Interested in how folks are doing this. I’ve seen a couple different ways and the last was with a drill and a device I can’t remember the name of.
As always thank you
As always thank you
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Tuning Barrel Polishing?
- Thread starter ClarkT
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I did this on my impact barrel using cotton polishing bits on a dremel with a metal polishing compound.
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I'm not sure drilling would be a good idea. Lathe would be a better tool.
Before doing such a time consuming process, test the riffling to check any perfection then try polishing it.
Before doing such a time consuming process, test the riffling to check any perfection then try polishing it.
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I agree. There was a link posted somewhere though where a hand drill and a plastic type rod were used. I was curious what that was
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I hand polish with JB bore paste and cotton squares on a cleaning rod and brass jag. Put a block of wood against the crown and do 200 strokes in and out from the breech changing the cotton squares with new ones and more polish every 50 strokes. I thoroughly clean the barrel before and after.
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I did a fair bit of research into barrel polishing, and subsequently polished all 3 of my .22 PCP's. All 3 of them showed a marked improvement in accuracy as well as less lead fouling, so the amount of shots between cleaning the barrels also greatly improved.
The method I settled on was to use a nylon bore brush of .177 caliber, wrap a piece of the pink 3M polishing paper around the brush and run it up and down the bore, in the beginning you can add a bit of Autosol metal polish. Change the paper often, I ran this up and down the bore some 200 times and the FX stx barrel, the LW Redwolf barrel and CZ barrel on my Uragan came out very shiny when looking through it. The 3M paper is 3000 grit, so it does not remove material, just polishes, and works really well.
I would be very skeptical using any power tools, you can't go back if you take off too much! With the very fine paper I suppose it is OK, like Ernest demonstrates.
The above video pretty much sums up what I have done, there is a definite improvement and I would recommend anyone to do it. It is an easy way to gain accuracy
The method I settled on was to use a nylon bore brush of .177 caliber, wrap a piece of the pink 3M polishing paper around the brush and run it up and down the bore, in the beginning you can add a bit of Autosol metal polish. Change the paper often, I ran this up and down the bore some 200 times and the FX stx barrel, the LW Redwolf barrel and CZ barrel on my Uragan came out very shiny when looking through it. The 3M paper is 3000 grit, so it does not remove material, just polishes, and works really well.
I would be very skeptical using any power tools, you can't go back if you take off too much! With the very fine paper I suppose it is OK, like Ernest demonstrates.
The above video pretty much sums up what I have done, there is a definite improvement and I would recommend anyone to do it. It is an easy way to gain accuracy
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The goal of polishing the bore is to smooth down the microscopic surface fretting that remains from the manufacturing processes of reaming and rifling. You can think of it as millions of tiny burrs that cover the landscape of the bore. As the pellet slides through, soft lead abrades from its surface and sticks and builds up over time which causes accuracy to degrade.
If the bore is especially rough, a polishing regimen may produce a slight velocity increase but the main advantage is to extend cleaning intervals. It also makes the cleaning go easier when the time comes.
The most effective way to do it is with a rod and snug-fitting patches to get a good scrubbing action. I expect pull-throughs would take hours of effort to do what would take 5 minutes with a rod. Fire-lapping is an alternative but also relatively slow and tedious.
I use a ball-bearing rod so the scrubbing action follows the rifling. Some guys don’t concern themselves with this aspect and seem to get satisfactory results but it seems to me it misses the tiny inside corners of the rifling where lead already wants to stick. Working from the breech end, I typically apply 100 strokes distributed as follows…25 strokes to 25% of its length, another 25 strokes to 50% of its length, another 25 strokes to 75% of its length, and a final 25 strokes to the full length. I don’t measure the distance, approximate is good enough. The intent is simply to apply progressively fewer strokes at the muzzle…the breech gets about 100 strokes and the muzzle gets 25 strokes.
Use a new patch (or VFG pellet if you’re using the Brownell’s stuff) every 25 strokes or so, or when it is has worn to the point where it’s not applying decent pressure against the walls of the bore. With each new patch, you will notice some reduction of friction as the surface fretting becomes smoothed down.
Side bar about the Brownell VFG system, a nice feature is the felt pellet can be threaded down onto the tapered rod adapter once in a while and that acts as a wedge to force it back into firm contact with the bore. There’s no VFG for .177 cal though so for that I just use a brass jag and cotton patches.
Don’t let the patch exit the muzzle or the crown will develop a subtle bell mouth, and you’ll have to re-dress it. I clamp a stop block at the muzzle so I don’t have to monitor it.
If you want to then carry it a step further, clean the bore and follow up with a similar treatment using a finer compound like J-B Bore Bright, Flitz, etc.
