Hey guy and Dolls
http://www.sksman.com/access/fire lapping.html
Just found this at SKSman.com. It sounds like it might work but as with anything (costing $50) I am skeptical, plus what about if I have a chrome lined barrel. Would it wear out the lining????.......any info would be appreciated.
Info below on the subject.....Kinda lengthy
Fire lapping is the process of using abrasive bullets to smooth out any imperfections in the bore of your SKS or AK-47 semi-auto rifle. The benefits are as follows:
Will enhance accuracy.
Will significantly decrease fouling.
Will ease bore cleaning.
Will develop a more uniform bore diameter.
Will reduce the bore's coefficient of friction.
Will not erode the rifling contour.
Will improve corrosion resistance.
Will require a small investment of time to complete correctly.
""This kit contains 50 bullets that have been pre-impregnated with 4 different grits plus 2 bullets for slugging. Full detailed instructions are provided. Includes the following bullets:
Coarse grit (#220) Qty 12
Medium grit (#400) Qty 12
Fine grit (#800) Qty 12
Polish grit (#1200) Qty 12
Slugging. Qty 2
These bullets are color coded for ease of identification. They require that you have access to reloading equipment. It is important that you either are an experienced reloader or have access to someone who is as it is critical to load these cartridges carefully with a precise amount of powder (8 grains of Alliant brand is specified)""
The instructions: Thank you for purchasing the fire lapping bullets for your 7.62x39 mm “Russian†chambered rifle. These fire lapping bullets are for rifles that shoot the Russian designed 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge (M43) as used in the SKS and AK47 and its many variants.
It is not for the 7.62 NATO cartridge or the Ruger Mini-30 A fire lapping kit is “in the works†for the mini-30 if enough people ask for it.
The first seven pages of this manual are suggestions we have found very useful. They will save you time and help you produce better results.
The following section of 13 pages is a condensed version of the NECO instructions, used with their permission that describes their system for pressure (fire) lapping.
This system is perfect for all of the inconsistencies these imported military rifles are shown for. They really help tighten up those groups by removing the variables of the imported chrome bores. We were skeptical of the claims. After much research and development we were amazed at the results.
Lets get started.
The parts in this kit are bullets. 50 of which are already impregnated by a patented process with 4 different “grits†to hone your steel barrel. The fire lapping bullets are already color coded for you. Two “slugging†bullets are included as well.
We would prefer you skip the brain crunch of “Slugging†the barrels mentioned in the NECO section that follows. Unless you “slug: a barrel you will not know what differences feel like anyway. It is difficult to force the lead slug (they are really lead cast bullets) through the bore with a ¼ inch wooden dowel, even though you must lubricate them well with oil.
For this reason, I highly recommend going back to the “fallback†procedure in the NECO section on page 10 that follows. It is the easiest and fastest way to get good results.
If you must have the “Full Monty†and can’t live without them, go ahead and try these lead slugs using the instructions written by NECO.
It is necessary for you to “Reload†your own cartridges.
Follow the safety instructions that come with your reloading equipment especially the SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ! or BETTER yet, find a friend that is competent and familiar with reloading.
The 7.62X39 fire lapping loads must only be loaded with 8 grains of “Alliant†brand, Unique powder ! Do not use any other powder or substitute other load data from some reloading manual or reloading program.
If you can get a hold of a scale for reloading it is wise to weigh each component of a cartridge. Try to use cases that weigh the same or groups of cases that weigh the same (in grains) Use check weights to be sure your scale is accurate. Double check the weights of all your components and write everything down. Once you crimp the bullets it will be too late to change the powder charges. It is a real big pain in the butt to pull them apart later on if you have made any mistakes in powder charges!
Besides Safety
Cleaning is the most important part of this procedure. So we have included a large section on just that.
