hand lapped barrels

[boltman223]

I have a Krieger barreled 308. I went to the range yesterday and put 45 rounds through it when I cleaned it afterwards there was hardly a hint of copper. I know it's only 45 rounds but, I have pretty much only had factory rifles up to this point and with those there would have been considerably more copper fouling.

I think if the ease of cleaning was the only difference a match grade and a factory barrel had I would still spend the money for one. Anyways I was pretty impressed and happy about this, I just had to share it.

 

[Jeff A]

I have a hand lapped barrel on my AR15 in .223. Looking at the bore with a borescope after a recent varmint hunting trip revealed the same thing. Almost nothing there.

 

[ShootDots]

Hey Boltman>>>No doubt, there is a HUGE difference between a factory barrel and a custom one. However, do not let the "no copper" issue fool you... Once you get a large number of rounds down the barrel, your barrel will experience "FireCracking"... These are cracks and (for lack of better terminology) scaling of the inside of the barrel, especially in the first 4-6" of throat area. Once this occurs you WILL see copper "fouling".. It is bullet jacket being deposited in the sharp edges of the FireCracking.>>>YOU may think your barrel is "all of a sudden" coppering up and going bad>>>this is a normal occurrence. It is NOT your barrel going bad>>>it is merely a signal that you have wear inside your barrel...

 

[Bob3700]

I don't have all that many factory bbled guns. Most are competition rifles with custom bbls.

Purchased a bore scope last year and have been amazed at the difference between the quality of custom vs factory bbls. I look down the bore of every rifle and pistol I can.

Many factory bbls (including ones marked "Target") look like they were rifled and finished with an axe. The degree of roughness in the tops of the lands and tool marks in the grooves is significant.

Two of the most important sections of the bbl are the throat/lead and the crown, they too are usually unimpressive.

I can see where a "fire lapping" kit would go along way to improving accuracy. Smooth out the tooling marks in the throat and down the bbl. Haveing the crown finished properly certainly cannot hurt and the expense would be minimal.

A friend recently gave me a 22 target pistol bbl to inspect. Had 30 yrs of use and several hundred thousand rounds down its bore. The six o'clock land look like someone had taken a scratching awl and destroyed the transition between throat and lead. Had to be the result of a lead bullet taking priming compound and grinding it into the steel. And this is a man who is very anal about cleaning his bbls.

So, factory bbls that shoot well do so in spite of the interior finish or attention to detail during manufacturing.

Bob

 

[rduckworth]

And this is a man who is very anal about cleaning his bbls.

Or maybe a man who over cleaned his barrels.

RMD

 

[CatShooter]

And this is a man who is very anal about cleaning his bbls.

Or maybe a man who over cleaned his barrels.

RMD

Yup... if one land was worn, then it is cleaning rod damage. Primer grit does not pick one land and leave the other five alone.

 

[BoydAllen]

A couple of things worth mentioning are how common cheap, ineffective cleaning rod guides are, as well as sloppy rod technique. I have invested in guides that have bushings that stay on my rods, and that plug into the back of guides to create a close fit, and I am careful to use my rods in a manner that does not bow them, or have jags or brushed extending much beyond barrels' crowns. This is in contrast to what I commonly see. Protect you investment by spending a little more for a better guide and taking more care with how you use your rods. End of commercial. ;D

 

[CatShooter]

A couple of things worth mentioning are how common cheap, ineffective cleaning rod guides are, as well as sloppy rod technique. I have invested in guides that have bushings that stay on my rods, and that plug into the back of guides to create a close fit, and I am careful to use my rods in a manner that does not bow them, or have jags or brushed extending much beyond barrels' crowns. This is in contrast to what I commonly see. Protect you investment by spending a little more for a better guide and taking more care with how you use your rods. End of commercial. ;D

But, WAIT... if you order in the next ten minutes (cuz we can't do this all day)...

 

[butchlambert]

You are right, Boyd!!

 

[barnesuser28]

After about 100 rounds my Bartlein barreled 284 win shows NO copper fouling after 60 rounds, not even a hint, break-in was a real PITA though, dont know why it took so long for it to stop coppering.

 

[SDWhirlwind]

Read years ago in Precision Shooting I believe of some gent that had like 100K rounds down a 52 I think. The bore @ 6:00 had worn virtually smooth ahead of the throat. Accuracy was hit and miss. He remachined the barrel and installed it 180*, in other words 6:00 was now 12:00. He then tested and claimed it shot almost as well as when new. Theory was that the powder residue always settled at 6:00 behind the last bullet. Subsequent rounds picked up the residue and it acted as a fine abrasive to erode the portion ahead of chamber? Don't know if it was a rare instance as for regaining accuracy or and exception. Really seems a bit of logic in his comments! Well, at least to this 10 thumbed gun lovin, metal destroying klutz.

Reason I posted this is that the wear may be something other than 'cleaning method/frequency'??

 

[Eddie Harren]

Find and read Bill Calfee's articles on "Indexing 22LR barrels". They will clear up most of the questions that popped up, concerning rimfire throat erosion. The articles appeared in Precision Shooting some years back and, in my opinion, were the last really good articles that appeared in that mag.