Bore Lapping

[rosco11]

In reading the Secrets of the Houston Warehouse and other discussions as well bore lapping comes up occasionally. The youtube vids on it are less than to be desired for detailed process. What do you all think about lapping a barrel to smooth the lands and possibly gain a slight taper etc..? I do remember one of the avid shooters here mention he laps every barrel he has.. can't remember exactly who that was.

[trophy8]

Im not so sure I would do it myself.... sounds like a wonderful way to ruin a barrel LOL. But I am curious.

[kck]

As I'm sure you know, your custom, high end barrels will be hand lapped when you get them so I'd say no need there but I'd be interested to see what a good lapping job would do for a stock Remington barrel. In for any info on that

[ultrastealth]

IMHO, that's something best left to the experts.

[Slick8]

I can't see the need to lap a custom barrel.

Like those above, it's a craft that would take many hours of apprentice training to properly learn....imo.

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[muzzlebrake]

Take a bore scope an look in a Krieger barrel as compared to say a Shilen.
The single cut rifling of a Krieger looks like glass compared to others and I would probably not lap it, just shoot it til it's broken in. In short you might want to bore scope it to see if the barrel really needs lapping. That said, lapping to me just speeds up the break in process. It you think about it every time you shoot a round you are somewhat lapping the barrel. You can also buy and load your own lapping bullets and as you shoot them in order you are lapping at a faster pace.
You can also buy some J-B paste that some say will help getting rid of burrs and extreme fouling. Some also say it will round off the edges of the lands and hurt the barrel. I have used it sparingly with no bad results. It sure will clean out copper and lead fouling. Too much lapping might not be a good thing.

[rosco11]

Yes, I'm definitely talking about a stock barrel, Model 700 or even AR barrels to improve and make easier to clean too

[kck]

Without some expertise I'd say don't even with a Remington barrel. However, you may try this system that David Tubb designed. Does it work? I haven't a clue...this one is .308 but I'm sure there are plenty other calibers.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/513887/tubb-final-finish-bore-lapping-system-308-caliber-and-762mm

[SaltwaterSlick]

This is a pretty popular thing to do in the high end air gun world. I don't have much experience with it in powder burners, but I bet the outcomes would be similar. For an air gun with a choked barrel, about the only thing lapping the barrel does is increase the time and shots between cleanings. The lapped barrel does not pick up lead fouling as quickly as a machine cut barrel. These barrels on the high end air guns are high dollar barrels and for them, the most important part of the whole barrel is the crown. We are paranoid about the crown and would never use a metal cleaning rod and even a flexible one is used from the breech end and pulled through. I'd bet a good quality powder burner barrel would act similarly. In an air gun barrel lapping has never shown to have much effect, good or bad on accuracy in a barrel unless it's a bad lapping job, then it can be devastating. Most often damage is of the crown which for an air gun is everything. In air guns there's no powder residue, and almost never any copper either. Unless the gun has an unchoked barrel, it won't be shooting copper bullets, so the only thing that "dirties" up an air gun barrel is lead build up.

[captainsling]

Paging CB!

[Bowyer]

Lapping to me sounds like a last ditch effort to make a bad barrel shoot better. Maybe I'm wrong.

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[Horitexan]

Keep in mind, barrel making has come a LONG way since the days of the Warehouse. I actually asked David Tubb recently about lapping a he said the only barrels he recommends aping are lower quality and some new factory barrels from companies like Remington. He said not to lap any premium barrel - if it needs lapping it needs to go back for replacement.

On a related note: I'm about to start coating my bullets in hbN (hexagonal nickle boron). I know several guys that are having great success with it and, even if you don't reload, you can coat your bore with it using a mop and a inexpensive kit from bulletcoatings.com. It's supposedly WAY better than moly and guys are getting very little copper fouling and WAY more time between cleanings. Most importantly, to me, they're getting lower SD and ES and some slight increase in velocity along with no bonding action between case neck and billet over time. So, rounds can be loaded and sit for 6 months or more without getting that increased 'grab' at the bullet/neck junction that normally occurs over time.

Dang sure wouldn't do any lapping at home - leave that to a VERY competent GS or you may ruin your barrel.


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[Horitexan]

Yes, I'm definitely talking about a stock barrel, Model 700 or even AR barrels to improve and make easier to clean too

So, David did say that his Final Finish might benefit a stock 700 barrel and some less expensive AR barrels. But when I asked him about my Noveske and Ballistic Advantage barrels, the reply was "no" don't use Final Finish on those barrels - just use hBN coated bullets. He sells a proprietary blend that I ordered and I'm using the barrel kit from bulletcoatings.com, as I mentioned earlier.


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