Firelapping pro's and con's

[btmidwest]

Anyone  Please share any experience or understanding you have on firelapping barrels for improved accuracy.  I have a 45colt ruger bisley I'm "learning" and trying to improve where I can.  Pro's/con's indifferent?  If you have benifited from firelapping  any tips or insights would be appreciated.  A belt mountain pin, a trigger job and cylinder throats opened have been done. Thank you,  Bill     I have no desire to shoot out my barrel prematurely in my tinkering.  Thanks again.

[Lloyd Smale]

if done properly and in moderation it will help and certainly wont hurt. Buy a lapping kit from veral or beartooth that has the right compound in it and dont shoot more then about 30-50 of them through a gun and shoot them at the lowest velocity that willl allow them to clear the barrel and clean the gun after about every 10 shots.

[2 dogs]

If you care to send me an e mail and REMIND me its for firelapping pics I can send you a couple. I have had very good success with it, HOWEVER, I went forward with it very carefully. A couple of quick questions for you are 1) have you checked the diameter of your cylinder throats already and 2) what does the leading in your barrel look like! fcgarza0640@hotmail.com

Also, you might check over on sixgunner.com as I have posted quite a bit about this subject. I used the Beartooth kit. The Guide itself is worth the price. Also, anything you get from Lloyd Smale will be good advise as he and I have discussed this subject at length.

[Alice Cooper]

I shoot an old tree screw 357 ruger blackhawk, and the only place it leads is where the barrel enters the frame.it will start throwing bullets sideways after a while, then i have to hog the lead out.will the firelapping help this, or should I use another method to get that constriction out?

[jd45]

Alice, one of the primary reasons for fire lapping is to eliminate the restriction at just that point in the barrel. Done right, there's a world of difference. jd45

[Ahab]

Alice, one of the primary reasons for fire lapping is to eliminate the restriction at just that point in the barrel. Done right, there's a world of difference. jd45

That's right. Have done it to all my single actions and highly recommend it.

[Tom C.]

So far, what I have done is recut the forcing cone of .357s with a 5 degree cutter. That cuts out the constriction at the frame and leaves a nice, smooth, shallow forcing cone. They shoot well for me. I just did this to a brand new S&W 627. It is the most accurate .357 I have.

[Alice Cooper]

i'm assuming cutting the forcing cone is not a job for someone with a pair of vise-grips and a dremel?

[jd45]

Tom, how deeply do you go into the barrel with the cone re-cut? Reason I ask is that it seems to me that to totally eliminate the restriction you'd have to run it the whole distance the barrel resides within the cylinder frame, because as I understand it, as much of the barrel length that's in the cylinder frame, ( 5/8" on my S&W 640, 7/8" on my 629), that's how long the constriction is. Am I wrong here? Help me understand, please. Thanx, jd45

[Lloyd Smale]

If you dont want to shoot out the constriction. Clements or about any of the custom smiths can do a taylor thoating job on your gun that will remove it. It increases accuracy in some guns and out of the three ive had done it did help 2 of them and didnt hurt the accuracy of the other.

[Tom C.]

Tom, how deeply do you go into the barrel with the cone re-cut? Reason I ask is that it seems to me that to totally eliminate the restriction you'd have to run it the whole distance the barrel resides within the cylinder frame, because as I understand it, as much of the barrel length that's in the cylinder frame, ( 5/8" on my S&W 640, 7/8" on my 629), that's how long the constriction is. Am I wrong here? Help me understand, please. Thanx, jd45

When I cut a .357 barrel forcing cone with a 5 degree cutter, I am using a cutter that is part of a Brownell’s kit for that purpose. The depth of the cut is sufficient to match the outer edge of the original forcing cone. I think it is shallow enough and deep enough that it cuts out any barrel restriction. The most recent one I did was a second S&W 627. The 5 degree cutter pretty closely matched the original forcing cone angle. It did smooth up and improve uniformity of the forcing cone. Bottom line: it shoots great.

[jd45]

Well Tom, details aside, I guess I can't argue with your results. I'm glad you achieved the improvement in accuracy. jd45

[Tom C.]

There are pluses and minus associated with just about everything. Firelapping has worked very well for many people. A potential hazard is using loads that are too hot and causing excess wear to the edge of the rifling instead of just smoothing the barrel uniformly. That is why they recommend mouse fart loads that barely get the bullet out of the barrel.

For whatever reason, I prefer to cut the forcing cone. I then smooth the barrels by shooting jacketed bullets over whatever period is necessary to smooth the barrel. Ruger barrels, particularly the forged barrels like the Redhawk, can be a little rough. They have responded nicely to jacketed bullets. It burnishes the barrel over time. Of course, you need to clean the copper fouling each time you shoot it, and restrict your shooting sessions while doing this. I picked up a 4” SS GP100 last year. I have been shooting jacked bullets and cleaning it. It isn’t as smooth as I will finally get, but it is much better than originally. Accuracy improves as the barrel gets smoother and you can feel as well as see the improved smoothness when you clean it.

[Dusty Miller]

Tom, I'm not too sure I see the advantage of firing a WHOLE BUNCH of jacketed bullets over shooting two or three dozen "mouse fart loaded" fire lapping bullets.  It seems to me like the fire lapping would be a LOT quicker and just as effective as the jacketed bullet approach.  Fill me in here, I'm no expert. 

[Lloyd Smale]

firelapping is completely safe if you FOLLOW THE INSTUCTIONS!! Dont try to rush the project by pushing bullets to fast. They should just clear the barrel!! Also try about half as many as recomended to start with. Just do enough to clear the problem and stop. Jacketed bullets will help too but its a slow deal and they will only smooth up the roughness in a gun over time and will do nothing to remove a constriction. If all i had was a slightly rough bore and no constriction i would go with the jacketed bullet route. I would NEVER fire lap a barrel that didnt need it. Some people think that every gun they have is a candidate for lapping but i just cant see removing any metal from a barrel that isnt nessisary. If your goal is just to have a smoother barrel to shoot cast out of a few hundred jacketed bullets shot about 30 or so at a time with a good cleaning inbetween will usually get you there. Dont expect miriicles from lapping. Ive seen it help some guns in the accuracy and leading depts. But for the most part they will shoot about the same afterward just lead less.

[jd45]

I've got Marshall Stanton's Beartooth Bullets Technical Guide, ($14.00), coming in the UPS soon, in which he goes into great detail on how to properly firelap a gun that needs it. I intend to thoroughly familiarize myself with the procedure before I determine if any of my guns do need it, & thanx Lloyd for your input on the matter. jd45

[Dusty Miller]

I read Stanton's fire lapping info and it seems to me like he makes a mountain out of a mole hill.  However, as I previously stated, I'm no expert.

[jd45]

Well Dusty, I have to admit that's a little disconcerting, but I'll read the guide anyway, just cause I bought it. jd45