001 I would remove the constriction.

Second, when I get a "magnum" gun that starts keeping all 12 inside 3" at 25 yds I stop working on it because that is probably the best I can do with my eyes and my shooting ability. Of course it depends on what the 3" group looks like. When I shoot 12 with my best gun on my best day, I will have 8-10 in 1" to 1 1/2" and the rest fly out to that 3" grouping. It is easy to see what my gun can do vs. what I can do. If they were spread evenly in a 3" group I would probably try to improve it. I am confident that if I put any of my guns in a Ransom Rest at 25 yds it would be one ragged hole so the rest is just me. Your mileage may vary.

Looking at it from another angle, I have firelapped almost every gun I own and have seen an accuracy improvement in almost every case. I have never seen one of mine loose accuracy if done properly.

Two things that I have found consistent after firelapping:
1. The bore is much easier to clean!
and
2. My gun will shoot a bunch of loads well and not just one magical combination.

Sounds like you have a winner already.

Good luck.

Rick

[**oneshot**]

I did mine but only due to the throat restriction that was causing leading. If yours is shooting fine without leading I would leave it alone.

[Little Big Oz]

Thanks for your responses. I've been going back and forth over this. I'd like to get into the 1200 fps range without having to water drop to avoid leading. But it might not be enough of an improvement to go to the trouble. I often get 8-10 shots tightly grouped, with a couple of flyers, as huntrick64 mentioned. I suppose I should count my blessings and leave well enough alone. Thanks again.

David

[huntrick64]

OK, were kinda heading down a different road here, but don't be afraid to water drop those bullets. If your gun is diensionally correct (i.e. bullets to throats to cone to breech groove diameter to muzzle groove diameter) it should not lead over a wide range of BHN. As long as you have a good lube and plenty of it in the lube groove. I can make my guns lead with really soft bullets (like bhn 8-9), but if the fit is right, I can go really high (like bhn 24) and they still don't lead. i just don't have a need to make them that hard. Most of my bullets are bhn 12-15, shoot plenty fast, and don't lead at all. Sometimes if I have a gun with really short (as in not tall) lands, I will have to shoot a harder bullet to get the accuracy to show up.

[Little Big Oz]

I have been water dropping them for several months now, because that pretty much eliminates leading with my top-end loads using 2400. When I go to 10 gr of Unique (which I have a bunch of), I get leading whether water-dropped or air-cooled. I have to admit that I'm jealous of the folks that shoot mild-to-wild without water dropping.

[km101]

Why would you want to tinker with a gun that has no problems? If it aint broke, don't fix it!

[Catshooter]

Only way to really tell is try it.

But, if you do be prepared to probably need to fire a lot of rounds in doing so. About the only gun steel that is worse to fire lap is Ruger's Super Redhawk. It can take a couple hundred rounds, depending.

I've done fifteen to twenty or so guns and stainless steels are always worse than carbon steels. Rugers are usually harder to do than anything else I've done. They lap out nicely, it just takes longer.


Cat

[2 dogs]

On something like that, maybe firelap it some 15 shots or so and go back and test. Be sure to check to see if you have a "lube star" on your muzzle too.

[mold maker]

The amount of time/work involved in firelapping a SS Ruger is futile unless you really have a severe problem.
If cylinder and bore fit are good with very little restriction, you can do more harm than good.
Just shoot it enough to wear the constriction, and smooth the bore. It'll take you most of the rest of your life. Those SS Rugers are tough.

[bobthenailer]

Please do your self a favor and install a red dot sight on your revolver , you will probely shoot better than when you were younger ! I have them on well over 1/2 of my handguns and also 4 rifles. they have been a god send for my aging eyes! im now 65 , I started using them for bullseye shooting about 30 years ago, i now use them for about everything !

[Little Big Oz]

I think I'll take the "If it ain't broke..." advice, especially given the warnings on the Ruger stainless steel. And I'll check out the red dots, though I'm trying to hang on to the traditional look on my single actions as long as I can.

Thanks for all the feedback. Now back to the range...

[MGySgt]

One thing that most of us that shoot cast exclusively is that we do not put a solvent in the bore. Punch the bore with a few dry patches and if there is leading, run a old bore brush wrapped with Chore boy Copper scouring pad strands. Make it a tight fit and the lead will be gone in a short time. If you feel you must use a liquid in your barrel use Break Free CLP.

My SBH 4 5/8's 44mag has not had any bore cleaner in it in about 10 years, and has many many rounds out the bore.

It was fire lapped and I think it was somewhere around 96 rounds to take the restriction out. I was fire lapping in 12 round sessions.

Fire 12 rounds, clean every thing up and drive a soft lead slug down the bore. Maybe I was over cautious, but I have seen a 45 colt blued Ruger BH that had too much done ( a friend of mine). I had to home out his cylinder a little and he had to get a larger sizer die.

Just go slow and don't get in a hurry.

By the way - 10 gr of Unique lead most guns they are shot in unless they have been fire lapped.

[Little Big Oz]

MGySgt - That's the first I've heard about not using solvent in the bore. I am shooting cast exclusively, so I'll try that. Is your SBH a stainless gun?

[oldfart1956]

Oz if you want to keep the traditional look but need a little help check out the peep sights available for the revolvers. Almost the same height as the open sights but cut my groups by about 30% or more. I still went with an UltraDot eventually but the peep really helped and no need for a different holster. A rear peep coupled with an insert front sight or fiber-optic front sight works amazing. JMO of course. 58 year old eyeballs here. Audie..the Oldfart..

[MGySgt]

MGySgt - That's the first I've heard about not using solvent in the bore. I am shooting cast exclusively, so I'll try that. Is your SBH a stainless gun?

Yes mine is Stainless. I like the stainless especially for hunting in the high country of CO. Don't always get a chance to clean it and you don't want much (if any) oil on or in your guns - they can freeze in the 0 - teens temps.

By not using solvents in the bore you are not taking the 'seasoning' out of the bore. Leaving a thin film of your boolit lube in your bore helps to eliminate the leading. Some folks I know - after they clean a barrel to bare medal, they will use a patch that they have rubbed their boolit lube into to lay down that film before they shoot it again.

Drew