Taylor throating or fire lapping or ?

[Chap]

Hi everyone, I've enjoyed reading the insights and hints that are listed here, but have not seen this issue addressed yet.

I have a Ruger Blackhawk 45 convertible that was not shooting as well as I thought it should be (the 41 is a tackdriver!). The cylinder throats were tight, so I sent them off to CAS to ream and just got them back. The bullets are a nice fit now. I have not tried the reamed cylinders yet, but will this weekend. In the process of measuring the barrel, I found that the barrel is constricted where it is screwed into the frame. My gut tells me that this is not helping me in the accuracy department.

What is the "preferred" method of making the bore more even for the potential of accuracy enhancement? Taylor throating is a favorite of Alpha Precision, and fire lapping is advertised at Beartooth bullets. I roll all of my own bullets, so making the bullets from Beartooth is not an issue. I'm generally shooting jacketed bullets (its nice to live near the Speer factory), although want to do some with LBT hunting bullets.

I am leaning towards the fire lapping since this will also smooth out the rest of the barrel and I'll enjoy the process of doing it myself. However, I'm not real keen on putting lapping bullets through the cylinder throats that I just had reamed out, but maybe this isn't an issue.

Is there another silver bullet that I'm missing?

What are your insights and experiences? There are no guarantees in either method, but I can't see how this tight barrel is helping things.

Thanks,

Lee

 

[Sir Aardvark]

Some people will swear by fire-lapping, attributing to it the best of accuracy.

Others will say it's the surest, fastest way to self-destruct a barrel.

Myself, I fire-lapped my .44 S&W 629. It too had a restriction where the barrel screwed in; a common occurance for revolvers you'll find.

I loaded some .44 spl brass with a reduced powder charge and topped them with the lapping compound coated bullets. It improved my groups noticably.

No, I wasn't scientific about things by measuring before and after group sizes, maybe something I'll do next time, but I can attest that a noticable improvement in my groups did occur.

 

[Old Fuff]

If you are firing the abbrasive-treated bullets from all six chambers I don't think you'll have a problem. I presume that within a 100 rounds or so the barrel restriction will have been removed, but only 16 or 17 bullets will have passed through each chamber throat.

 

[mtnbkr]

I had the barrel of my GP100 Taylor throated by Alphaprecision years ago. It did make the gun more accurate, but it leads a lot more in the throat area when I shoot cast bullets. Since that area is a bit larger than .357, I have to use a 40caliber bore brush to get the lead out of that area. With jacketed bullets, it's not an issue and it made a big improvement. I shoot jacketed or plated bullets mostly anway, so it's not a huge issue.

Chris

 

[HSMITH]

I would not fire-lap it, fire lapping laps the whole barrel and removes material more or less equally through the length of the bore. You will have roughly the same situation you have now, only the 'restriction' will be closer to normal bore size and the bore will be slightly larger.

I would hand lap only the restriction, and then when the bore is pretty even I would hand lap the whole thing. I've done this on a couple guns with good results.

 

[Chap]

Good point, Old Fuff

I also have the 45 ACP cylinder so each hole would not see very many abrasive shots.

I also have read the "you are just wearing out the barrel faster" arguments, and these have some validity. I'm encouraged by the very soft lead bullets that a couple of outfits sell for the lapping bullets. You load them so they are only moving at minimum velocity. The theory goes that the soft lead will not obturate, or bump up, once it goes through the restriction.

You can tell I'm talking myself into this, but still have not pulled out the credit card yet.

The other option is to just shoot it a lot and it will eventually wear down.

Anyone else have any words of wisdom?

 

[Old Fuff]

I don't wish you any bad luck ...

But given the hardness of the barrel vs. that of the bullets (jacketed or lead) you might die of old age before you noticed any change.

 

[Chap]

"you might die of old age before you notice any difference"

Yes, but I would have fun trying!

At the range session this weekend, we'll see how the reaming of the cylinder throats did and go from there.