Gunsmithing Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

[Kelly The Lionfish Hunter]

I have a Savage 5R barrel that has about 1000 rnds through it. What is ya'lls take on whether this barrel would benefit or degrade from a hand lapping.

Another question I have is, do you think it would be a good idea to give this barrel a crio treatment to make it last longer?

 

[GasLight]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

What is it doing accuracy wise right now? Did it degrade since you have had it? I don't think after 1000 rounds, lapping will help accuracy, and if done improperly will hurt it. IF, a big IF, I was going to lap a factory barrel I would do it with some of those bullets systems, but in all reality if my barrel wasn't cutting it, I would likely save the money to re-barrel with a custom barrel.

If the barrel used to shoot well, and doesn't now, you should inspect the crown, and then maybe check to see if the throat hasn't erroded too much.

need more info

 

[Kelly The Lionfish Hunter]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Gotcha.

There's nothing wrong with the barrel right now. It's the gun and load in my sig. Groups are around .35 moa from a Savage barrel so I'm thinking I won't be able to do anything but hurt it but I have a buddy that says it would shrink my groups even more and he shoots in matches and has been doing precision handloading for a couple of years. I still don't believe him. It just goes against my common sense. I thought I'd ask those with more experience though just to be sure.

 

[Force_Multiplier]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

.35MOA.... leave it alone

 

[Kelly The Lionfish Hunter]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Thoughts on the crio treatment, guys?

 

[Force_Multiplier]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

leave it alone

 

[buffybuster]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it........

 

[GasLight]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

you will spend 1/2 the cost of a barrel or more just to have it frozen. I would put that cryo money in a jar, and then add to it here and there for when you shoot this .35MOA barrel out, which shouldn't be for another 4000 rounds...

Dave

 

[Kelly The Lionfish Hunter]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Cool. I'm going shoot out what I got and tell my buddy he's a douche, lol.

 

[former naval person]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Everybody wants magic. JMHO

 

[sinarms]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Leave it alone or end up replacing it because you probably won't be happy with it after you touch it.

 

[ORD]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

One more vote for leave it the hell alone (no lapping and no cryo)!!! It isn't going to get any better than 0.35MOA with a factory tube!!!!

 

[shoot4fun]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

I like to lap those .35 MOA barrels with 80 grit sand paper and leave some Sweet's in there for about 10 days to cure it afterward.
Just kidding!! I wouldn't change a thing. The 308 is not hard on barrels and I think it would be most difficult to find a custom barrel that would better the accuracy you are getting now. Just enjoy the fact that you got a good one and save that $$ for the time you don't.

 

[oneeyedmac]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Chicken soup at a car wreck. It probably isn't going to help.You will have the opportunity to mess it up though. Have you bore scoped it and seen any problem areas? You can also have the barrel "slugged" to see if there are problem areas. But overall you are trying to fix a problem that isn't there.

If you really want to imprive the barrel get a custom. At .35 MOA I can't suggest "fixing" it.

Is it bedded? You are more likely to improve it (and less likely to damage it) by bedding it.

 

[Kelly The Lionfish Hunter]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

I'm not trying to improve accuracy by doing this. If you read the thread and not just the first post, you'll see where I didn't think this would do anything but hurt it. If you read you will understand.

I think I'm about at the limits of what this rifle will do. It isn't bedded yet, either. I'm almost afraid to do it, lol.

I'm ecstatic over the fact that I've gotten this far with a Savage barrel and won't risk doing anything to it that might screw it up. Hence, my questions to you all and not a question as to what might have happened to the my accuracy after I tried to hand lap it myself.

I'm a pretty fart smel...I mean a pretty smart feller.

 

[BBeyer]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Crazy, What kind of matches does your buddy shoot in, and more important, does he ever win aany of these matches. Also not talking of him necessarily, but some peoples idea of precision loading is cleaning the primer pockets. Any factory gun that shoots that well should be left alone.

 

[patriotoutlaw]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

1000 rounds probably lapped it. As said before, ever what kind of barrel is shooting in the .3's, leave it alone.

 

[Papagrizzly]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

Leave the barrel alone, as said by all the posters before me. However,<span style="font-weight: bold"> do </span>bed the action and your gun will most probably shoot better.

 

[Bob munden]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

if the gun shoots that well already i would not even bother bedding it, it seems those aluminium bedding blocks are doing there job now. i would leave it and keep loving it! as said before the barrel is already lapped by those 1000 rounds down the tube. the only thing that may help keyword may, is putting in a nice trigger depending on how the factory accu trigger is working. thats good shooting for a factory rifle!

 

[Don Black]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

I'd go with the "if it ain't broke,---" consensus here.

<span style="color: #CC0000">"I think I'm about at the limits of what this rifle will do. It isn't bedded yet, either. I'm almost afraid to do it, lol."</span>
Interesting statement. That's a darned good "limit" for a rifle, not to mention an excellent "limit" for the trigger puller.
Not sure I agree with Griz on the bedding. At some point you may need to, but if it were me, I wouldn't change a thang 'til it went south.

 

[roggom]

Re: Thoughts on hand lapping factory barrels?

.35, I would leave it alone, its not a benchrest rifle. Like an old Chief Petty Officer once told me, "If it ain't broke, fix it til it is."