I came across an opportunity to buy a genuinely mint Ruger Mini30. It has only a few dozens of rounds through it and has been gathering dust for well over a quarter of a century. I've been keeping an eye out for one for years and this one is so ridiculously cheap that I practically have to buy it.
The problem is that it's a "squeeze bore" gun, with a .308 diameter barrel. One of the notoriously inaccurate minis and the increased pressure from squeezing a standard .311 bullet through worries me. I reload but not 7.62x39 and virtually all factory ammo is loaded with .311 bullets, some hunting loads being fairly hot, not to mention tolerances in some surplus ammo.
I've hand lapped a number of barrels over the years, which by default increases the bore diameter by fractions of a thousands of an inch. Barrel change is out of the question with a gun like this, so does anyone know if lapping the barrel to an ever-so-slightly larger diameter, full .002-.003", is a viable option?
The problem is that it's a "squeeze bore" gun, with a .308 diameter barrel. One of the notoriously inaccurate minis and the increased pressure from squeezing a standard .311 bullet through worries me. I reload but not 7.62x39 and virtually all factory ammo is loaded with .311 bullets, some hunting loads being fairly hot, not to mention tolerances in some surplus ammo.
I've hand lapped a number of barrels over the years, which by default increases the bore diameter by fractions of a thousands of an inch. Barrel change is out of the question with a gun like this, so does anyone know if lapping the barrel to an ever-so-slightly larger diameter, full .002-.003", is a viable option?