Bullet lapping?

This like lapping your barrel by shooting bullets through it that are coated in lapping compound?

There are a few threads about this on the yellow already

one can get a fairly decent polish with JB bore paste and a felt plug if pushed back and forth a few times with a cleaning rod or a plastic rod.

Hoppes No.9 bore cleaner and my 22 rimfire brush does a damn good job polishing the inside of the barrel, followed by 2 dry patches (tight fitting) and a tight patch with a few drops of lucas gun oil, then do a few passes with that patch. then one last pass with a tight fitting patch. shiniest ive ever seen my barrel, been cleaning all my rifles including powder burners in this method for YEARS and never had a problem. lucas is a new addition to my cleaning procedure and its only there to keep the barrel from rusting on me in the off season or between my first shooting session and cleaning.

I've been told that ones crown and the exit affects a pellets accuracy more so then the bore surface itself. or so im told.

try the bore paste OR lapping compound and a felt plug. you can make the plugs yourself out of felt core and a leather hole punch if needed. or throw some in on your next pyramid air order for pellets/bullets, as long as its .22 or smaller

I'm not sure that firing a pellet with polishing compound would be that useful .. I'm like Reaper I use JB borepaste or Flitz metal polish an then clean it up with Hoppes 9 ... When I rebuild a gun I plug the crown and soak the barrel overnight in Hoppes and then polish it . When it's done it looks like a mirror inside . I use boresnakes a lot and just remove the brushes on all but one o them . I have 4 I use in 177...1 has brushes and it's for first step cleaning , then one with Hoppes , one dry , and then one with oil .
I wash the dry one with my work clothes so it always oil free as much as possible . I tried just using a boresnakes to lap a barrel but it doesn't work well so I just use a rod an jag .

I prefer to hand lap and hand polish a barrel. However, I have fire lapped and think it is a good process when done correctly. You just have to be careful not to overdo it!! A number of the guys shooting .257's are using the Wheeler fire lapping kits with great results.

I have fire lapped many firearms, but due to the breech oring and even those airguns that use a probe oring, it destroys them. If you do fire lap just have plenty of breech orings as you will be replacing them!!

Also, if the gun has a shrouded barrel with baffles or an ldc, I recommend removing the baffles or ldc prior to fire lapping. Make sure to thoroughly clean the barrel before changing lapping compound or polish grit level and also when finished give it a good cleaning.

Firelapping with abrasive coated bullets does work. It is used quite a bit in PB world.. David Tubb developed his final finish product to do just that. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/513887/tubb-final-finish-bore-lapping-system-308-caliber-and-762mm

i wonder if it is possible to treat Airguns the same?

"amoxom"

Click to expand...

The problem with attempting to fire lap a airgun is, there is so little contact between the pellet itself and the barrel surface that it doesnt do a whole lot.

the reason why fire lapping powder rifles works is because the immense contact surface between projectile and barrel.

most muzzle loaders have several sealing rings you are able to pack with lapping compound to fire lap properly creating multiple contact points. also powder burners and center fire rifles create much more and more violent pressures behind the projectile to create a much better seal on the barrel surface.
which is why hand lapping is the best way to go, especially since a good majority have some sort of a choked barrel, which fire lapping runs the potential to wallow out if overdone, where by hand lapping you decrease the risk of such a event. one could even mark the push rod with tape and stop before the choke when hand lapping and only lap 2 or 3 times on the choke end to ensure no negative effects come from any lapping at all.


really one should only need to lap a barrel, if even needed at all once or twice. and only after any abnormal inaccuracy is noticed after some time of shooting. more of a last resort or a first step to alleviate any and all possible determining factors of consistent flyers. redoing a barrel crown with lapping compound, and a slotted brass screw can make more of a difference then lapping could, and one would be amazed how much having a clean crown does over a polished barrel surface.