bore polishing

I just picked up a .36 bobcat with a wood stock last week for $75. It's nicely finsished for a cheap rifle. I haven't shot it yet but I thought I would lap the bore first to speed up the break in. I have some 0000 steel wool and Break Free but I'm not sure what to put the steel wool on. Should I use a jag or a brush? how much under bore size does the jag or brush need to be? How many times should I run it back and forth? I'd also like to do this to my .45 flinter, which has only had about 100 shots through it but is still hard to load.

 

[gordy]

This is just my opinion and there are many others here that will dissagree with it.Unless the lands are sharp and cutting the patch causeing blow-by,or there are tool marks causeing rough spots snagging the patch,I think it better to burnish the bore by shooting.I bought I Bobcat for a grandson and it had a good bore right out of the box.Also bought a Traditions Panther for another grandson and it too was good,( I'm quite certain both bbls. came from the same[url] Mfg.in[/url] Spain).As to the flinter loading "hard',if there dosn't appear to be patch damage as mentioned above,try a thinner patch,different lube or smaller ball. :front: :imo:

 

[Zonie]

IMO, if you choose to lap the barrel with steel wool you would use a cleaning jag with some of the steel wool wrapped around it. After a few trips up and down the barrel, it will seem to get looser which is the time to pull it out and re-wrap it.

Actually, lapping uses abrasives and removes material (be it ever so slight). Using steel wool (dry or with oil) is more of a burnishing process which won't change the bore or groove size, but will wear down the sharp edges (if any) on the rifleing.
As long as you aren't using abrasives, the only thing that can come of it is goodness (IMO).

How many strokes does it take? There isn't any 'good rule' about this. Usually until you say to yourself "That ought to do it", or "Now what did I do with that Remote? I can't stand this show." ::

As was mentioned, you may not "have" to do this at all, but if your wife is engrossed in her "Real Courtrooms" show or whatever, it beats watching that. ::

 

[rudy parnell]

I have used Jarrett Compound to fire lap centerfire rifles. I have no experience with the steel wool method of lapping a muzzleloader, but I was thinking that perhaps a copper brush could also help in this process. I have put steel wool on such brushes in the cleaning and refurbishing of shotgun barrels. I do know ,that either process will erode the seasoning of the muzzleloader. I assume that everyone is avoiding petro based cleaning agent? Probably, maybe is the term "lapping" being used correctly? adios

 

I also have some flitz and some JB bore cleaning compound. I could use one of those on a patch. But I'm a little confused now. I thought lapping was just a way to speed up the lapping done by the patch/ball when shooting a new barrel. Unless I've been under thw wrong impression, I thought this was a good thing. ::

 

[flashpanner]

Do a subject search on this topic. There have been several good discussions already on this.

 

[Zonie]

One item I would never use in a muzzleloader is a bore brush.
Yes, I know some folks are sold on them but they were really designed for guns with thru bores.
In a muzzleloader, they act kinda like the Chinese Thumb trap. They tend to go in easily, but may be almost impossible to pull back out. This is because the bristles get bent backwards towards the muzzle when they are going down the bore. When you try to pull them back out, they wedge in place and the only easy way to get them out that I know of is to rotate the brush clockwise with the cleaning rod while trying to lightly pull the brush out. (This allows the bristles to rotate to the side so they can bend the other way.)

I wouldn't use any abrasive lapping compound in the bore unless there was actually some metal I wanted to remove there.