Lastly, it pays to spend a little more time at the breech end to smooth the leade…specifically the leading edge of the rifling. Many barrels have a sharp step where the rifling begins, left behind by the blunt end of the reamer that was used to cut the leade. If that is left untreated, the pellet will tend to snag as it is being chambered, cutting it and causing it to chamber crooked. When I see that, I start with a something more aggressive like 400 and 600 grit wet/dry on a dowel to break the sharp edge. Or you can use a Cratex point (rubberized abrasive bit) if you’re careful. Then the polishing treatment further smooths the step so pellets will ease into the rifling, staying neatly centered and undamaged.
If the bore is especially rough, a polishing regimen may produce a slight velocity increase but the main advantage is to extend cleaning intervals. It also makes the cleaning go easier when the time comes.
The most effective way to do it is with a rod and snug-fitting patches to get a good scrubbing action. I expect pull-throughs would take hours of effort to do what would take 5 minutes with a rod. Fire-lapping is an alternative but also relatively slow and tedious.
I use a ball-bearing rod so the scrubbing action follows the rifling. Some guys don’t concern themselves with this aspect and seem to get satisfactory results but it seems to me it misses the tiny inside corners of the rifling where lead already wants to stick. Working from the breech end, I typically apply 100 strokes distributed as follows…25 strokes to 25% of its length, another 25 strokes to 50% of its length, another 25 strokes to 75% of its length, and a final 25 strokes to the full length. I don’t measure the distance, approximate is good enough. The intent is simply to apply progressively fewer strokes at the muzzle…the breech gets about 100 strokes and the muzzle gets 25 strokes.
Use a new patch (or VFG pellet if you’re using the Brownell’s stuff) every 25 strokes or so, or when it is has worn to the point where it’s not applying decent pressure against the walls of the bore. With each new patch, you will notice some reduction of friction as the surface fretting becomes smoothed down.
Side bar about the Brownell VFG system, a nice feature is the felt pellet can be threaded down onto the tapered rod adapter once in a while and that acts as a wedge to force it back into firm contact with the bore. There’s no VFG for .177 cal though so for that I just use a brass jag and cotton patches.
Don’t let the patch exit the muzzle or the crown will develop a subtle bell mouth, and you’ll have to re-dress it. I clamp a stop block at the muzzle so I don’t have to monitor it.
If you want to then carry it a step further, clean the bore and follow up with a similar treatment using a finer compound like J-B Bore Bright, Flitz, etc.
Lastly, it pays to spend a little more time at the breech end to smooth the leade…specifically the leading edge of the rifling. Many barrels have a sharp step where the rifling begins, left behind by the blunt end of the reamer that was used to cut the leade. If that is left untreated, the pellet will tend to snag as it is being chambered, cutting it and causing it to chamber crooked. When I see that, I start with a something more aggressive like 400 and 600 grit wet/dry on a dowel to break the sharp edge. Or you can use a Cratex point (rubberized abrasive bit) if you’re careful. Then the polishing treatment further smooths the step so pellets will ease into the rifling, staying neatly centered and undamaged.
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I've had only one barrel with a leade so rough that it affected chambering a pellet. That barrel went back for a new one. I'm not going to pay $2,500 for a rifle and have to clean up crappy machine work.
As for general bore polishing, I've had barrels in which lead fouling was improved by JB polishing. If done properly, it won't hurt, so I think it's worthwhile if you have a leading problem.
As for general bore polishing, I've had barrels in which lead fouling was improved by JB polishing. If done properly, it won't hurt, so I think it's worthwhile if you have a leading problem.
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Thanks for all the input. I’ve only ever used JB and have had good results when it’s been needed. I saw a couple of videos lately on polishing and I’ve been curious
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You need to listen to nervoustrig, he knows his stuff. His barrels shoot lights out even with half the choke missing (Thanks Jason). And don’t forget to wax your barrels too.
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On this topic... anybody have firsthand experience with much more aggressive agents to open up an extremely tight choke?
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YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NOT want to spin any polish, abrasive or lapping compounds ACROSS the rifling !!!!!!!!
Lapping and polishing is done having the process FOLLOWING the helix of rifling's twist and NEVER ACROSS IT !!!!
Drill spinning, lathe spinning is Wrong wrong wrong !!!!
Lapping and polishing is done having the process FOLLOWING the helix of rifling's twist and NEVER ACROSS IT !!!!
Drill spinning, lathe spinning is Wrong wrong wrong !!!!
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Swivel coated rod, cotton swab tip, Flitz or JB, 100 full length strokes, wash out barrel with cleanrr and patch out. Both abrasives are very fine and only polish. Have done this with PB and pellet barrels and it has helped with accuracy and cleaning frequency. Be careful with crown and breach.
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I've increased accuracy substantially with a strip clean, 200 stroke polish and a second strip clean then a fresh lead in with the ammo intended on being shot. Taken good barrels to exceptional and eliminating nearly all fliers.
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