Veral, i just finished using your kit to lap my Lyman 50 cal percussion. I did it this way and had excellent results. First, I cast a bunch of T/C type slugs using wheel weights. These are the Maxi-ball slugs that are slightly undersized at loading but slug up to fit the rifeling at fireing. I rolled these in your lapping compound until they were a dull gray and clearly embedded with the compound. I made twenty of these. I went to the range and using 50 grains of 4f, I shot them all. I was careful to first clean and dry the bore. Then I shot the first round. I cleaned and dried the bore again and did so after each shot. This way I knew I was lapping the lands and the grooves equally and that there was no fouling bewteen the compond and the steel. After twenty shots the bore was very much changed. First, it did not accumulate fouling at nearly the rate it did before. I could laod and fire six or seven tightly patched balls without any difficulty at all. Before lapping, I had to wipe after each shot or the load would not go down the bore easily, sometimes not at all unless hammered down.
The second part was even more remakable. Before lapping, I had two very noticable tight spots in the bore. One was under the front sight dovetail and the other was directly under the rear sight. You could feel the load hang up at each point. After lapping, the barrel felt smooth all the way down. I finished the lapping by wraping a cloth patch loaded with JB compound and running this in and out of the bore about 150 strokes. I just replaced the patch and reloaded the JB paste as it wore out.
I used 4F because I wanted the bullet to bump up to full bore size as quickly as possible. 2F would not have done this as well. Secondly, I used a WW slug because I wanted the slug to be hard enough to hold the compound. I was afraid that pure lead would just embed the compound and not actually hold it on the surface so that it would do the required cutting.
I suppose a minne bullet would have been better but I didn't have one in 50 cal. The T/C Maxiball seemed to work out just fine.
I was concerned at first that this method might ruin the bore. Considering however that mine was pretty rough due to the previous owner's lube and storage procedure or lack there of, I really had nothing to loose.
That being said, I can't vouch absolutely that what I did will work for everyone. It did however, work very well for me. If you think I am off base please say so and I'll listen. You've never done me wrong yet.
R J Talley