You need a one piece non-aluminum cleaning rod. Slotted rod end cleaning rod adapter, 9MM bronze bore brush. 9MM plastic bore brush. (We have found the shorter 9mm brush works better than a longer “next size smaller†diameter bore brush as recommended by NECO, 200 cleaning patches 2-1/4 inch diameter (Brownells #4), a good copper bore solvent. (Bore Tech, -my personal favorite) Hoppes and Butches are all good. JB Bore Cleaning and Kroils Oils, ¼ inch wooden dowel cut 12 inches longer, than your barrel. Most of these are available from Brownells
You must clean your barrel after Fire Lapping EACH group of 5 rounds. There are 50 bullets in this fire lapping bullet kit. 40 are used in the “fallback†method and 10 are held in reserve if needed at a later date.
Do Not assume your barrel is OK and ready for Fire Lapping from your last cleaning!
Here is how we clean our barrels:
Run a wet patch of Kroils through the barrel. Do this by inserting the cleaning Rod with the eyelet type, slotted rod end, without a patch in the muzzle and push it down into the breach. Put a wet patch of Kroils on it and pull the patch back from the breach and out the muzzle. This is done to avoid bending and flexing the cleaning rod, which can damage a dry fouled barrel. (The cleaning rod tends to bend, from increased friction when pushed into a fouled barrel the first time.) Let the Kroils “sit†in the barrel a few minutes to work and loosen the fouling. The Kroils also lubricates the barrel for all the following cleaning steps.
Now mix up a “JB Paste Patch†of approximately 1/3 teaspoon of each of the following : JB Bore compound , Kroils and whatever copper bore solvent that you are using. If too thin, add more JB to thicken the “pasteâ€. The consistency should be like pancake batter.
There is no danger in combining these ingredients. (or mixing bore cleaners) because Kroils is an oil and JB is very , very fine polish used on some of the most expensive barrels that money can buy, with great results. The copper solvent is therefore the only bore cleaner in this threesome.
Wet up a JB paste Patch and push or pull it from the breach to the muzzle (depending upon what type of action you have) Use the bronze brush for this. DO NOT come out of either end of the barrel. Move the rod back and forth 20 times in the barrel with out coming out either the chamber or the muzzle. The patch will form a slug and turn black.
A cleaning rod “stop†is sold by Sinclairs and is very handy for stopping the cleaning rod before it comes out of the barrel or the chamber. A piece of masking tape would work as well to mark the cleaning rod where you should stop.
Don’t worry, once you get the hang of it, your speed will increase.
If you are fire lapping a gas gun, you will feel the gas port hole as you go by. If you get one side of the gas port hole, and the patch won’t go past the gas port hole, no worries, just work each side of the barrel with two different JB Paste patches.
Remove the JB patched slug and continue to run clean patches one at a time through the barrel.
Remove the dirty patch each time and replace with clean patches until patches get ‘reasonably’ clean.
Next we run a patch with Copper solvent ONLY down the barrel with the plastic brush and let it sit a few minutes then continue with a dry patch on the bronze brush until the patch is clean.
On really fouled barrels, it is sometimes necessary to repeat the JB Paste Patch, a second time followed by the copper bore solvent.
A small point but worth mentioning, wipe off the end of the barrel and the chamber after running the JB Paste or solvent patches through. There will be a small amount of JB Paste or bore solvent at the end of the barrel and the chamber that will give a false reading showing black marks on your patches, spoiling what could have been a “cleaner†patch by that stage.
So make sure your muzzle and chamber are wiped clean after a wet patch of bore solvent or JB Paste is run through.
After the JB Paste slug is removed, and if you are Fire Lapping a gas operated semi-auto (SKS’s and AK-47s) clean the gas port in the barrel after the gas system has been removed. Do this before looking for really clean patches.
Also wipe your cleaning rod after each patch because again, fouling left on the cleaning rod can transfer back to the barrel giving a false reading on the next patch on its way to being clean.
A good way to judge when your barrel is REALLY CLEAN is to push and pull a clean patch back and forth through the barrel 4 to 5 times without coming out either end (just like with the JB Paste Patch) When you see a perfectly clean patch after multiple front to back passes, then and only then, is the barrel clean enough to continue fire lapping and shoot your next 5 rounds.
This system has worked well for us and is a little different than the one recommended by NECO.
Range Tips:
When you get ready to fire, do not load cartridges in the magazine! Just before chambering, load each round, individually by hand. Hold the cartridge, bullet up and tap each round on a clean towel on the shooting bench. This puts all of the powder on top of the primer. There is a whole lot of air, in that case and it makes for more consistent ignition of what precious little powder we have to work with.
