Bore Lapping - Fire Lapping a S&W - Anyone done it?

TheHobbyist · Oct 19, 2010

Hello,

Well, I recently picked up an old S&W .22 and the past owner didnt take ideal care of the unit.

The barrel is not shiny, kinda dull, with very minor surface issues (pitting) the entire length of the barrel. It is not bad, in fact it is minor, but it is noticeable.

A friend of mine recommended bore lapping/fire lapping the barrel to take out these minor cosmetic issues.

Has anyone ever done this and if so, would you be willing to share your insights?

Thanks for your input.

curtmini14 · Oct 19, 2010

hows it shoot if ok id leave it alone seems lapping would open the bore might not be as acurate when your finished.

john traveler · Oct 19, 2010

Indeed, the so-called "firelapping" is an act of desparation. If the bore is so bad that you would consider firelapping, you have to be prepared for the worst: namely, that it will shoot even worse than before you started.

I mean,who in their right mind would fire an abrasive-charged bullet through a good barrel???

Quality barrel makers do manual lapping of their bores to remove minor machine tool marks and improve bore uniformity. It's done under controlled conditions and absolutely is NOT done by firing abrasive slugs through the barrel.

The previous advice to fire the gun first to see how it shoots is a good one. Most of the time, a good bore cleaning and a few shooting sessions will show that there is nothing wrong with the accuracy.

Harrison · Oct 19, 2010

If the pistol shoots good, why would you even worry about minon cosmetic issues inside the barrel, let alone take the chance of ruining an otherwise good barrel by fire lapping? If you want to really clean the barrel, get some JB Bore cleaner from Brownells. It will clean the barrel down to bare metal, without harming it. I know benchrest shooters that are world class that use JB, after every aggregate. Trust me a BR shooter isn't going to use anything in his match barrel that will hurt it.

tomcatt51 · Oct 20, 2010

I have fire lapped barrels. Mostly Rugers to get rid of the constriction where they've squished the barrel in the frame. It works. I have a S&W 66 I had to firelap to take out a similar constriction, unusual in S&W's but this one had enough constriction the pilot on my Taylor Throat reamer wouldn't enter the barrel. Ruger's stainless barrels are a much more abrasion resistant alloy than S&W's.

However, if your .22 has good accuracy and isn't so rough it leads I think I'd leave it alone.

Beartooth Bullets has a book that explains firelapping very well:
Beartooth Bullets Secure Online Shopping

chief38 · Oct 25, 2010

If the barrel was neglected, there is only so much you can do. First and foremost, I would be concerned on getting out as much as the rust and debris as you can without undo wearing of the lands & grooves. I would scrub it thoroughly with a good bore cleaner and bronze brush, dry it and run the Lewis Lead Remover through to remove and lead fowling that might be there. Then I would lightly lubricate it, leave it for a day or so, then clean it again with your bronze brush and bore solvent. Lightly re-oil and shoot it. If it is fairly accurate, you're done. Whenever you remove metal to get out rust or pitting, you are also removing metal that is acting on the projectile, making it less accurate.

I just worked over a really badly neglected .222 Remington Bolt Action Rifle. It's probably the worst rifle I have worked on in terms of neglect, rusting and pitting. After a couple of days worth of effort, I got the rust off, restored the wood , got the action slick again, and removed the copper out of the barrel. After seeing how badly the bore was pitted I truly had very little hope of seeing this rifle performing with any great deal of accuracy anymore.

The trip to the range amazed me. At 100 yards this rifle was still what I would call remarkably accurate. How, I do not know, but it is. If you look into the bore and see all the pitting, I doubt you would buy it, but it still shoots 1 1/2 - 2" " groups from the bench at 100 yards.

Bottom line here is.........IF IT SHOOTS, LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE.

good luck with it.
chief38

WOOOPPPSSS.... Just realized that I stated to use a Lewis Lead Remover on a .22 Cal. To the best of my knowledge it does not have an attachment or brass patch available for that caliber. Guess you will have to do your best with the bronze brush. They do make bore brushes in stainless steel, just be very careful of those, they are harder and more aggressive on the bore. I only use stainless steel as a last resort.

ViperR · Oct 26, 2010

I had really good luck myself with JB bore cleaner. It is in paste form and got rid of the small amounts of lead that was missed by the bore brush. I was experiencing some bullet tumble out of my 2" 34-1 and now it is fine.

Missionary · Oct 26, 2010

Good morning
+1 on the "Shoot it first". Cosmetics have litttle to do with the flight of a bullet.
But then I end up fire-lapping all new barrels and some old ones. Never had any bad results. A few it made little difference to and at least half end up better shooters.

specops65 · Oct 26, 2010

+2 on "Shoot it first". Have a M44 Russian carbine with a barrel that looks like 40 miles of bad road that will shoot 1" groups (once I found a cast bullet that actually fit the bore). I've used a dab of Simichrome on standard velocity ammo to "polish" bores in semi-autos but have never tried it in a revolver before.

WHO CARES · Oct 26, 2010

You might want to try cleaning with the JB cleaner first but then just shoot it, shoot it a lot, the lead bullets will polish the barrel thru use.

Ward

Bore Lapping - Fire Lapping a S&W - Anyone done it?

TheHobbyist

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curtmini14

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john traveler

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Harrison

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tomcatt51

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chief38

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ViperR

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Missionary

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specops65

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WHO CARES

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