Fire Lapping Results

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Frank44

New member
I bought a NEF .308 Handi-Rifle. I never could get a clean patch out of it. I used the Final Finish System from Brownells for $36.65 (price increase). It consists of 50 bullets coated with 5 different sizes of grit, 10 of each. I loaded them with 35g of H4895. Shoot 10, clean, shoot 10, clean, etc. After I finished the barrel would clean up with a few wet brush strokes, and a few wet, and dry patches. The 6th patch comes out clean. Using Federal 150g Fusion ammo The group went from 4" to 2 1/2, and 3" high at 200 Yds. I have heard some good, and bad comments on fire lapping. I am sold on it now.
Frank
 
Thanks for the info. I might try that on my deer rifle but my .223's are good. Do we even have to clean a deer rifle?
Dave
 
Good report Frank44.
I have a new 6.8 barrel on the way and have been thinking about using the Tubbs bullets to help break it in. Most guys that have used them, whether to break in a barrel or to try to improve accuracy, say that they work.
Another good thing is that break in is a lot faster than
hand lapping or the traditional shoot/clean, shoot/clean method.
 
Just something to think about.

Lapping has it's purpose if your a Competitive shooter with enough money not to care how many barrels you replace in a year.

Each shot that you put through a barrel adds wear to it and shooting a couple hundred rounds through a barrel does the same thing as Lapping.

Lapping a barrel puts it at it's peak when finished. But what it also does is take a 3000 round barrel and shortened it's life span to about a 1500 rounds.
If your a Bench Rest shooter where .0001 groups make the difference between a win and a lose lapping make sense. They shoot maybe 300 rounds and the groups start deteriorating, they will discard the barrel and start over.

This has been said by others that over cleaning has ruined more Rifles than no cleaniing at all.

Being a Competitive Trapshooter I have seen people do things to their guns trying to gain an edge, when no matter what they do in the end it's the nut behind the gun that has the problem and not the gun.
 
nobody in competition that I know of, has ever lapped a barrel. Fire lapping a match grade barrel would likely harm it rather than help it.
 
Quote:Fire lapping a match grade barrel would likely harm it rather than help it.

I agree. It's something worth trying on a rough-finished barrel that grabs a lot of copper, and will likely improve it. If you try it in a good quality barrel that will shoot, you run a high risk of making it worse.
But it's your rifle.

I've considered trying them in my Mini-14. The barrel's pretty much a tent peg from the factory.
crazy.gif
 
I would not consider doing it to my Hart barrel which was excellent to start with. The NEF was hard to clean, and it did improve the accuracy. This process was made to order for the cheap, low volume hunting rifle. The instructions said to only use the last 3 grits on a good barrel. I don't think the small improvement in that case would be worth the decreased barrel life.
Frank
 
i know a well respected benchrest shooter that builds and machines his own stuff and he doesnt do it, nor reccomends it!! Granted all he uses is Krieger.
 
A friend of mine has a AR that shot bad,fouled realy bad and only grouped 1 1/2"
When you would clean the barrel you could feel a bunch of tight and loose spots.
I have a NECO fire lapping kit but was afraid to use it on any thing I owned.
But we tried it ad now has barrel is smooth,fouls MUCH less and the ar is shooting sub moa with hand loads.
Now I would not even dream of using this in a good barrel.
But in this case it worked grat.
 
I've never done any fire lapping of barrels, and don't see doing it the future. If I did do it, fire lapping would be my final effort to get a nasty barrel to shoot, after I've done a number of hand lapping jobs that are less intrusive.
YMMV however.
 
Don't get me wrong. I believe it has it uses and benefits.

I will give an example. My Cousin bought a TRG42 and had heard about lapping so he thought he should do that to his Rifle without firing the Rifle.He didn't even know if he had a problem with the Rifle. He had read or one of his Buddies told him about it and he thought that, that was what he need to do.

The problem you have with a site like this is that someone like the OP states he couldn't get his Rifle clean so he lapps it and now in two stroke the patch is spotless or that ole Betsy couldn't shoot a group better than 2 inches until after I lapped her. Some of these are benefits with a goal in mind.

Now keep in mind all the new people that come on this board and that have no idea how to do much of anything Gun wise and reads this and starts thinking I can get my Gun clean in two swipes now if I just lap my Rifle.
What some people don't understand is that lapping is sanding the inside of your barrel. It's taking the rough edges and smoothing them out, but as it is sanding, it is taking metal out and shortening the life of the barrel.

Bare in mind I'm not trying to start a Fartfest here just trying to point some things out.

Do you know that you can damage your barrel by using an Ammonia based Copper Cleaner and not oiling the barrel after cleaning. The Ammonia will create Fire cracks in the Barrel and cause flaking as you fire your Rifle.

In the end it boils down to doing what makes you happy.
 
I bought a package Savage .243 for my son - came with a scope on it - for around $348.00 at WallyWorld. I've done my share of gun work and I was pretty confident the final finish from Tubbs was going to be the best thing for this outfit. The first 50 rounds through this particular .243 were the final finish rounds. Then I switched the base, rings and scope (Horus Vision Hawk) from a 1 inch setup to 30mm. From there I began working up a load. Here are the results at 95 yards:
Gabe243at95yards4Nov2009_75GrVMAX.jpg

Now, I'm not saying everyone ought to go out and run the final finish through their rigs (and I won't be running it through the replacement McGowen 1:8 I bought for my own .243), but I think a fella ought to keep his mind open to the possibilities out there. I'd rather get 1200 - 1500 rounds of stone-reliable accuracy out of my son's .243 than 1500 - 2000 rounds of 'spray & pray' accuracy. Bottom line, I'm in it for the accuracy advantage and I'll take every step to get the best from each of my outfits - Tubbs final finish is one of the steps I will always use in a factory rifle.
Oh, BTW, I don't think I would have been able to get this accuracy without Newberry's OCW formula for handloading - it works extremely well. He writes some stuff that I simply do not agree with, but for load development I have been very impressed.
 
They say you can never get to the end of space (infinity) or to the end of the Internet where you've seen and heard just about everything.

Still, I bet this thread might be near the end of the Internet. There's some funny chit posted here...

-BCB
 
now next friday come I didn't have the rent . . . and out the door I went.

BCB, I always wonder what the motivation is when someone posts an off-handed remark suggesting the thread is something other than worth the time to read it. Maybe just being funny is reason enough to read it? What's so funny? Subject line reads Fire Lapping Results and the contributions appear to be on the up & up . . . maybe you're against breaking in a factory barrel, or fire lapping . . . ?

Have a good wk/end gang,
-Scott
 
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