When you finally get around to pulling the trigger, you will notice very little report and smaller recoil than normal. The bullet is lobbed down range at what seems forever before hitting the dirt. This is to be expected. The sped has been slowed down a bunch to maximize these bullets ability to “polish†the bore.
With only 8 grains of powder, if you are shooting a semi auto, the slide will not cycle and will not extract the spent round. Remember that each round will have to be loaded and extracted by hand.
After firing, if your brass case is extracted, STOP! Something is very Wrong!
You are either using too much powder, or the wrong powder.
You have managed to lodge a bullet in the end of a barrel and the back pressure has operated the gas rod and ejected your brass. It should not do this.
Have a look down the bore and see if a bullet is stuck in the barrel. If it is, you probably spilled some powder in your reloading process. With only 8 grains of powder to work with, any loss of powder can reduce the velocity enough to cause a bullet to become lodged near the muzzle. Tap the bullet out with a ¼ inch wooden dowel.
If the wooden dowel isn’t up to pounding bullets down the barrel (either “slugged†ones or “stuck†ones) you will have to get some ¼ inch steel or better yet stainless steel rod to drive them out. Put a could of turns of masking tape around the rod to center it in the bore. So as not to damage the rifling, then hit it with a hammer.
Throw away the “stuck bulletâ€. Clean the bore again, with all the cleaning steps. You should then weigh the rest of the loaded Fire Lapping cartridges to see if there are any discrepancies from what you think they should weigh. You may consider pulling the bullets and re-weighing your powder charges, especially if it happens again. Throw away the stuck bullet and carry on, one less bullet out of 40 will not make a significant difference.
Sometimes it takes a while for a newly lapped barrel to shoot consistently. One gun took over 100 rounds to really shoot well and be broken in agin. The advice we go from NECO was “keep shooting, the groups will improveâ€...
THANKS AGAIN FOR ANY HELP!!!!!!!!
RUSHER
http://www.sksman.com/access/fire lapping.html
Just found this at SKSman.com. It sounds like it might work but as with anything (costing $50) I am skeptical, plus what about if I have a chrome lined barrel. Would it wear out the lining????.......any info would be appreciated.
Info below on the subject.....Kinda lengthy
Fire lapping is the process of using abrasive bullets to smooth out any imperfections in the bore of your SKS or AK-47 semi-auto rifle. The benefits are as follows:
Will enhance accuracy.
Will significantly decrease fouling.
Will ease bore cleaning.
Will develop a more uniform bore diameter.
Will reduce the bore's coefficient of friction.
Will not erode the rifling contour.
Will improve corrosion resistance.
Will require a small investment of time to complete correctly.
""This kit contains 50 bullets that have been pre-impregnated with 4 different grits plus 2 bullets for slugging. Full detailed instructions are provided. Includes the following bullets:
Coarse grit (#220) Qty 12
Medium grit (#400) Qty 12
Fine grit (#800) Qty 12
Polish grit (#1200) Qty 12
Slugging. Qty 2
These bullets are color coded for ease of identification. They require that you have access to reloading equipment. It is important that you either are an experienced reloader or have access to someone who is as it is critical to load these cartridges carefully with a precise amount of powder (8 grains of Alliant brand is specified)""
The instructions: Thank you for purchasing the fire lapping bullets for your 7.62x39 mm “Russian†chambered rifle. These fire lapping bullets are for rifles that shoot the Russian designed 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge (M43) as used in the SKS and AK47 and its many variants.
It is not for the 7.62 NATO cartridge or the Ruger Mini-30 A fire lapping kit is “in the works†for the mini-30 if enough people ask for it.
The first seven pages of this manual are suggestions we have found very useful. They will save you time and help you produce better results.
The following section of 13 pages is a condensed version of the NECO instructions, used with their permission that describes their system for pressure (fire) lapping.
This system is perfect for all of the inconsistencies these imported military rifles are shown for. They really help tighten up those groups by removing the variables of the imported chrome bores. We were skeptical of the claims. After much research and development we were amazed at the results.
