Fire Lapping, Anybody done it?

[Pete C.]

Have any of you fire laped a new barrel?
Comments

 

[Durango]

Pete,

You shooting a 22LR??? What caliber you shooting???


Durango

 

[Pete C.]

Going to have a .357/.38 lever w/20" bbl and a .40 S&W carbine w/17.5" bbl. With Hardcast lead reloads.

 

[johk01]

I've done it to 3 45 LCs to remove the constriction at the threads where the barrel screws into the frame. Also did it to a 45-70 to remove a constriction under a dovetail cut. Do some looking around at the Beartooth Bullet site.

 

[Tempest]

Quote:
However, he also concedes that fire lapping INCREASES THE DIAMETER OF THE THROAT. And given that most all throats are cut larger than they should be, especially from factories, my contention is that while you may make temporary improvement in accuracy fire lapping existing barrels, you also wipe out potentially thousands of rounds of throat life by further enlarging it fire lapping.

http://www.bellmtcs.com/FAQ/Fire_Lapping.htm
What are you trying to achieve Pete? Neither of those are what I would call real shooters.
A liberal amount of JB bore paste maybe a better alternative.

 

[Gregory]

Not a fan of using a polishing compound in a rifle bore.

use the product wrong you smooth over the lands and now you have a shotgun.

 

[Shannow]

IMO, fire lapping can work...but it can be poor as well.

If I had something that didn't shoot well, was properly bedded etc. I'd try a recrown, and if that didn't fix it, maybe firelap it.