Lapped barrel

[BowerR64]

Ive tried this a couple times and it seems to help.

before and after

Drilled a hole in one of the balls i used for slugging the barrel and then put a screw in it i got from lowes that fit my cleaning rod.

I did it twice, one i start from the muzzle once from the forcing cone. Pull it back and forth with this 40X bore cleaner stuff.

I think it needs a few more passes i still see some little bumps in spots.

 

[pohill]

What about using a drill? How abrasive is the cleaner?
I have a few antique rifles that I might try that on. They're tough to clean if they haven't been cleaned properly right along.

 

[BowerR64]

I dont think a drill would work.

The idea is to form the lead ball to the lands and grooves like its being shot but to use a light compound to polish everything.

You need the ball to stay in the rifeling as its push back and forth threw the barrel. The cleaning rod has a rotating handle so it spins as the rifeling spins.

I dont know what you need for your old antique guns. I think a swab and patch or brass brush and a patch would be enough for it.

All im trying to do is polish the inside of the barrel so that the ball can run threw it smooth without hanging up on anything as it runs down the barrel and also smooth out all the small pits that can collect fouling.

I realize i wont get everything like a better made barrel but it looks better then it did IMO.

ill see if it shoots any better next time i get to the range.

 

[45 Dragoon]

I would start from the breech end always. I have "fire lapped" (lapping by shooting abrasive coated bullets) bores with great results. Starting from the breech allows the abrasive to cut the most and lose its cutting action as it travels down the barrel. This creates (small as it may be) a tapered /polished bore that enhances the gas seal as the bullet travels down the barrel .

45 Dragoon

 

[jimnbubba]

I used a brush on my cleaning rod on a drill to clean up a rusted .50 bbl. worked pretty good

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

The problem with using a drill is that you are using a rotary motion in a non-circular environment. Even with a brush you are going to get more contact on one side of the rifling and the inner surface of the rifling than you are going to get in the major diameter bore and the off-side of the rifling.

 

[BowerR64]

I would start from the breech end always. I have "fire lapped" (lapping by shooting abrasive coated bullets) bores with great results. Starting from the breech allows the abrasive to cut the most and lose its cutting action as it travels down the barrel. This creates (small as it may be) a tapered /polished bore that enhances the gas seal as the bullet travels down the barrel .

45 Dragoon

Was this with a new gun?

 

[BowerR64]

I was going to post some results but i forgot i opened the chambers on the cylinder as well. I think both of those together tightened up the groups from when it was new and when i first shot it.

Ill have to do that with this next gun i get. Shoot it stock, then open the chambers then lap the barrel.

What ever it was helped i went from this (first shoot)

To this

 

[45 Dragoon]

Yes, a new Uberti made S.A.A. copy. It worked great!


45 Dragoon

 

[BowerR64]

Yes, a new Uberti made S.A.A. copy. It worked great!


45 Dragoon

Where did you get the lapped bullets?

I thought those have the compound in the jacket or something?

Or did you make up your own technique?

 

[45 Dragoon]

What I did was get some corse and fine jewlers rouge, make a paste by grinding the rouge and mixing with some oil. Coat the lead bullets with the paste and fire 15 rounds. CLEAN the bore and chambers and do the same with the fine rouge. Clean and check yoi pattern with your preferred ammo. When you're happy with the pattern, you're done.

 

[BowerR64]

ok so it wasnt a bp gun

i could use my conicals, it has 2 grooves i could fill one with lapping compound

 

[45 Dragoon]

With c/b, just use tbe paste as bullet lube on top of the loaded ball.


45 Dragoon

 

[Jaymo]

I'm thinking of using bore cleaning paste as a lube for .45 cal REAL and Maxi Ball bullets and use a light powder load to shoot them through my revolvers.

 

[BowerR64]

Cool im looking forward to your results, is this for a colt or a remington?

 

[Jaymo]

One's a Pietta Remington.
The other is a Ruger Old Army.
Then, there's a CVA Colonial single shot .45 muzzle loading pistol.

I figure the big lube grooves in the Maxi will hold plenty of lapping paste and do the best job.
But, I've been wrong before.

 

[BowerR64]

After each shot i think ide run a patch threw it.

 

[PapaG]

GB safety paste on a tight patch over a jag, stroked from breech to muzzle....50 or so times followed by cleaning. A ball and lube doesn't lap. It might polish a little but not lap. You gotta have abrasive. I have cast laps on drill rod in barrels, loaded them with 4f valve grinding compound and removed some pretty bad roughness, on a krag used for years with blanks, on several muzzle loaders which had not gotten the cleaning they deserved. Lapping is using a softer metal loaded with abrasive to hone, lap, smooth a harder metal.
Former precision machinist and fuel system finisher.

 

[BowerR64]

The 40X is abrasive i tried 3 different types. 40X and lapping compound that came with a crowing tool (i believe it is engine valve compound) and a metal wheel cleaner designed to polish metal wheels.

all 3 are abrasive but i think the 40X is more common and uses oil with the abrasive compound.

The ball is to get into the tight spots of the lands and grooves that a patch might miss.

Ive done both ways the ball (softer lead then the steel barrel) worked the best

I wouldnt do it myself on a $700. gun but these im not going to cry over if they get worse. Ive dont it to a hipoint, a couple BP guns and a .22 jimenez

So far it seems to help if nothing else it does a better job of scrubbing the fouling.

 

[PapaG]

Good job, Bower. I saw the Remington label, flashed back to the Remoil gummed guns in my late btother's safe and overlooked the fact that the 40X has abrasive qualities.
Rejuvenated a fire/water damaged 17hmr with JB a couple years ago. Long process but my grandson now has a 1 MOA lefty Savage.

 

[Noz]

Hard to do on a real muzzleloader.

 

[PapaG]

Disagree, Noz. Just did three of them. Two Cherokees and a Renegade, all of which had light pitting down by the breech. Not hard at all. Clean up after is a bit of a problem but a good steel rod, a muzzle protector, and a good jag loaded with GB or another lapping medium works well. Pull the breech plug and do it from the breech end and it is even easier.