Lets get started.
The parts in this kit are bullets. 50 of which are already impregnated by a patented process with 4 different “grits†to hone your steel barrel. The fire lapping bullets are already color coded for you. Two “slugging†bullets are included as well.
We would prefer you skip the brain crunch of “Slugging†the barrels mentioned in the NECO section that follows. Unless you “slug: a barrel you will not know what differences feel like anyway. It is difficult to force the lead slug (they are really lead cast bullets) through the bore with a ¼ inch wooden dowel, even though you must lubricate them well with oil.
For this reason, I highly recommend going back to the “fallback†procedure in the NECO section on page 10 that follows. It is the easiest and fastest way to get good results.
If you must have the “Full Monty†and can’t live without them, go ahead and try these lead slugs using the instructions written by NECO.
It is necessary for you to “Reload†your own cartridges.
Follow the safety instructions that come with your reloading equipment especially the SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ! or BETTER yet, find a friend that is competent and familiar with reloading.
The 7.62X39 fire lapping loads must only be loaded with 8 grains of “Alliant†brand, Unique powder ! Do not use any other powder or substitute other load data from some reloading manual or reloading program.
If you can get a hold of a scale for reloading it is wise to weigh each component of a cartridge. Try to use cases that weigh the same or groups of cases that weigh the same (in grains) Use check weights to be sure your scale is accurate. Double check the weights of all your components and write everything down. Once you crimp the bullets it will be too late to change the powder charges. It is a real big pain in the butt to pull them apart later on if you have made any mistakes in powder charges!
Besides Safety
Cleaning is the most important part of this procedure. So we have included a large section on just that.
You need a one piece non-aluminum cleaning rod. Slotted rod end cleaning rod adapter, 9MM bronze bore brush. 9MM plastic bore brush. (We have found the shorter 9mm brush works better than a longer “next size smaller†diameter bore brush as recommended by NECO, 200 cleaning patches 2-1/4 inch diameter (Brownells #4), a good copper bore solvent. (Bore Tech, -my personal favorite) Hoppes and Butches are all good. JB Bore Cleaning and Kroils Oils, ¼ inch wooden dowel cut 12 inches longer, than your barrel. Most of these are available from Brownells
You must clean your barrel after Fire Lapping EACH group of 5 rounds. There are 50 bullets in this fire lapping bullet kit. 40 are used in the “fallback†method and 10 are held in reserve if needed at a later date.
Do Not assume your barrel is OK and ready for Fire Lapping from your last cleaning!
Here is how we clean our barrels:
Run a wet patch of Kroils through the barrel. Do this by inserting the cleaning Rod with the eyelet type, slotted rod end, without a patch in the muzzle and push it down into the breach. Put a wet patch of Kroils on it and pull the patch back from the breach and out the muzzle. This is done to avoid bending and flexing the cleaning rod, which can damage a dry fouled barrel. (The cleaning rod tends to bend, from increased friction when pushed into a fouled barrel the first time.) Let the Kroils “sit†in the barrel a few minutes to work and loosen the fouling. The Kroils also lubricates the barrel for all the following cleaning steps.
Now mix up a “JB Paste Patch†of approximately 1/3 teaspoon of each of the following : JB Bore compound , Kroils and whatever copper bore solvent that you are using. If too thin, add more JB to thicken the “pasteâ€. The consistency should be like pancake batter.
There is no danger in combining these ingredients. (or mixing bore cleaners) because Kroils is an oil and JB is very , very fine polish used on some of the most expensive barrels that money can buy, with great results. The copper solvent is therefore the only bore cleaner in this threesome.
Wet up a JB paste Patch and push or pull it from the breach to the muzzle (depending upon what type of action you have) Use the bronze brush for this. DO NOT come out of either end of the barrel. Move the rod back and forth 20 times in the barrel with out coming out either the chamber or the muzzle. The patch will form a slug and turn black.
A cleaning rod “stop†is sold by Sinclairs and is very handy for stopping the cleaning rod before it comes out of the barrel or the chamber. A piece of masking tape would work as well to mark the cleaning rod where you should stop.
Don’t worry, once you get the hang of it, your speed will increase.
If you are fire lapping a gas gun, you will feel the gas port hole as you go by. If you get one side of the gas port hole, and the patch won’t go past the gas port hole, no worries, just work each side of the barrel with two different JB Paste patches.
Remove the JB patched slug and continue to run clean patches one at a time through the barrel.
Remove the dirty patch each time and replace with clean patches until patches get ‘reasonably’ clean.
Next we run a patch with Copper solvent ONLY down the barrel with the plastic brush and let it sit a few minutes then continue with a dry patch on the bronze brush until the patch is clean.
On really fouled barrels, it is sometimes necessary to repeat the JB Paste Patch, a second time followed by the copper bore solvent.
A small point but worth mentioning, wipe off the end of the barrel and the chamber after running the JB Paste or solvent patches through. There will be a small amount of JB Paste or bore solvent at the end of the barrel and the chamber that will give a false reading showing black marks on your patches, spoiling what could have been a “cleaner†patch by that stage.
So make sure your muzzle and chamber are wiped clean after a wet patch of bore solvent or JB Paste is run through.
After the JB Paste slug is removed, and if you are Fire Lapping a gas operated semi-auto (SKS’s and AK-47s) clean the gas port in the barrel after the gas system has been removed. Do this before looking for really clean patches.
Also wipe your cleaning rod after each patch because again, fouling left on the cleaning rod can transfer back to the barrel giving a false reading on the next patch on its way to being clean.
A good way to judge when your barrel is REALLY CLEAN is to push and pull a clean patch back and forth through the barrel 4 to 5 times without coming out either end (just like with the JB Paste Patch) When you see a perfectly clean patch after multiple front to back passes, then and only then, is the barrel clean enough to continue fire lapping and shoot your next 5 rounds.
This system has worked well for us and is a little different than the one recommended by NECO.
Range Tips:
When you get ready to fire, do not load cartridges in the magazine! Just before chambering, load each round, individually by hand. Hold the cartridge, bullet up and tap each round on a clean towel on the shooting bench. This puts all of the powder on top of the primer. There is a whole lot of air, in that case and it makes for more consistent ignition of what precious little powder we have to work with.
When you finally get around to pulling the trigger, you will notice very little report and smaller recoil than normal. The bullet is lobbed down range at what seems forever before hitting the dirt. This is to be expected. The sped has been slowed down a bunch to maximize these bullets ability to “polish†the bore.
With only 8 grains of powder, if you are shooting a semi auto, the slide will not cycle and will not extract the spent round. Remember that each round will have to be loaded and extracted by hand.
After firing, if your brass case is extracted, STOP! Something is very Wrong!
You are either using too much powder, or the wrong powder.
You have managed to lodge a bullet in the end of a barrel and the back pressure has operated the gas rod and ejected your brass. It should not do this.
Have a look down the bore and see if a bullet is stuck in the barrel. If it is, you probably spilled some powder in your reloading process. With only 8 grains of powder to work with, any loss of powder can reduce the velocity enough to cause a bullet to become lodged near the muzzle. Tap the bullet out with a ¼ inch wooden dowel.
If the wooden dowel isn’t up to pounding bullets down the barrel (either “slugged†ones or “stuck†ones) you will have to get some ¼ inch steel or better yet stainless steel rod to drive them out. Put a could of turns of masking tape around the rod to center it in the bore. So as not to damage the rifling, then hit it with a hammer.
Throw away the “stuck bulletâ€. Clean the bore again, with all the cleaning steps. You should then weigh the rest of the loaded Fire Lapping cartridges to see if there are any discrepancies from what you think they should weigh. You may consider pulling the bullets and re-weighing your powder charges, especially if it happens again. Throw away the stuck bullet and carry on, one less bullet out of 40 will not make a significant difference.
Sometimes it takes a while for a newly lapped barrel to shoot consistently. One gun took over 100 rounds to really shoot well and be broken in agin. The advice we go from NECO was “keep shooting, the groups will improveâ€...
THANKS AGAIN FOR ANY HELP!!!!!!!!
RUSHER
(It's all a rather sad comment about the Colt Anaconda and modern production procedures, of course.)
